Experience is the greatest treasure a teacher might posses. For teachers, it can be described as adding to their understanding and practice of teaching. Here comes the curse that lies beneath this treasure: to forget about your past experience as LEARNERS. The curious eyes looking over the desks, all the questions running through those heads, the very innocent feelings and needs of those students should always be preserved and kept alive by the teachers regardless of the years they spend in the profession, and, yes, it should be considered a SIN to forget about them.
On this blog, you will be hearing voices coming from your past. A brilliant group of ELT students will be questioning your teaching rituals by posting their “Hey, teacher why do(n’t) you?”s. They invite you English teachers to comment on their posts and help build a bridge between ELT students and teachers.
Welcome to our blog!
Ece Sevgi
Monday, August 13, 2012
Hey, teacher! Why don't you admit that you may be mistaken?
...because in my first years of teaching, I didn't want to show my students that I could make mistakes. Being a teacher meant being in control of all kind of information that was circulating in the classroom. As a young teacher, you want to make your students feel that you are the master of all the information that you provide. However, in reality this wasn't true. There were many times, when the more "advanced" students questioned some of the information and (sometimes, I have to admit, they were right!)for me, it was not right to admit that I was mistaken. But later on, after a few years, I realized that admitting your mistakes actually makes you stronger and creates another type of respect among your students. We have to know that as a non-native English teacher, we cannot master the language like a native speaker does. Making mistakes is a part of human nature and not admitting it as a teacher is just a little flaw that teachers have to overcome. (Of course, if you plan your lessons well, the chance of making mistakes will drop dramatically!)
Hi Hakan Hocam :) Firstly, I want to thank you for posting the first comment of our blog. We, as the students, need to connect with teachers to be able to become qualified teachers in the future. Thats why, we are thankful for hearing these statements that will be great guidance for us..
...because in my first years of teaching, I didn't want to show my students that I could make mistakes. Being a teacher meant being in control of all kind of information that was circulating in the classroom. As a young teacher, you want to make your students feel that you are the master of all the information that you provide. However, in reality this wasn't true. There were many times, when the more "advanced" students questioned some of the information and (sometimes, I have to admit, they were right!)for me, it was not right to admit that I was mistaken. But later on, after a few years, I realized that admitting your mistakes actually makes you stronger and creates another type of respect among your students. We have to know that as a non-native English teacher, we cannot master the language like a native speaker does. Making mistakes is a part of human nature and not admitting it as a teacher is just a little flaw that teachers have to overcome. (Of course, if you plan your lessons well, the chance of making mistakes will drop dramatically!)
ReplyDeleteHi Hakan Hocam :)
DeleteFirstly, I want to thank you for posting the first comment of our blog. We, as the students, need to connect with teachers to be able to become qualified teachers in the future. Thats why, we are thankful for hearing these statements that will be great guidance for us..