In our last chapter, we posited that
the teacher’s primary responsibility in the classroom is setting and
maintaining a healthy atmosphere of lively, respectful engagement. The coming chapters are dedicated to helping
you achieve a classroom atmosphere that will bless you and your students. A good atmosphere will vary some from teacher
to teacher or even day to day for you. Some
subjects benefit more from particular strategies; some teachers have unusual
gifts. A good teacher leverages assets
rather than rues deficiencies; no one but Christ has the corner on the market
of best teaching; students enjoy variety in methods and personality just as you
do. Signs of a poor classroom atmosphere are fairly universal: student
disrespect and disengagement. Students
may be ignoring the directions of the teacher, speaking rudely to one another
or the teacher, failing to accomplish much in the allotted class time, or
expressing themselves through other body language that shows a carelessness
about the academic goals set by the teacher.
1: Respect and Your Role (The Good Teacher Series Begins!)
In the spirit of youthful ambition, my goal here is for us to become good teachers. I know we’re
heading into thin atmosphere as our very Lord questioned such a title (Mark 10:17-18),
but I also know that, as His beloved children, we are to be imitators of God,
and we look to the Author and Perfector of our faith, the only truly Good
Teacher. He loves our students and will
help us love them better.
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