Teachers
The 2nd biggest influence on a child’s life
Lisa Mettler
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Native of Virginia, United States
Graduated Columbus State University
B.S. Psychology
M.S. Counseling
Married with 3 daughters
Adjunct professor of SVCC
Other varied professions
Part One
• Why are we teachers?
• Most important training is mentoring and
modeling, so knowing yourself, methodology
and classroom management skills that are
successful and proven to work is crucial.
• Confidence/managing stress
• Methodology
• Classroom management
• Peer support
Building Confidence
• Having confidence will only improve a teacher’s worth
and their overall effectiveness. It is a key component of
being successful. Students in particular quickly pick up
on a lack of self confidence and use that to take
advantage of a new teacher. Lack of self confidence may
eventually force a teacher to find another career.
• Confidence is something that cannot be faked, but it is
something that can be built. Building confidence is
another part of a principal’s/leader’s or trainer’s duties. It
can make all the difference in the world in how effective
a teacher is. There is no perfect formula because every
person has their own unique level of confidence. Some
teachers do not require their confidence to be boosted at
all while others require lots of attention.
Building Confidence
1. Express Gratitude
 Teachers often feel under appreciated, so
showing them that you truly appreciate them
can go along ways in building confidence.
Expressing gratitude is quick and easy. Make a
habit of telling your teachers thank you, send a
personal appreciation email, or give them
something like a candy bar or other snack on
occasion. These simple things will
improve morale and confidence.
Building Confidence
2. Give them Leadership Opportunities
 Putting teachers who lack self confidence in
charge of something may sound like a bad
idea, but when given the chance they will
surprise you more times than they let you
down. They shouldn’t be put in charge of large
overwhelming tasks, but there are plenty of
smaller duties that anyone should be able to
handle. These opportunities build confidence
because it forces them to step outside their
comfort zone and gives them a chance to be
successful.
Building Confidence
3. Focus on the Strengths
 Every teacher has strengths, and every
teacher has weaknesses. It is important that
you spend time praising their strengths.
However it is necessary to remember that
strengths can be improved just as much as
weaknesses. One way to build confidence is to
allow them to share strategies that show their
strengths with their colleagues in a faculty or
team meeting. Another strategy is to allow
them to mentor teachers who struggle in areas
where they have strengths.
Building Confidence
4. Share Positive Parent/Student Feedback
 Principals or trainers shouldn’t be afraid to ask
for student and parent feedback about a
teacher. It will be beneficial regardless of the
type of feedback you receive. Sharing the
positive feedback with a teacher can truly be a
confidence booster. Teachers who believe they
are well respected by parents and students
gain a lot of confidence. It naturally means a
lot for those two groups to believe in a
teacher’s abilities.
Building Confidence
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Provide Suggestions for Improvement
All teachers should be given a comprehensive
Personal Development Plan that serves as a guide
for improvement in areas of weaknesses. Most
teachers want to be good at all parts of their job. Many
of them are aware of their weaknesses, but do not
know how to fix them. This leads to a lack of self
confidence. A key part of a principal’s/leader’s or
trainer’s job is to evaluate teachers. If there isn’t a
growth and improvement component to your
evaluation model, then it won’t be an effective
evaluation system, and it certainly will not help build
confidence.
Building Confidence
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Provide Young Teachers a Mentor
Everybody needs a mentor that they can model
themselves after, seek advice or feedback from, and
share best practices. This is especially true for young
teachers. Veteran teachers make excellent mentors
because they have seen it all. As a mentor, they can
share both successes and failures. A mentor can build
confidence through encouragement over a long period
of time. The impact a mentor has on a teacher can
span the length of several careers as the young
teachers become mentors themselves.
Building Confidence
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Give Them Time
Most teacher preparation programs do not prepare a
teacher for life in a real classroom. This is where the
lack of self confidence often begins. Most teachers
come in excited and fully confident only to realize that
the real world is much tougher than the picture they
had painted in their mind. This forces them to adjust
quickly, which can be overwhelming, and where
confidence is often lost. Slowly over the course of time
with assistance like the suggestions made, most
teachers will regain their confidence and begin to
make the climb towards excellence.
Managing Stress
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Break down whatever you have to do into smaller tasks. If you
have to tackle something large, break it down into bite size
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Think of things that make teaching fun for you - and do them!
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Deal openly with a colleague who has bothered or upset you
before the situation gets worse.
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Try not to take things personally because often comments aren't
meant to be personal offenses.
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Stay in close touch with nature. Have a classroom pet, take a
class outdoors if weather and school policy permit it, open the
windows at snack time, find a way to incorporate the change of
seasons and nature walks into your curriculum.
Managing Stress
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Make time during the school year for your hobbies. Don't wait for
summer vacation.
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Apologize when you're wrong.
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Put a cartoon or photo that makes you laugh in you plan book or
desk drawer and look at it when you need a boost.
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Take a walk during lunch, a planning period, or after school.
During your walk, don't think about the things you have to do.
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Steer clear of the coffee pot, tea, sodas or other caffeinated
drinks. Too much caffeine can make you nervous and irritable.
Managing Stress
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Keep in mind that no matter what colleagues, your principal,
students, or parents think or say, you're basically a good teacher
who can't please all the people all the time.
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Don't listen to the rumors that fly around the school.
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Give yourself permission to do absolutely nothing for five minutes
a day — and not feel guilty about it.
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Just say no. Politely refuse to take on more projects than you can
handle, even if a colleague, your principal, or a parent asks you
to.
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Be grateful to have a meaningful job.
Part One
• Why are we teachers?
• Most important training is mentoring and
modeling, so knowing yourself, methodology
and classroom management skills that are
successful and proven to work is crucial.
• Confidence/managing stress
• Methodology
• Classroom management
• Peer support
Methodology
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Lecture by teacher
Class discussion conducted by
teacher
Recitation oral questions by teacher
answered orally by students
Discussion groups conducted by
selected student chairpersons
Lecture-demonstration by teacher
Lecture-demonstration by another
instructor(s) from a special field
Presentation by a panel of instructors
or students
Presentations by student panels from
the class: class invited to participate
Student reports by individuals
Student-group reports by committees
from the class
Debate (informal) on current issues
by students from class
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Class discussions conducted by a
student or student committee
Forums
Bulletin boards
Small groups such as task oriented,
discussion, Socratic
Choral speaking
Collecting
Textbook assignments
Reading assignments in journals,
monographs, etc.
Reading assignments in
supplementary books
Assignment to outline portions of the
textbook
Assignment to outline certain
supplementary readings
Debates (formal)
Methodology
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Crossword puzzles
Cooking foods of places studied
Construction of vocabulary lists
Vocabulary drills
Diaries
Dances of places or periods studied
Construction of summaries by
students
Dressing dolls
Required term paper
Panel discussion
Biographical reports given by students
Reports on published research studies
and experiments by students
Library research on topics or problems
Written book reports by students
Flags
Jigsaw puzzle maps
Hall of Fame by topic or era (military or
political leaders, heroes)
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Flannel boards
Use of pretest
Gaming and simulation
Flash cards
Flowcharts
Interviews
Maps, transparencies, globes
Mobiles
Audio-tutorial lessons (individualized
instruction)
Models
Music
Field trips
Drama, role playing
Open textbook study
Committee projects--small groups
Notebook
Murals and montages
Methodology
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Class projects
Individual projects
Quizdown gaming
Modeling in various media
Pen pals
Photographs
Laboratory experiments performed by more
than two students working together
Use of dramatization, skits, plays
Student construction of diagrams, charts, or
graphs
Making of posters by students
Students drawing pictures or cartoons vividly
portraying principles or facts
Problem solving or case studies
Puppets
Use of chalkboard by instructor as aid in
teaching
Use of diagrams, tables, graphs, and charts
by instructor in teaching
Use of exhibits and displays by instructor
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Reproductions
Construction of exhibits and displays by
students
Use of slides
Use of filmstrips
Use of motion pictures, educational films,
videotapes
Use of theater motion pictures
Use of recordings
Use of radio programs
Use of television
Role playing
Sand tables
School affiliations
Verbal illustrations: use of anecdotes and
parables to illustrate
Service projects
Stamps, coins, and other hobbies
Use of community or local resources
Story telling
Surveys
Methodology
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Tutorial: students assigned to other students
for assistance, peer teaching
Coaching: special assistance provided for
students having difficulty in the course
Oral reports
Word association activity
Workbooks
Using case studies reported in literature to
illustrate psychological principles and facts
Construction of scrapbooks
Applying simple statistical techniques to
class data
Time lines
"Group dynamics" techniques
Units of instruction organized by topics
Non directive techniques applied to the
classroom
Supervised study during class period
Use of sociometric text to make sociometric
analysis of class
Use of technology and instructional
resources
Open textbook tests, take home tests
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Put idea into picture
Write a caption for chart, picture, or cartoon
Reading aloud
Differentiated assignment and homework
Telling about a trip
Mock convention
Filling out forms (income tax, checks)
Prepare editorial for school paper
Attend council meeting, school boar meeting
Exchanging "things"
Making announcements
Taking part (community elections)
Playing music from other countries or times
Studying local history
Compile list of older citizens as resource
people
Students from abroad (exchange students)
Obtain free and low cost materials
Collect old magazines
In brainstorming small group, students
identify a list of techniques and strategies
that best fit their class.
Methodology
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Collect colored slides
Visit an "ethnic" restaurant
Specialize in one country
Follow a world leader (in the
media)
Visit an employment agency
Start a campaign
Conduct a survey
Investigate a life
Assist an immigrant
Volunteer (tutoring, hospital)
Prepare an exhibit
Join an organization
Collect money for a cause
Elect a "Hall of Fame" for
males
• Elect a "Hall of Fame" for
females
• Construct a salt map
• Construct a drama
• Prepare presentation for senior
citizen group
• Invite senior citizen(s) to
present local history to class
including displaying artifacts
(clothing, tools, objects, etc.)
• Prepare mock newspaper on
specific topic or era
• Draw a giant map on floor of
classroom
• Research local archaeological
site
• Exchange program with
schools from different parts of
the state
Part One
• Why are we teachers?
• Most important training is mentoring and
modeling, so knowing yourself, methodology
and classroom management skills that are
successful and proven to work is crucial.
• Confidence/managing stress
• Methodology
• Classroom management
• Peer support
Classroom Management
“If students are engaged, they are managed.”
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Build Community
Design a Safe, Friendly, and Well-Managed Classroom
Environment
Include Students in Creating Rules, Norms, Routines, and
Consequences
Create a Variety of Communication Channels
Always Be Calm, Fair, and Consistent
Know the Students You Teach
Address Conflict Quickly and Wisely
Integrate Positive Classroom Rituals
Keep It Real
Partner with Parents and Guardians
Classroom Management
Understanding Behavioral Issues
 Learning Disorders
 Dyslexia
 ADHD
Classroom Management
1. Focusing
Be sure you have the attention of everyone in your classroom before you start your lesson.
Don’t attempt to teach over the chatter of students who are not paying attention.
Inexperienced teachers sometimes think that by beginning their lesson, the class will settle
down. The children will see that things are underway now and it is time to go to work.
Sometimes this works, but the children are also going to think that you are willing to compete
with them, that you don’t mind talking while they talk, or that you are willing to speak louder so
that they can finish their conversation even after you have started the lesson. They get the
idea that you accept their inattention and that it is permissible to talk while you are presenting
a lesson.
The focusing technique means that you will demand their attention before you begin. It means
that you will wait and not start until everyone has settled down. Experienced teachers know
that silence on their part is very effective. They will punctuate their waiting by extending it 3
to 5 seconds after the classroom is completely quiet. Then they begin their lesson using a
quieter voice than normal.
A soft spoken teacher often has a calmer, quieter classroom than one with a stronger voice.
Her students sit still in order to hear what she says.
Classroom Management
2. Direct Instruction
Uncertainty increases the level of excitement in the classroom. The technique of
direct instruction is to begin each class by telling the students exactly what will be
happening. The teacher outlines what he and the students will be doing this period.
He may set time limits for some tasks.
An effective way to marry this technique with the first one is to include time at the
end of the period for students to do activities of their choosing. The teacher may
finish the description of the hour’s activities with: “And I think we will have some
time at the end of the period for you to chat with your friends, go to the library, or
catch up on work for other classes.”
The teacher is more willing to wait for class attention when he knows there is extra
time to meet his goals and objectives. The students soon realize that the more
time the teacher waits for their attention, the less free time they have at the end of
the hour.
Classroom Management
3. Monitoring
The key to this principle is to circulate. Get up and get around the room. While your students
are working, make the rounds. Check on their progress.
An effective teacher will make a pass through the whole room about two minutes after the
students have started a written assignment. She checks that each student has started, that the
children are on the correct page, and that everyone has put their names on their papers. The
delay is important. She wants her students to have a problem or two finished so she can check
that answers are correctly labeled or in complete sentences. She provides individualized
instruction as needed.
Students who are not yet quite on task will be quick to get going as they see her approach.
Those that were distracted or slow to get started can be nudged along.
The teacher does not interrupt the class or try to make general announcements unless she
notices that several students have difficulty with the same thing. The teacher uses a quiet
voice and her students appreciate her personal and positive attention.
Classroom Management
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Modeling
McDaniel tells us of a saying that goes “Values are
caught, not taught.” Teachers who are courteous,
prompt, enthusiastic, in control, patient and
organized provide examples for their students
through their own behavior. The “do as I say, not as
I do” teachers send mixed messages that confuse
students and invite misbehavior.
If you want students to use quiet voices in your
classroom while they work, you too will use a quiet
voice as you move through the room helping
youngsters.
Classroom Management
5. Non-Verbal Cuing
A standard item in the classroom of the 1950’s
was the clerk’s bell. A shiny nickelbell sat on the
teacher’s desk. With one tap of the button on top
he had everyone’s attention. Teachers have
shown a lot of cleverness over the years in
making use of non-verbal cues in the classroom.
Some flip light switches. Others keep clickers in
their pockets.
Non-verbal cues can also be facial expressions,
body posture and hand signals. Care should be
given in choosing the types of cues you use in
your classroom. Take time to explain what you
want the students to do when you use your cues.
Classroom
Management
6. Environmental Control
A classroom can be a warm cheery place. Students enjoy an
environment that changes periodically. Study centers with pictures and
color invite enthusiasm for your subject.
Young people like to know about you and your interests. Include personal
items in your classroom. A family picture or a few items from a hobby or
collection on your desk will trigger personal conversations with your
students. As they get to know you better, you will see fewer problems
with discipline.
Just as you may want to enrich your classroom, there are times when
you may want to impoverish it as well. You may need a quiet corner with
few distractions. Some students will get caught up in visual exploration.
For them, the splash and the color is a siren that pulls them off task. They
may need more “vanilla” and less “rocky-road.” Have a quiet place where
you can steer these youngsters. Let them get their work done first and
then come back to explore and enjoy the rest of the room.
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Classroom
Management
7. Low-Profile Intervention
Most students are sent to the principal’s office as a result of confrontational
escalation. The teacher has called them on a lesser offense, but in the
moments that follow, the student and the teacher are swept up in a verbal
maelstrom. Much of this can be avoided when the teacher’s intervention is
quiet and calm.
An effective teacher will take care that the student is not rewarded for
misbehavior by becoming the focus of attention. She monitors the activity in
her classroom, moving around the room. She anticipates problems before
they occur. Her approach to a misbehaving student is inconspicuous. Others
in the class are not distracted.
While lecturing to her class this teacher makes effective use of name-dropping.
If she sees a student talking or off task, she simply drops the youngster’s
name into her dialogue in a natural way. “And you see, David, we carry the
one to the tens column.” David hears his name and is drawn back on task.
The rest of the class doesn’t seem to notice.
Classroom Management
8. Assertive Discipline
This is traditional limit setting authoritarianism. When
executed as presented by Lee Canter (who has made
this form a discipline one of the most widely known
and practiced) it will include a good mix of praise. This
is high profile discipline. The teacher is the boss and
no child has the right to interfere with the learning of
any student. Clear rules are laid out and consistently
enforced.
Classroom Management
9. Assertive I-Messages
A component of Assertive Discipline, these I-Messages are
statements that the teacher uses when confronting a student who
is misbehaving. They are intended to be clear descriptions of what
the student is suppose to do. The teacher who makes good use of
this technique will focus the child’s attention first and foremost on
the behavior he wants, not on the misbehavior. “I want you to...” or
“I need you to...” or “I expect you to...”
The inexperienced teacher may incorrectly try “I want you to
stop...” only to discover that this usually triggers confrontation and
denial. The focus is on the misbehavior and the student is quick to
retort: “I wasn’t doing anything!” or “It wasn’t my fault...” or “Since
when is there a rule against...” and escalation has begun.
Classroom
Management
10. Humanistic I-Messages
These I-messages are expressions of our feelings. Thomas Gordon,
creator of Teacher Effectiveness Training (TET), tells us to structure
these messages in three parts. First, include a description of the child’s
behavior. “When you talk while I talk...” Second, relate the effect this
behavior has on the teacher. “...I have to stop my teaching...” And third,
let the student know the feeling that it generates in the teacher. “...which
frustrates me.”
A teacher, distracted by a student who was constantly talking while he
tried to teach, once made this powerful expression of feelings: “I cannot
imagine what I have done to you that I do not deserve the respect from
you that I get from the others in this class. If I have been rude to you or
inconsiderate in any way, please let me know. I feel as though I have
somehow offended you and now you are unwilling to show me respect.”
The student did not talk during his lectures again for many weeks.
Classroom Management
11. Positive Discipline
Use classroom rules that describe the behaviors
you want instead of listing things the students
cannot do. Instead of “no-running in the room,”
use “move through the building in an orderly
manner.” Instead of “no fighting,“ use “settle
conflicts appropriately.” Instead of “no gum
chewing,” use “leave gum at home.” Refer to
your rules as expectations. Let your students
know this is how you expect them to behave in
your classroom.
Make ample use of praise. When you see good
behavior, acknowledge it. This can be done
verbally, of course, but it doesn’t have to be. A
nod, a smile or a “thumbs up” will reinforce the
behavior
Part One
• Why are we teachers?
• Most important training is mentoring and
modeling, so knowing yourself, methodology
and classroom management skills that are
successful and proven to work is crucial.
• Confidence/managing stress
• Methodology
• Classroom management
• Peer support
Peer Support
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Asking for help should be easy
Direct supervisor
Administrators
Principals
Colleagues
Internet
Parents
Part Two
• Training methods in the United
States
• Assist new teachers then move
into lead role
• Evidence based
• Classroom curriculum
• Psychology and child
development
• Always assess, evaluate,
change as necessary
• Inspire, be creative and flexible
• Learning styles are different,
audio, visual, kinesthetic,
right/left brain.
• Group/pair work
• Strong students “train” weak
students
• Differentiate – strong students
keep from being bored by too
easy work and weak students
lose attention because they
don’t understand.
• Role play
• Hands on
• Use peer checking, buddy up
system
Current Trends
• Shift from subject/class teaching to
student teaching by differentiation
• Understanding learning styles and
accommodating
• DIFFERENTIATION
• A few decades ago the world of education was exercised by the
forerunner of differentiation which was called ‘mixed ability
teaching’. Then people began to realise it was not just ability
that could be “mixed’’ and that teachers had to cope with many
differences: learning style, age, motivation, prior learning and
experience, gender, specific learning difficulties such as
dyslexia, and so on. Consequently the term ‘mixed ability’ began
to be replaced by the less vivid term: ‘differentiation’. But
what does differentiation mean exactly?
• Differentiation is an approach to teaching that attempts to
ensure that all students learn well, despite their many
differences. Catch phrases which go some way to capturing this
concept include:
• ‘Coping with differences’.
• ‘Learning for all’ or
• ‘Success for all’.
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There are a number of common misconceptions about differentiation.
Some believe that it is something ‘added on’ to normal teaching and that
it just requires a few discrete extra activities in the lesson. In fact,
differentiation permeates everything a good teacher does and it is often
impossible to ‘point’ to a discrete event that achieves it. It is not what
is done often, but the way it is done that achieves differentiation. For
this reason differentiation may not show up on a lesson plan or in the
Scheme of Work. However some teachers try to show their intentions
to differentiate by setting objectives in the following format:
All must….
Some may…
A few might…
This may help new teachers to think about the diversity of their
learners, but having such objectives does not guarantee differentiation.
It is the strategies, not the objectives that achieve differentiation, and
this should be the focus of our interests.
Differentiation is not new, good teachers have always done it. However,
it does chime with a new conception of the teacher’s role. Once we
teachers taught courses, subjects and classes. But no more. Now we
are teaching individuals.
Once education was a sieve. The weaker students were ‘sieved out’ and
they left the classroom for the world of work, while the able students
were retained for the next level. ‘Drop outs’ were planned for, and seen
not just as inevitable but as desirable. Put bluntly, the aim was to
discover those who could not cope, and not spend time with them.
But now education is a ladder, and we expect every learner to climb as
fast and as high as they are able. ‘Drop outs’ are seen as a wasted
opportunity, for the learners, and for society as a whole.
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This changes our ideas about the capability of learners and the
nature of learning. Once learners were thought to have a genetic
disposition for learning, or not, which was measured by their ‘IQ’.
This placed an upper limit on their possible achievement. Some
students were thought to reach their ‘ceiling’ after which further
teaching would be in vain.
This is no longer thought to be the case. Experts on the brain and
on learning now stress that everyone can learn more, if they are
taught appropriately, whatever they have previously achieved. A
vivid illustration of this is provided by the work of Professor Reuven
Feuerstien. He teaches learners with what we call ‘moderate
learning difficulties’, using a very special and unusual program
involving intensive work for one hour a day every day. Four years
later these learners have ‘caught up’ and are found to have an
average ‘IQ’. They can live independent lives, learn normally, and
are indistinguishable from average members of their societies.
Needless to say, remnants of the ‘ceiling’ model of learning can still
be found in many teachers’ conceptions of teaching and learning.
These ideas need to be tackled. Luckily in most colleges examples
can be found of students who entered the college on a level 1
programme, and progressed well, eventually leaving for a bigger
university. These are persuasive role models for other learners and
for teachers. Teachers can make much greater differences than
they themselves realise, and we are only just beginning to scratch
the surface of what is possible.
• For more information on Professor
Feuerstein’s methods:
• Visit the website of ‘The
International Center for the
Enhancement of Learning Potential’
http://www.icelp.org/
Personal Experience
• Teaching English as a Second Language
requires speaking in English as much as
possible. Students need to hear it in a practical
manner.
• Focus on an integrated approach, reading,
writing, listening and speaking.
• Use native speakers to proofread materials
• Understand and avoid “chinglish”
• You get what you expect, set standards
Conclusion
• Excite students and teachers, infuse then
with your own enthusiasm!
• Work smart, not hard
• Assess, educate, evaluate
• Mindfulness, self-care
• Clear goals, set objectives
• Continued training
This is your future!