Friday, March 7, 2008

Finding & Improving Your Teaching Persona

Finding & Improving the New Teacher Persona: Methods for Not Driving Yourself Crazy At The Beginning of Your Teaching Career



“The only advice that I got when I started teaching was to erase the board using vertical strokes—erasing the board from side to side makes your butt wiggle.”

The Teacher As Actor

Teaching is a kind of performance, and the person you are in front of a classroom is in some ways different from the person you are the rest of the time. Developing your "teaching persona"--the person you become once you step into the classroom--takes time and experience.

Finding YOUR Teaching Persona

Over time, you will discover whether you, as a teacher, are loud or quiet, funny or serious, a sitter or a stander, a board user or a handout maven. In the meantime, experiment with different approaches until you figure out what feels comfortable and what elicits the best reaction from your students. Don't hesitate to try something that may not "feel like you," because your teaching persona may turn out to be an unexpected side of you. But, do not be afraid to reject suggestions on teaching that you feel your innate personality will prevent you from pulling off. You will look uncomfortable and be less effective, not to mention lose the attention of your students.

Teaching With Authority
For beginning teachers, there is often a progression from acting like you are in charge of the classroom to feeling like you are in charge of the classroom. This is normal. Unless you give them reason not to, students will generally accept your authority no matter how you feel about your qualifications as a teacher.


You will start to feel like you are in charge of your classroom as you gain experience. Until then, you may find that you rely more on "the rules" (school guidelines, due dates, syllabi) and on established teacher-student roles to create a feeling of authority. For example, many new teachers start by imitating favorite teachers of their own. As you get more experience and confidence, you will be able to act more natural in your role as an educator. You then will be able to be more yourself while developing your unique toolbox as an experienced teacher.


Teaching as A Learning Tool

At some point in your teaching career, you will fall on your face. It will probably happen more than once, particularly in the first years of your career. It may be painful, but you will survive. And you should find it reassuring to know that every teacher has had this happen.

You can come to class feeling completely prepared to teach brilliantly and leave wishing you had never gotten out of bed. See if you can figure out what went wrong. Keep notes--you might teach the same class every year and you will want to know what you could have done better as soon as you finish the semester. Learn from this experience but do not torture yourself about it. Focus on making the next academic year or the next semester better.

Maintaining Perspective

Your car broke down. A relationship ended. Your young child was teething and crying until dawn. You were up until 3 a.m. grading. You have had five cups of coffee, and you cannot wake up. You will have bad days. It is your responsibility to do your best not to let outside factors bring down your teaching. When you teach badly, figure out how you can take care of yourself so that you are in better shape when it is time to teach again. Obsessing about what went wrong will not get you on the road to feeling (and teaching) better.


What Your Students Are Thinking...After Class

By the time Friday afternoon comes around, you may be fretting over whether or not your lessons were as lively as the tenured teacher next door. Rest assured that your adolescent high school students are not worrying about your class (or any of their other classes) as much as you are. For most teen agers, the reflective process ends the moment the period bell rings (if not before!). Some students may think about what happened in class right after they leave, but if the class did not go well from your perspective, it is not likely that the student's recall will be focused on your mistakes or nervousness; they will probably be more concerned with whether they are getting an accurate meaning of the material you presented or not.


"One night at the supermarket, I wheeled my cart into the check out line right behind one of my students. She looked completely shocked. She clearly believed that I did not exist outside of the classroom."


What You Should Be Thinking...After Class

An important part of teaching is learning from experience. When a class goes well, think about what went right so that you can repeat it. When a class goes badly, think about what went wrong, execute any procedural school guidelines to address behaviour or discipline problems right away, but do not kick yourself about it; just fix it. See it as a learning experience, not as a statement about your ultimate abilities as a teacher. Most mistakes can be fixed in time and remember that a bad day in class here or there does not make a bad teacher over time. Don't immediately consider fleeing the teaching profession. Give yourself time to reflect and reprioritze; always remember that even the most seasoned of teachers are ALWAYS learning their craft to teach again (better!) on another day.

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