Class TEFL Cert

Establishing RapportThe reason I have chosen to write about this is that I feel this can be very difficult task for a teacher to do with foreign children. Establishing a rapport and relationship with a group of foreign school children is both difficult and daunting. But there are a variety of ways and methods to do so. Firstly, I think that it is very important that the teacher makes an effort to get close and bond with his or her students. The teacher should get to know their names and characters as quick as possible in order to build a trust and understanding with them. Once you know and understand your students, I think it’s important that the teacher ensures that the classes are tailored to their personalities. Try to have activities that both they enjoy and understand. But also try to have activities that take them out of their comfort zone and gives them new experiences. I also think it’s important to stay in tune with the current culture, like movie stars, pop stars and sports stars. Use them to entice the students into learning about the topic you have in hand. In Korea, stars like ‘Park Ji Sung’ are renowned and famous meaning the students love to see his picture on a PPT and they seem to concentrate and learn the curriculum better that way. Another method to boost and enhance rapport with your students is to have activities like pair work, group work and light competition. Students love to compete with each other, so, an activity such as giving the students 1 minute to write down as many fruits as possible is always fun for them. You can also build rapport by having the students work in pairs and groups. Children and especially the younger children can find english both difficult and not really fun. Therefore, the teacher should make as many activities as possible to bond and get the students to speak and join in together, as a class. Activities such as, songs and chanting is perfect for young elementary students. This is perfect for the students to both learn english and enjoy learning english. Another way to improve the teacher student relationship is to play games with the students. Students love games and although I was slightly dubious about always playing games. It soon became apparent that for 10 minutes in every class I have a game that is tailored with the vocabulary being learned. It’s fun for both the teacher and the students and at this stage the teacher can walk round the groups or pairs and see how they are understanding the unit and vocabulary being studied. A further way to interact and build rapport with students is to set out the rules from day one. Make sure the students know how to behave in your classroom. They have to know what to expect from your class. That way when it comes to punishing students then you don’t come across as unfair or a nasty teacher. I also believe that setting a rewards system helps and gives the students something to focus on and strive towards. A sticker system or faux money for a student market is the best and children love to get them. Candy is an obvious favorite too, but I try to stay away from continuously giving candy. Finally, to wrap up my thoughts on the importance of building up a rapport with your students, I, think that the most important thing is to show that you enjoy being in their company. Make sure that you set your class out to be fun and enjoyable for all concerned. Keep mixing up your classes; have them work alone, in pair’s and in groups. And finally, make sure that when you ask the students for an answer ensure that you (a) get the name of the student correct, but more importantly (b) that you mix up whom you ask. Don’t always go to the same students, and if you have an easy question then give it to a student who can answer it. Involve all the students and you will up a strong rapport with your students and they will enjoy your classes and company. These are important issues, that I think, would boost your class and the students desire to learn english and be in your class.