Tip 55: Teacher’s Language
Use appropriate language, avoid slang. I’ve talked before about being a professional and that includes our language. How do we communicate with students? How do we communicate with our colleagues and with parents?
It’s very important to use precise language and avoid slang because we are role models for our students. They look up to you as the educator to use professional language. It doesn’t mean you can’t use humor or use the fun word often, but don’t use swear words.
Don’t use slang if it’s avoidable and that also counts for social media. Remember, everything is being recorded these days. Whatever you say can be held against you, so have a higher standard in how you communicate with the world.
How we use our language also affects our mindsets, so if you use a better vocabulary and avoid slang. Use good language that will have a positive effect on your mindset and the way that you interact with other people. So, be a professional. Use professional language, especially in the age of social media.
Tip 56: Explain the Importance
Explain the importance of what you’re teaching. Students need to understand the value of what they are learning to put in the necessary effort. If we tell our students to do something, they need to know why it’s important. Would you want to do something if it was unimportant? No, so we’ve constantly got to impress the importance of whatever the students are doing, the skills are they learning, and the knowledge they are gaining. Impress this on your students so that they know why it is valuable to put in the effort to reach those goals.
When you explain the importance of the goals and why they’re doing something, you too will also have a much clearer standing of how to reach that goal. The practice of explaining it will help you organize your thoughts and how you’re going to teach the content as well.
Tip 57: Record Everything
Take pictures of everything; take pictures of bulletin boards, projects, and activities. As discussed earlier, teachers should embrace technology and also social networking. So, by taking photos of everything, you are gathering evidence to show what your students have been doing. It will also give you a much clearer idea of what you’ve done in your class. Should they ask you to explain something to parents or other teachers, then you’ve got photographic evidence. It’s good for parents to see what their children are doing. So, take those photos or video clips and put it on social media if you have made a group with the parents. It’s a great way to build a relationship and interact with the parents.
It will also provide evidence to the school board asks what are you doing in class. I can say, “Look at these pictures of what my students have been doing,” or if they’re doing roleplay in class, “I’ve got these videos.”
Make sure that you’ve got permission from the parents and the students to film them and only use it on a network that parents can access. If it’s not possible, only take photos of the projects and not the students. We have to understand as teachers how and when to use social media.
