Post by Otaku on Oct 11, 2007 12:56:22 GMT 8
Do you think you are a good teacher, or are you here for the green tea and onsens?
Here's some questions for you:
I believe there is no one recipe for being a good teacher, but at the end of the day, can you say that you made the student realize how important they are, and did you teach them what they needed to know?
Here's some questions for you:
- Do you make the classes interesting? Despite what you think is interesting, does your students respond to you?
- Do you slow down or alter your lesson plans when you come in contact with slower learning students? This is almost a trick question because if the JTE conducts their classes on auto-pilot and you have no say in the class, this has no bearing on your skills as a teacher. My opinion is that teachers that teach on a timeframe and move along that time-frame disregarding students' trouble areas <cough cough...TTTT (Teaching-To-Test-Teachers)> should be math teachers and not English teachers. In my opinion, a student's personal rate of learning should not be based upon a lesson plan, but rather the lesson plan should be flexible to the students' needs.
- Do you like your job? I'm not talking about the current position you might find yourself, I'm talking about when you are in the actual classroom teaching...do you like it?
- Do you hide your real personality from your students? This is especially an interesting question teaching in Japan, considering the quite conservative culture. I think it's extremely important not to be assimilated by Japanese culture. While 99% of Japan might be Japanese, ALL ALTs are not! Not all teachers are the same. You shouldn't have to hide your qualities. I think being yourself is the best role model for your students...that is to say, if you are a good person to begin with.
- Do you use current events? Textbooks are dead; currents events are alive.
- Are you short-tempered? If you find yourself becoming angry a lot, do you find channel it into positive avenues?
- Do you offend people when you correct them? It always seems that we remember the bad things more than the good. If you correct, do you reinforce the correction with positive reinforcement?
- Do you favor students? I'm guilty of this one. I always seem to like the students who aren't shy or know all the answers. However, do you remember the quiet student at the back of the classroom who never raises their hand and is afraid of eye contact. I think those are the students whose lives we can impact the most. But, the question is....how do we do it?
I believe there is no one recipe for being a good teacher, but at the end of the day, can you say that you made the student realize how important they are, and did you teach them what they needed to know?