Pooja Keshavan Singh

A beautiful article on how a teacher turned around a student’s attitude toward math–a subject that the student wanted to give up on.

We all know how demanding, tiresome, and difficult a teacher’s job is. These tips by Manaswini Sridhar, teacher educator and language trainer, will hopefully help you through your teaching day. We all talk about it often enough, but forget to do it. Smile! Dressing well and comfortably is the best way of feeling confident. For many students, the teacher is the role model. Make sure they have chosen the right one to model their lives after. Your students ask permission to drink water and that you grant. You too should carry a bottle of water to every classroom. Staying hydrated is very important. Never give up on a student. You are the only hope the student probably has. Allow students to help you set the goals. They know better what they lack and what they need to learn. Don’t leave the impression with students that if they don’t learn the first time they are not smart enough. Do not become boring and predictable by adopting the same style of teaching. This is when discipline problems surface. Return tests and assignments as early as possible in order to make it relevant. Don’t just assign grades; provide feedback. School is not just about academic learning; it is also about learning about life skills. Encourage students to garner these skills while young. Introduce yourself at the beginning of the year with your name, the subject you will be teaching and what you look forward to. Students like to know the ‘person’ in their teacher. Don’t shy away from simplifying a complicated concept. A great teacher makes everything simple. Today’s generation is known as the silent generation since they talk only to gadgets. Encourage them to talk to people because this is what they will be doing on their jobs. Do not teach students to fear exams and tests. Teach them to look forward to them as evaluating how much they have learned and not how little they have learned. Do not shy away from website resources. Tweak them to suit your class and subject. Have the confidence to laugh with your students. A fine sense of humour is what makes a good teacher a more humane one. Understand that developing reading and writing skills are not the job of the language teacher alone; students need these skills for every subject! Teaching students time management is easy when you allow them to see how well you manage yours. Open channels of communication with all your colleagues so that you