What is the role of a school teacher in a student's life?

Teachers play vital roles in the lives of the students. Teachers are best known for the role of educating the students that are placed in their care. Beyond that, teachers set the tone of their classrooms, build a warm environment, mentor and nurture students, become role models, and listen and look for signs of trouble.

Teaching Knowledge

The most common role a teacher plays in the classroom is to teach knowledge to children. Teachers are given a curriculum they must follow that meets state guidelines. Teachers teach in many ways including lectures, small group activities and hands-on learning activities.

Creating Classroom Environment

Students often mimic a teacher’s actions. If the teacher prepares a warm, happy environment, students are more likely to be happy. An environment set by the teacher can be either positive or negative. Students are responsible for the social behaviour in their classrooms. This behaviour is primarily a reflection of the teacher’s actions and the environment she sets.

Role Modelling

Students spend a great deal of time with their teacher and therefore, the teacher becomes a role model to them. Teachers are typically highly respected by people in the community and therefore become a role model to students and parents.

Mentoring

Mentoring is a natural role taken on by teachers, whether it is intentional or not. Mentoring is a way a teacher encourages students to strive to be the best they can. This also includes encouraging students to enjoy learning. Part of mentoring consists of listening to students. By taking time to listen to what students say, teachers impart to students a sense of ownership in the classroom. This helps build their confidence and helps them want to be successful.

ANYBODY CAN BE A TEACHER!

 

“Teaching is a noble profession.”

I am a teacher by choice and to my surprise I got across a number of colleagues who declared that they had got into the teaching profession because:

a) it was better than an office job.

c) after marriage it seemed like the most suitable or acceptable option.

d) they weren’t qualified for anything else.

e) they could earn some pocket money.

This was the case all of fifteen years ago, maybe even earlier, and which I feel is partly responsible for the scant respect accorded to the teaching profession as a whole.

To be a teacher in today’s fast changing scenario can be exciting and challenging. There is now newness and dynamism to the whole approach of teaching.  But the bottom line still remains the same.

Anybody can become a teacher, although to be successful as a teacher you still need to love what you do. But that holds true for any profession!

Motivating Students

To motivate and guide the students in a proper way, teacher should have high level of patience and dedication to build the future of their students.

Following are some research-based strategies for motivating students to learn.

·       Get involved. Spending time outside of the classroom gives teachers additional opportunities to act as role models and mentors. 

·       Positive reinforcement. Praise him when you can, take note of his effort, and help him understand how his actions are going to help him not only in the classroom but in life

• Set realistic performance goals and help students achieve them by encouraging them to set their own reasonable goals.
• Be free with praise and constructive in criticism.  Offer non-judgmental feedback on students’ work, stress opportunities to improve, look for ways to stimulate advancement, and avoid dividing students into sheep and goats.
• Ownership. Give students options in the classroom. If students have a hand in making decisions about their education, they are more likely to commit to them.

The basic do’s and don’ts for conducting online classes

We all know that due to the COVID-19 lockdown, teachers are instructed by their institutions/schools to conduct online classes.

We will be discussing necessary things related to online classes that will help teachers.

 

Dos

·        Collect email addresses and contact numbers of all the students through which you want to conduct online classes.

·        Prepare yourself. Rehearsing for the topic will be better offline before your class.

·        Check all the important stuff, like internet connection, laptop, camera, etc. before your session.

·        Give your students all the instructions so that your online class runs smoothly and fruitful.

·        Keep your class as a series of short sessions so that students will not lose interest.

·        Take feedback from the students. Through this you will get their point of view about the session.

Don'ts

·        Don’t be very formal at the time of sessions.

·        Don’t postpone or cancel a class without any strong reason.