Student Behavior
In
my teaching experience, I have noticed different behaviors that
students exhibit that elicit different feelings from me. These
feelings can be broken down into good and bad feelings. The
following is a list of ten behaviors that elicit my responses.
Five of them bring good responses, and the other five bring bad
responses.
1.
The first behavior that I enjoy is excitement. I like to
see students enthusiastic about doing English. Once when I
taught, I used a game for my lesson. The students had a
blast. They wanted to play again. When I would see
them at Wal-Mart, they would ask me when I was going to let them
play the game again. It made me feel good to know that they
were excited about a grammar lesson.
2.
I also like to see comprehension. Often times, when
students do not understand something, they ask for help. When
I go to help them, and they understand it, they get that “Ohhhh!
Cool!” feeling. It makes me feel good to see them
understand a difficult concept.
3.
I also like to see a sense of humor. When students can make
things fun for themselves, they seem to enjoy class better.
A teacher can also use a student’s sense of humor to help
teach a lesson.
4.
I like easy-going students. Students who do not get uptight
about class seem to enjoy it better. They also seem to
learn easier. Easy-going students are easier to teach, and
are more than often, the most creative students in the class.
They can be some of the best students.
5.
My favorite behavior is brought about by the previously mentioned
good behaviors. It is a smile. A smile tells a lot about
the way a person is feeling. It can show the difference
between a good attitude, and a bad attitude. Many times, a
smile can completely turn a bad attitude around. It is the
most powerful sign to let the teacher know whether the student is
understanding what is being taught. I like to see a lot of
smiles.
1.
I cannot stand a smart mouth. Oh sure, I can take a little
bit of teasing, but blatant, outright, smart-mouthed responses I
will not tolerate. If a student has a problem, then he/she
should speak to me with respect. In turn, I will respect
them. However, if they try to jump down my throat and
disrespect me, then I will take action.
2.
I do not like bad attitudes. Students who are negative
about everything are not easy to teach. When that bad
attitude and negativity disrupts my class or that student’s
progress, I will have to correct it. I do not want to have
to take time away from class to correct this behavior.
3.
I do not understand why students give up. I cannot stand to
see a student quit because he does not understand the first time.
This discourages me. When this occurs, I’ll have to
spend some extra time with the student. I do not mind doing
that. However, I cannot help students who automatically
think that they will never understand things. They have to
help themselves, first.
4.
I really dislike seeing students who do not care. They do
not do their work, they disrupt class, and they whine when they
do not pass. They do not care if they fail tests, but they
refuse to be failed from the class. Students have to
understand that their education is important. Though they
may not realize it now, they will later, and will regret not
doing their best in class. Those students who do not care
about what they are doing have to learn that they cannot get by
in life by not doing what they need to. They have to care.
5.
I do not like to see fear. First of all, I want students to
feel free enough to ask me questions. I want to be able to
answer them. They should not be afraid of me. I have
to make sure that my attitude is good enough that they will feel
easy about asking me things.
Secondly,
I hope that they will not be scared of the work. I am
confident that students can learn the things that I will be
teaching them. They should not be afraid of making mistakes.
Finally, students should not be afraid of each other. I do not like to see students making fun of one another. If a student gets an answer wrong, he is not stupid. He is only incorrect about that question. That can easily be fixed. Students should not be afraid of being ridiculed by other students. I will not tolerate it.