Respect and Motivation

All of the required blog topics (minus the first one) are questions without answers. We all know that. Some things work for some teacher with some students, while it doesn't work for others. I'll do my best to give a few tips, but I know now more than ever that I am certainly not any kind of expert in this area.

How do you get respect from students? Well, the first obvious response would be "Give them respect." Be consistent. Stay firm, but flexible. Show you care. It's all said too often, but it really is true. Students know when teachers actually respect them and when they don't...it doesn't matter your style. The teacher across the hall from me always puts my classroom to shame, as far as classroom management goes. It's always quiet. Students are always working in some way, and she's got it totally under control. I was talking to one especially sweet student who was saying she was scared of her...but at the same time she likes her. She likes her cuz she knows she cares. She knows she is firm and "mean" because that's the way to control the the typical student at our school. On the other hand, our band director, I have heard, has some major respect issues. Band directors, I feel, are at an advantage because students can actually have "fun" doing what they want to do in that class. They love music. I loved band. I loved taking a break from class after class...getting to play music with others. Yet, our band director struggles. Why? Hmmm.... they don't respect him. Why? I could make some hypotheses, but I really have no idea. Perhaps he just isn't firm enough. Maybe he is disorganized. Most likely, he doesn't show he cares (or maybe he doesn't care).

Next question...how do we keep students motivated? Another tough question with no real answer. It depends on each classroom, each student...whether he or she is actually interested in the material or interested in getting good grades or interested in passing the class just so she can graduate. That last example holds true for many of my students. Students have to have Geometry to graduate, but Trig is just purely an elective. The majority of the Trig students really could give a flying flip. They wanted it to be easy, with little to no work, just so they can have it on their transcript and get an easy A. They're "tired," they've had all the math they need, they have a senior project to work on, and Trig is the lowest on the priorities. I cannot motivate them. Or, I guess to not be utterly negative, I haven't figured out how to motivate them. Another suggestion would be to always act like you love what you're teaching. You hear that all the time...but they have to think you live for this stuff. My students think that I do math all the freaking time. They think I have no life. They think I'm a geek, a genius, and "too smart to teach." All of this, of course, is absurd, but hey, if it helps just a few stick with it, then I've done my job. I'd rather be a geeky math teacher to them than a cool young teacher who they can hang with. I try to stay approachable, but I'm too close to their age to get too close to them. What do you think?

One more response to "What do you think about blogging?" Honestly, it feels more contrived. I can't get out what I want to, and I feel like I'm being redundant. I doubt many people read this anymore anyway, and I don't say anything very profound. Still, I've always though of it more of a release for myself and so the people I am close to can understand a little about what's going on in my life. People get tired of hearing about school all the time, but really, it is our life. By blogging, we can express ourselves and others can read it, if they want to.