First, let me start off by saying I searched Forumosa for this particular topic using Google. But, I didn’t find anything. If I missed the thread, sorry.
Anyway, I’m just wondering what techniques you (teachers) have in developing rapport with your students.
Lollies/sweet shit that will rot their teeth.
Edit:I originally typed “candy”, but I realize doing so would be a bloody SIN. I am NOT American.
Peace and all that butterfly shit (no offense intended to any Americans).
STICKERS!
Depending on the age, though:
1-4: Pikachu
5-12: Hello Kitty
13-18: Doraemon
18+: Pikachu, Hello Kitty and Doraemon
Knowing their names helps.
have paper scissor stones fights with them as a way to play games in class. LIke class vs teacher. You ask a question, the one that needs to answer fights you…in the end you see who wins, the class or you. I usually make a big stink about it…like they come to the front of the class to fight me. Sometimes we have little rituals, death stares, gathering strength from imaginary lightning bolts.
I’d personally be annoyed if someone tried to buy me a stocker, piece of candy, beer, dinner, or anything similar to get me to like them. Same thing applies to kids.
Treat whatever they say with the utmost respect. Think that every time they talk to you, they’re telling you the most important thing, because they often are.
It might be a hard thing at first. It might be hard to get kids out of the habit of having their happiness “bought,” you will have a MUCH better rapport with them.
[quote=“Puppet”]I’d personally be annoyed if someone tried to buy me a stocker, piece of candy, beer, dinner, or anything similar to get me to like them. Same thing applies to kids.
Treat whatever they say with the utmost respect. Think that every time they talk to you, they’re telling you the most important thing, because they often are.
It might be a hard thing at first. It might be hard to get kids out of the habit of having their happiness “bought,” you will have a MUCH better rapport with them.[/quote]
I strongly agree with this. In my experience, bribery only works when used very sparingly. Otherwise kids will start to expect a reward for every single thing they do.
I certainly hope that you two aren’t as humorless in the classroom as you are in this thread.
Kids love lollies/candy/stickers. They go ape shit for them.
And I certainly hope that you’re as lucky as the person in your avatar 
My first thought was "What makes you think, they do not or will not like you?’
You are the teacher, play games, be gentle, lay down rules, earn respect and they will like you.
[quote]I’d personally be annoyed if someone tried to buy me a stocker, piece of candy, beer, dinner, or anything similar to get me to like them. Same thing applies to kids.
Treat whatever they say with the utmost respect. Think that every time they talk to you, they’re telling you the most important thing, because they often are.
It might be a hard thing at first. It might be hard to get kids out of the habit of having their happiness “bought,” you will have a MUCH better rapport with them.[/quote]
Agree. I knew each of my kids by name, but that was easy since I saw them every day (Mon - Fri). I treated them each as individuals, and had a small party on their respective birthdays.
Of course we worked through the course material, but I was realistic enough to know they’d come from a day of school to the anxinban, and I wasn’t going to go push them too hard.
I rarely had to punish any of them, and I think they saw the ‘big kid’ in me. We had lots of fun. I still keep a photo of my favourite student in my wallet (since I don’t have a kid of my own).
We had a semester-end party to round things up.
Personally, I feel I get on well with kids, some people don’t. I enjoy their unspoilt view of life, and they seem to enjoy my way of doing things. I teach uni kids now, but still apply some of my primary school teaching tactics, and it works with them too.
Here’s my super favourite student - Rose.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48967042@N02/6011320140/
When I left the school (and Taiwan) I was invited for dinner at one of the girl’s homes. We had a massive feast and she presented me with an oil painting she’d done for me, framed and all. I had to take the picture out the frame as I was flying back to SA.
I caught the humor of the age groups, but many people do use bribes in their teaching. I worked with one guy who probably thought Confuscious invented Hi Chew.
Names are important but hard. In my classes people kind of come and go as they please, and show up when they feel like it, meaning my classes are constantly changing. At least try to remember the regular faces…
People in Taiwan are deathly afraid of divulging any personal information in class… even minor opinions, so developing any kind of friendship/rapport can be hard. Remember things people tell you and bring them up later.
The majority of the students though, are kind of worthless. They won’t practice in class and they’re afraid of or maybe just don’t want to talk to you, at all. Just ignore them unless they talk and develop a relationship with the better people.
If you have a regular non-changing (much) class, ignore all that and learn names. They’re still going to be afraid of saying anything in class, but names help.
What sort of attitude is this?
[quote=“divea”]
You are the teacher, play games…[/quote]
That is the key, young grasshopper. Don’t get stressed about trying to teach and worrying if the kids are learning. Create activities that get the kids to willingly jump out of thier chairs to speak and the rest will fall into place.
I have only two modes.
In one mode, I’m laid back, at ease about mistakes on assignments, and I’ll always give them time to take a break or to play for the last quarter of my class if they were studious for the first three. I give rewards – even monetary rewards (and not gay “school dollars” crap) – to students who win at rather intellectually challenging projects. (But I make my students do long syntax trees, hard-ass ciphers, logic puzzles, and mathematical word problems, and let them work in teams for a split prize.)
I also let the kids pick most of their curriculum. They pick the book that they want to read (from a certain learner’s series). They pick the songs that they want to learn with very few constraints (so they now know every Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber track on the charts), and they will sing them to themselves in the halls.
My only other mode is one of swift punishment. Offenders will do bridges/push-ups, hold rather heavy stools over their heads, keep stress positions, or stand in front of the class and apologize to everyone in “perfect” English. People who fail my tests will stay during their breaks and get more homework. People who “ace” my tests (on a Pimsleur scale, 80%) have no homework except for a weekly writing assignment.
They didn’t like me at first, but now they like me much better. My bosses were losing their hair over it until they saw their skills improve and their attitudes change.
[quote=“ehophi”]
My only other mode is one of swift punishment. Offenders will do bridges/push-ups, hold rather heavy stools over their heads, keep stress positions, or stand in front of the class and apologize to everyone in “perfect” English. People who fail my tests will stay during their breaks and get more homework. People who “ace” my tests (on a Pimsleur scale, 80%) have no homework except for a weekly writing assignment.
They didn’t like me at first, but now they like me much better. My bosses were losing their hair over it until they saw their skills improve and their attitudes change.[/quote]
What kind of stress positions do you put them in? How long do they hold them?
How old are your students?
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