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Transcript

How to be a Good Teacher (Advanced Program) · Spotlight English: Advanced

• 0:03
  Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Cullin Luther and I'm Liz Wade. Spotlight uses
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  a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no
• 0:19
  matter where in the world they live. Imagine you were in school. Picture
• 0:30
  the students sitting in their seats, and think of the teacher standing at the
• 0:36
  front of the room. How are you feeling in this moment? Are you
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  excited to learn? Interested? Are you participating in discussion? Or are you
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  bored? Maybe you are falling asleep, watching the clock, or flirting with
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  a classmate. Your thoughts say a lot about to you as a student,
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  but they also say a lot about your teacher. Being a teacher is very
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  important. Teachers can be parents, professors, or even friends. But teaching
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  is also very difficult. Each person learns differently. Some people learn better by
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  seeing, others learn better by reading, some learn better by hearing, and
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  still others learn best by doing. Some methods of teaching work best for certain
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  subjects. Teachers must know how to best teach each different student. Have you
• 1:47
  ever tried to teach someone today? As Spotlight is on how to be a
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  good teacher. One of the most important parts of Being a good teacher is
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  understanding how people remember things. People naturally remember things that are interesting to them.
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  Interesting facts are easy to memorize, but information that can be used directly
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  in someone's life is even better. Imagine a history class. It is very
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  difficult to learn the names of famous people who lived long ago. Events dates
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  are difficult to remember. But if you were learning the history of another country
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  where you were going to move, things might be different. It might be
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  very important that you know the information. People also learn better when they can
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  connect the subject to something they already know. Imagine teaching some one to repair
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  a car. If they have no experience with machines, it could be very
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  difficult, but if they had worked on engines before, it would be easier.
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  This is true of all subjects, whether it is language, art,
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  or mathematics. We remember things that are useful to us, and if we
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  do not have context, our minds will not recognize information. This is even
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  true if you believe what you are learning is important. It might be very
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  important to repair your car engine, but if you do not know the parts
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  of an engine and what they do, you will not be able to learn.
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  A good teacher will help connect new information to something you already understand,
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  or they will give you a wider base of knowledge to understand. Another important
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  part of teaching is learning to understand and care about your students. This means
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  learning who they are. Not all students are the same, and some are
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  going through things you do not know about. Suzanne Tingley is a teacher.
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  She wrote on the blog Hey Teach. A friend of mine teaches at a
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  high school where forty four languages are spoken. She told me she heard a
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  student say, I am really tired last night. I slept next to someone
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  who snored. Kids may be dealing with issues we know nothing about. Do
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  not assume video games are to blame when work is not complete. A good
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  teacher also knows their subject very well, and they know how students think about
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  it. Teachers must be able to correct students when they are wrong. A
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  good teacher provides constructive criticism. Often, constructive criticism corrects students' mistakes. It
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  gives them ideas for how to improve. Many people do not like to criticize.
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  Criticizing may seem rude. Criticism can lead to shame and bad feelings when
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  it is not planned out. But teachers must learn how to criticize in a
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  way that is helpful. Brooke Chaplain is a writer at The Advocate. She
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  explains how to criticize correctly. Constructive criticism is something that should always be shared
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  in private. Begin by telling this student the good things you see about him
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  or her. This will get you started in a good way. Then tell
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  them what you think is delaying their progress. Then tell them how they can
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  make a positive change. After, remind them that you believe in them as
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  an individual. If you share your concerns in the right way, it is
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  possible that the student will do what you suggested. Finally, it is important
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  to let your students be creative. They should not be afraid to ask their
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  own questions. Much teaching in the past treated children as listeners only. Teachers
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  gave students knowledge and students accepted it. If a student could not learn,
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  teachers decided the student was not intelligent enough. But today we know that learning
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  works differently. Students learn best when they believe they have the power to ask
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  and explore. Sometimes it is even good when they get things wrong. Imagine
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  a mathematics class. The teacher shows you a problem, and then she shows
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  you how to solve the problem. You memorize the formula and will use it
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  later on tests. Then you will forget it. But what if instead your
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  teacher asks you how you would solve the problem. You might not know the
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  correct formula, but you can guess and work it out yourself. You think
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  about the problem for several minutes. When you finish, your answer might be
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  incorrect, and your teacher will finally tell you the answer. But while you
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  are working on the problem, your attitude changes. The question becomes a puzzle.
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  Now you want to know the answer to this puzzle. You care about
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  the answer, and you have learned to think on your own today, most
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  good teachers know to change their lessons to fit their students. They learn about
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  and care about their students. They know that learning is not about remembering everything
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  you hear, but more than anything, they know they are not just teaching
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  their subjects. They teach their students how to learn, and they teach them
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  how to think for themselves. People who know how to think and learn will
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  continue to grow, They can change more quickly and required to, and they
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  will live fuller lives. Who was your favorite teacher? Why do you think
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  they were so good? Are you a good teacher? You can leave a
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  comment on our website at www dot Spotlight English dot com. You can also
• 9:24
  find us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The writer of this
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  program was Dan Chrisman. The producer was Micio Ozaki. The voices you heard
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  were from the United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes were adapted for
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  this program and voiced by Spotlight. This program is called How to Be a
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  Good Teacher. Visit our website to download our free official app for Android and
• 10:01
  Apple devices. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye,