In my school experience, I only remember a handful of teachers, and for different reasons. There was the angry teacher, the teacher who was always late to class, the “always peppy” teacher, and the teacher who we all felt was on the verge of a mental breakdown. But the teachers that are remembered the most fondly are the ones that actually taught you something. After interviewing various individuals across the United States and Mexico I found a common thread…passion.
The teachers people remember the most were passionate about what they teach. In turn the students not only learned what was taught, but how it was taught as well. Is there a link? Why would being passionate be important?
The Relationship Forged In Fire
I find sometimes, that students can have a very me vs you attitude when it comes down to learning something they are not particularly interested in. How do we respond to such a disposition? We could get frustrated, angry, or even withhold attention with them. Ultimately however, we want every student who crosses the threshold of classroom to not just learn, but to understand what they learn.
So, a relationship must be formed, by being…passionate, about what we are teaching and their desire to learn. By showing that we love what we are teaching, we can reach the hearts of those in the class. They will then form a relationship with not only you, but the subject they are learning. Even if the student doesn’t do well, they will still have the impression on their minds of how that class was handled.
Our words and actions can be like a fire, and when copper or metal is surrounded by fire it becomes malleable. The students that we teach are like rocks and metal, though they may come to us rigid or undefined, we can mold them if our fire is hot enough. So we must always remain passionate to forge our relationship with our students with fire.
Imitate the T.V. Salesman
Have you ever stayed up a little too late on a work night? Have you ever stopped on an infomercial because nothing is on? Have you ever been really tempted to buy a product you will never use? That’s the story of why my family now have a blender. But, even though I threw my money to the dark cabinet never to be opened, I was left with an example. I only bought that product because of how the salesman presented the product.
Television salesman typically have a very energetic and eccentric personalities. We can follow this example, especially if we are teaching small children. Young students typically feed off our natural energy and are keenly aware of our emotions. So having a very energetic attitude can build the interest in what is being taught, as well as keeping the mood light.
For students who may be a bit older we want to balance being energetic with being informative. Having too much energy can be distracting especially if the subject matter is complex or requires very specific rules to be followed. So tempering our energy to the point where the class is engaged but not distracted can still show passion for what we are teaching.
Sharpen The Blade That Pierces The Soul
Teachers who have been educating students for years would agree when I say “teaching is exhausting!” Even teachers who are new have this divine revelation at some point in the first week. But more so for those who have been leading the pack for a while. We would not want to allow this exhaustion to dull our love for what we do, because if our love wanes our teaching style will also be affected, and that’s the last thing we want. But how can we rekindle our passion for the subject we’ve chosen to teach or even teaching in general?
Here’s a couple things I find effective:
- Doing recreational research on the subject we teach to see if anything has changed, or just to stay up to date. Share findings with the class
- Go to forums and talk to fellow educators in the same field to see their teaching style, and maybe incorporate it into yours.
- Take time to reflect on what made you want to be a teacher, the same goes for the subject you teach.
- When talking to a spouse, close family member, or friend, try to always mention positive things that may have happened that day/week.
Kameron Remmers
ESL Teacher / Classloom Blog Writer
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Originally published at blog.classloom.com on February 29, 2016.
