Good Advice for Teachers

September 9, 2015

Some small bits of advice for teachers starting out the year:

1)  Try to get to know your audience--their background, their culture.

2)  Acknowledge their background and experience and try to build on it, rather than negate it.

3)  Don't act surprised when they do something right, sometimes even before you've taught it.  Again, build on it, rather than show how much you doubted their ability to grasp the concept.

4)  If you are asked a question and you don't know the answer, don't be afraid to admit that you don't know.  It shows you're human, you recognize that you don't know everything, and that's okay.  Also, if you are asked a question and you don't understand the question being asked, don't get defensive; ask clarifying questions to make sure you understand so that you and your student can get on the same page and speak the same language.

5)  Speaking in a condescending manner to your students almost guarantees that they will shut you off.  It's a pretty good idea to avoid it.

Come to think of it, this is pretty good advice for speakers coming in to run staff development for teachers, as well, it turns out...