Here are some steps in counteracting those mundane times in your classroom.
- Find a student who you know won’t mind you light-heartedly teasing them and joke around a little. Everyone gets a good laugh, and it keeps the mood in the classroom light. I do this quite often with my students. Sometimes, I may tease a student and tell them, “You were not at the meeting. You did not get the memo.” I will say this if they ask me something that I had just said to the class probably 30 seconds to a minute prior to them asking me the same thing.
- Sometimes fussing at a student will turn them off; therefore, find a softer and more creative way to get a point across. For instance, if I have students who are chronically late, I like to remind them of the military motto of “Before time is on time, on time is late.” I even turned it into a little catchy tune.
- Don’t be afraid to let your inner child come out at times. Have fun! Change up your voice when speaking especially if you are reading a story. No matter how old the students are (and I teach high school), they will still enjoy it. To them, it is something that is funny and even if it is just for a few minutes, that is a few minutes of capturing their attention and releasing some of the built up tension within the classroom.
- Laugh at yourself. If you make a mistake in class, laugh at yourself and really show the students that you are human. If need be, do something where you seem like you made a mistake or did something “crazy” so that everyone can get a good clean laugh. They like to know that you are human and not so out-of-touch with reality.
- Last but not least, find that one thing that will work for you and your class which helps you connect to your students in a causal way, but ultimately they know you care about them. For instance, I am all of 5 feet tall (finally made it to 5 feet), but I run around that school and tell all the students that I am the biggest thing around there and no one better not think about fighting because they will have to fight me first, and I will always win since I’m the biggest thing. Many of them laugh at me and “challenge” me to a fight. I tell them to meet me at some ridiculous time at the flag pole that doesn’t exist. Then I tell them to get to class. They know I am having fun with them, but they listen to me when I tell them to head on to class. That is my form of building rapport with the students. We have a good laugh, but they get moving without the fuss.
Find that one thing that will be your hook with the students.
