Building relationships with your students is one of the most important secrets of successful teaching! When you know your students and care about them, they will forgive a multitude of teaching blunders. This is especially important when you are just starting your career!
In all honesty, it took me 43 years to hone my skills to the point where I actually thought I was doing a pretty decent job teaching Spanish!
While you are perfecting HOW to teach, get to know your students and what makes them unique! Make your classroom an opportunity to interact individually and take a personal interest in every child! What are their lives like outside the classroom? What sports, extracurriculars, or leisure activities interest them?
Make an inventory sheet for them to fill out in ENGLISH so that you can begin to find ways to relate to them! Stand at the door when they come in and at the door when they go out! Look them in the eye and take an interest in them personally on a daily basis. No matter what happens in the classroom, good, bad, embarrassing, etc. they will begin to understand that you care about them and this will help them to build confidence and begin taking risks in the world language classroom.
It is intimidating for many to venture to speak in a new language in front of their peers. You have to be the one to encourage and create the right atmosphere for this exciting new adventure.
Many students dislike the world language classroom because it feels threatening on so many levels! What if I have the wrong answer, have a terrible accent, have no clue what the teacher is saying to me?
In my next blog, we will explore the importance of building a safe and inclusive community in the world language classroom. You truly have such an opportunity to create a positive and productive atmosphere for language learning. The first step is building a relationship with each child no matter how amazing you are at teaching your subject!
In the meantime, check out our other blogs on language, and be sure to follow FL4K on social media through the links at the very bottom of this page so you don’t miss the next Tool Tip and other language fun!
Missed my first Tool Tip? You can read about the Can-Do classroom here right now!