Yes, I know it's Wednesday. That's just the way it goes sometimes.
What goes on in the classroom isn't the only thing that matters, even if you're a classroom teacher. A happy and comfortable teaching career is one in which, more often than not, you get the grade or subject assignment you want, you are able to get campus transfers or employment in other districts when you need to, and you can advance to leadership or administrative positions if you want. In tough economic times, teachers also need to be valued enough that they escape the lay-off axe. And occasionally, it’s nice to be in a position to receive consideration for honors and awards.
The employee who gets these things is one who:
Does a good job; and
Makes sure that people know they do a good job.
It’s a variation on the old question “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” Consider this version: “If a teacher does a good deed and no one knows about it, will it be considered when the Teacher of the Year is being awarded ?”- the answer is a resounding “No!” whether anyone is there to hear it or not.
The Tuesday Tasks feature is designed to help you further your career, or merely safeguard it, by offering simple things you can do a regular basis that will increase both your value to and visibility in the school. Enhancing your reputation as a “good” teacher and a “team player” can bring all sorts of benefits down the line. And as a teacher, one of the most valuable assets you have is your reputation. A good reputation can insulate you from false charges of inappropriate conduct by students, parents, and even other educators.
Todays Tuesday Task deals with communication. Teaching is all about communication - primarily with students, but also with parents, administrators, and fellow teachers. But at it's heart, teaching is about communicating with students in some fashion, and unless you can communicate effectively with your students, you will fail to teach them. So today I want you to work your communication muscles. In physical exercise, there is a form of exercise that involves isolating specific muscles in order to obtain better control and to improve that one muscle. Today you will do a comparable exercise by choosing one student in your class with whom you need to better communicate, and focusing on ideas that will work specifically on your communication with that one student.
Consider things like:
what is the student's preferred learning style? kinesthtic? verbal? visual?
How is the student in class? shy? disruptive? confused?
Are there any cultural differences between you and the student?
Is there competition for the student's attention? from friends? subjects the student perceives as more interesting? personal items?
You get the idea - analyze the student. Once you have done that, come up with ideas for things that you can do that will take advantage of the knowldege that you have. For example, adding different types of examples in your teaching, changing your voice tone, asking direct questions (or none at all in front of peers), asking the student to tutor, having the student tutored, etc.
Be creative. The point is to focus intently on better communication with one student as a means of practicing the techniques that you will use on the class as a whole.
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