“Am I inadvertently irritating my students?”
There are certain things that you may not be aware of that will aggravate your students:
- mispronouncing their names
- making fun of them in front of the class
- responding to their question by saying that you already answered that question earlier in the lesson
- not giving them the opportunity to ask questions, e.g. no question slot at the end of the lesson
- always focusing on and/or praising the same students
- talking badly about their country
- criticising the textbook (remember that they will probably have paid for it themselves)
- ignoring them when they have clearly not understood
- making comments about their appearance
Asking a trusted colleague to peer observe your lessons can be very illuminating, as can videoing yourself teaching.
Categories: Methodology
