Being a teacher requires not only knowing and teaching a specific area, but also beeing somebody else in the class. No matter how upset you are, you should take your sullen face off in the very moment when you enter the class. You are supposed to be enthusiastic and witty most of the time. As it is stated in the Miller’s article students feel more comfortable when the teacher is humorous and joky.
When we were students, we have always cared what the teacher says and wears. However, I didn’t realize that the way s/he dresses or his/ her posture affects the students that much. As Hamp-Lyons stated teacher is a source of visual and audio aid himself. His/her posture, appearance, tone of voice, movements in the class mean a lot for students. That means the teacher is also part of teaching with all his/her being. I liked the title ” your most essential audiovisual aid -yourself!”. In that your position in the class, the distance between you and the students, your look your facial expression etc. have an impact on your students’ learning and teaching atmosphere. Teaching and learning is a reciprocal process. Not only you teach something to the students, they also teach you another thing. The most important point is students like a mirror, they reflect what you give them. If you send them negative energy, they will also reply in the same way.
I like the idea of enriching the classroom with tiny attractive tools. sand clocks, stickers, play cards, dice, colored sticks, call bell, and colorful markers are some of those mentioned in McCaughey’s article. I think as long as you adapt it properly everything that seems useless or trivial can be a good material for your class. Recently, I realized that when I see a different thing, I think how can I use it as a tool in my class. I believe, I am used to being a teacher, which makes me very happy. I admit that in today’s world, it’s hard to draw students’ attention to something other than technological ones. “The new generation ” is used to living with technology in every moment of life. I couldn’t imagine myself teaching with dogme. Especially in the west, it is almost impossible to teach without using any technological material. That’s why I appreciate Emre aydın’s effort in the east to teach in a very bad situation. I like starting over, but when it comes to real life I am not sure if I can manage it. I don’t know how long I can stay in a place where I am not able to communicate with my students. Especially in the first years of my profession when I am dying to teach all I know.
The last but not least thing is my observations about my mentor teacher. I think she is doing good, but she needs some enthusiasm and improvement. The classroom is well equipped in contrast to a dogme lesson. However, she uses only a small part of this material. Maybe it’s not a big problem, but her sitting on the teacher’s chair cuts her connection with the students. It would be great if she changed her position in the class. She is a good source for the students, but she doesn’t use her full potential. Nevertheless, she is good at having eye contact with the students. Sometimes she uses her tone of voice very effectively. She is very professional in terms of not reflecting her personal problems to the students. I appreciate her effort and I think I can learn some useful tips from her.
kaderkocelt 