Welcome back, your class thinks the world of you

Words are powerful tools and as teachers we should always be aware of what we say around our students. I learnt this lesson in one of my classrooms as an early career teacher.

I was teaching literacy lesson on Dougal’s Deep Sea Diary (It’s a fantastic read!). The students were hard at work writing their own version of Dougal’s Diary in response to his diving adventures. While the students were writing, a colleague of mine came into the room and was discussing with me what my plans were for the holidays. Under my breath I said to him ‘I’m going away, it is going to be awesome.’

I though nothing of it, he left he room and the lesson continued without concern. The next day, while I was introducing a lesson on Data, I told the students that we would be making a lunch box graph. The purpose of the lesson was to see what the most popular coloured lunchbox was. I heard a girl turn to her classmate and whisper ‘Graphs are awesome!’

I was amazed, and before I knew it the rest of my class were using the word to describe all sorts of exciting events. “Awesome” became so popular that I actually had to ban the word as it was the only adjective that they would use: “The cat sat on the awesome mat” and “The new playground equipment is awesome” and so on!

As excited as I was that the students’ descriptions were developing,  I also realised just how much students see their teachers as a role model and how they seem to copy everything that we do. Lucky for me, they picked up the word “awesome”, but I wonder what words we let slip out that we’d rather not have our students mimicking?

This is why it is so important to:

  • Be very careful about the words that you use when speaking to your class.
  • Watch your throw away negative comments, eye-rolls or discouraging head shaking.
  • Remember that your class thinks the world of you.
  • Remember that your class is watching your every move, from interactions with the class to parents and other teachers.

As educators you hold an immense amount of influence in your classroom. To your class, you are the one with the answers and the one who offers support and guidance. In some cases, your opinion holds more weight than any other adult figure. So keep your words positive and your interactions with others healthy.

 

 

Posted by Mathew Green on October 09, 2015  /   Posted in Uncategorized
Whether you’re a casual teacher, permanently employed, working as a support teacher or on a temporary contract with your school, you are directly involved in educating, training and shaping some of the greatest minds that this world is yet to see.
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