What it takes to be a good teacher and a good classroom manager:
One of the basic requirements that are to be provided for a child is education. To get this, a child is sent to school. At school, a child not only gets to have an education but also improves on his or social skill through interaction with other children as well as the teachers. It is therefore essential that teachers be competent to handle these sensitive creatures. Teachers go through years of training before they are allowed to teach. However, their training does not only concentrate on the academic side only but also on their social skills. By doing so, it is believed that they will be able to take care of the students while teaching. Kids are different, and each has his or her challenges. It is crucial that a teacher is patient, understanding, and accommodating because every day comes with its challenges in the classroom. Sometimes it can be overwhelming, but he or she should always remember that he is a teacher first while in and out of the classroom. The challenges each child brings should be taken as the beauty that exists within that child and should be appreciated for what it is. A good teacher should possess classroom management skills to make sure that he knows how to settle or prevent problems so that children can spend more on the classroom hours teaching and learning. This discussion will focus on what it takes to be a good teacher and a good classroom manager.
Teacher Roselyn's Incidence:
I remember back when I was in grade three. My best friend was called Nicholas he was a timid and quiet boy then. I remember I was the only friend he had back then. Nicholas had a neurogenic disease, which I later learned ran in his family that causes speech disorder. Because of this, he used to stutter, and other kids would make fun of him other than me. He rarely talked and kept to himself most of the time mainly because he felt ashamed and was afraid of the other kids mocking him. I cannot remember which semester was when our teacher transferred to another school and we got another. She seemed young maybe fresh from teaching school and had that proud look in her eyes. Her name was teacher Roselyn. I think it was after two weeks that she gave us the assignment to write about our families, which we would later read out in class. The day finally arrived, and everybody read out his or her assignment in front of the class. When Nicholas turn came, he was so afraid that did not get up. The teacher rather than tries to find out what was wrong, shouted at him which just made him freak out more. He got up and slowly walked in front of the class but barely had he read four sentences before the teacher sneered at him for not being able to read what he had already written. By this time, everybody was laughing at him even the teacher. He was so ashamed he wet his pants and ran out of the classroom. He came back after a week accompanied by his parents. The new teacher was later fired, but that incidence was too painful for me. I could understand the other kids making fun of Nicholas but not a teacher.
Importance of People Skills for Teachers:
What teacher Roselyn did not have or did not seem to have learned in school are people skills especially when dealing with kids. Davis et al. (1991) would have some recommendations for her. The first thing she should have done is to know each child individually by closely monitoring them, their behaviors, and their relationship with other kids. She had taught the class for nearly two weeks, and she had not noticed that Nicholas was a stutter. A teacher is also a manager in the classroom if she had paid close attention, she would have noticed Nicholas spent most of his time alone and rarely spoke. Classroom management goes beyond academics it needs follow-ups and recommendations. For teacher Roselyn even after seeing how devastated Nicholas was she never made an effort to check up on him either through a phone call or through visiting him at home to make her apologies.
Elements of Good Classroom Management:
Good classroom management means that even if a teacher has the status of power in the classroom, he should be able to blend in with the students. This makes them comfortable in a way that they open up about what they are going through in life. He or she should be a friend in the eyes, should not be rigid, and should understand every child needs. He should love every child equally and should not be afraid to point out the mistakes that the children make. He should assume the best in every child, identify himself to all the students to gain their trust, plan his lesson clearly, and praise what he can so that students develop positive attitudes towards themselves.
