Teacher as a Performer

Dear Andrew,
You are well on your way to becoming a teacher, and for that you should
congratulate yourself! It has been a long time coming no doubt. However, the
journey has just begun and there is much still much to learn. Todays class, Teacher
as a Performer, should provide the initial process of what it feels like to be in the
shoes of a teacher.
In case you forgot, the class that underwent today was unique, fun, and
interactive. The class initiated with a name game, slowly building up to memorizing
the name of every individual in the class. And let me remind you how terrible you
are at remembering names! Having the ability to remember ones name will be a
crucial part to the teaching process. According to Beres, Kelly, and Roscoe, building
a positive rapport with students is a key step towards setting up a smooth-running
classroom. Thus, the first rung in maintaining a positive relationship with your
students (and really just about anyone) is remembering ones name. As Dale
Carnegie states it best, a persons name is to him or her the sweetest and most
important sound in any language. Recalling the name of one of your students will
demonstrate your humanly traits and interest in their lives. The classroom is much
more than just a vesicle to transport learning, but more so a community. Basically,
what I am trying to tell you is make a future effort to remember the names of the
people in your classroom, community, union, or what have you.


Bear in mind that forming a positive relationship does not entail that you are
a peer amongst students. The list you had formulated on the characteristics of an
effective/professional teacher outlined the need to maintain the teacher-student
relationship. You will be captain of the ship; you cannot befriend your students. It
is acceptable to be friendly, caring, and compassionate, but also be fair, firm, and
strict. It appears that becoming an effective teacher is balancing act down a fine
linethough, do not worry, it will come with time and experience.
For now keep all this in the back of your mind, and maintain that teacher
high status posture. At the very least, you will give the impression that you are the
superior. Keeping your hands by your sides, standing tall, and chin level is the
posture of a strong teacher. Since it is the case that I am you, I know how much you
like to move. You are a kinesthetic learner, but also a fidgeter. As long as you
remember to take that initial pause when stepping in front of the class and deep
breath in, you should have no problem achieving teacher high status. This will
illustrate your presence in the classroom, therefore, capturing the attention of your
students in an efficient manner.
Commit to memory the power of silence. In todays lesson, we experimented
with the effects of silence. Recall that saying that you like to use when planning a
program, less means more, or as da Vinci has put it more eloquently, simplicity is
the ultimate sophistication. Essentially, silence has more to say than words, given
certain circumstances. And when the circumstance calls for the attention of the
class, silence should be the first resourced used. Practicing the effect of silence
today illustrated how uncomfortable it can make the atmosphere in the room. So
remember, when your first teaching day starts do not be wary to waste 30 seconds
of silence in attempt to capture your audience.
The entire purpose of the class was to work up to kicking a student out of the
class and responding appropriately to the situation. We slowly worked up, or
bumps, as you of all people should know that the 0-60 method fails in achieving a
positive relationship. I know you will have the best intentions for your future
students, nevertheless, as a teacher you will fail in attaining complete and undivided
attention from all of your students 100% of the time. Lets face it, school is an
exciting, but also frustrating atmosphere. If you fail to remember, you were one of
the excited students who could not control their need to emit social energy.
Therefore, it is typically not the students fault, more so the environment that you
have created for them. As a teacher then, you cannot be upset at the student. Do not
raise your voice (shouldnt be an issue for you), or punish misbehaviour.
Progressive education requires moving away from punishment courses of action
and toward reinforcement and problem-solving approaches. Just because a student
does not respond to one, two, or several types of intervention does not mean they
are incapable of behaving. Find out what works, get creative, and if it fails then you
know what not to do in the future. To become an effective teacher you must have an
arsenal of classroom management in your repertoire.
The conclusion of the class underlined instructional tactics for teachers to
employ. Remember, questions are also very powerful, use them sparingly. An
exercise you performed today was to try and use three statements before resorting
to a question to a frustrated student and yah, you failed at this particular exercise.
As a teacher we want to get inside the minds of our students. Try to avoid
interrogation techniques to understand your students. Furthermore, when
initiating an activity for your students, you should be as minimal as possible with
instruction. This will foster creativity amongst students by not creating too many
boarders. Also, will allow students to get a more hands on approach. If you see the
students suffering from the same problems, stop the activity and bring the problem
to the entirety of the class.
Today was yet another crucial learning experience for you on the path to
becoming an educator. Utilize the tools learned today in your classroom
management. Chances are you will probably stumble in the first few steps in the
classroom, but do not worry! If you find yourself losing control of your classroom,
just remember this one thing teaching is more so a performance than an act.

Best of luck in the future!