Though it may feel like I am yelling at my students, talking really loud so that I am projecting my voice throughout the room keeps the attention of the class. This is one thing my partner teacher mentioned to me after my last class. Today, at the beginning of the period, up until the end of the period, I kept a loud voice. I tried to make eye contact with all the girls when I was giving direction and advice. I called out on students who disrupted the rest of the class and who made it hard for me to teach when they were talking to a peer. I also expressed gratitude when a student asked a good question, performed a move well, or showed effort, as well as, congratulated the whole class after every time we ran the dance through to the music.
Although, I tried to keep a strong presence in the room, I believe there is nothing I can do about the talkers. These are the ones always talking, whether it’s to a friend or to themselves, even after I have asked them to stop or mentioned how “they’re wasting time after every time I have to tell them to be quiet.” This sounds like I act like mother superior, but really, I smile, laugh, and try to have a good time with my students. My engergy is up and positive.
Maybe the only way a teacher can get a student to stop talking is if they are teaching something that particularly interests the student. This is a difficult situation for me knowing that my students did not specifically choose to learn Polynesian dance. What do I do when students just stand there not wanting to participate? For the non-participators, the students who will suit up for P.E., but do not dance, I give them the choice to stand in the back line if they want. However, if they are not dancing they receive a zero for the day.
What is interesting is that the talkers and the non-participators are not usually the same students. This creates two different problems in the classroom. The talkers make it hard for me to teach and for the other students to learn, while the non-participators receive zeros.
Friday, February 9, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment