I have often heard teachers complain that "teachers don’t get respect." If you want to be treated as a professional, you must act like one.

Dress in a way that shows respect for your profession. There have been studies done that prove that children, whose teachers dress more conservatively, learn better than those who dress more casually. Your clothes mirror your attitude, and visa versa. Your school’s rules and your own taste must dictate what you wear, but when you look in the mirror, be sure that the person looking back at you looks like someone who you would regard as a professional.

 Model self confidence. Stand up straight! You’ll look and feel more confident and in control, to say nothing of looking taller and slimmer. 

Be an eager learner. Read professional journals. If there are workshops or seminars, especially ones for help with new technology, go to them. You may find some wonderful ideas that you can use. You may find that some of the ideas don’t work for you. or aren’t your style. Don’t use them. In either case, you are expanding your mind and your professional knowledge.

Observe your fellow teachers. If you find someone who you think is an excellent teacher, talk with that teacher. Our schools are full of under appreciated teachers who have a wealth of knowledge and experience. Most will be glad to share with you. Some will not. Some teachers seem to want to hide their best ideas away so only they will get the credit. Don’t be one of them. There is so much pleasure and value in sharing ideas. Isn’t it better that more children be exposed to those gems? Don’t worry about who gets the credit. If you have a generous attitude, you will be the winner.

Videotape your lesson. I took a course in which this was a requirement. I was scared to death to do it. When I finally did do it, I found that it was a wonderfully helpful tool in improving my teaching presentation. Once the camera was set up, I soon forgot that it was there. Looking at that video afterward I learned a lot about the way I presented myself. Be brave, do it! I promise you, you’ll be glad you did!

Another important lesson I learned early on in my career was to make directions as clear as possible, and put them in writing. I was amazed at the number of ways that simple, and I thought clear, directions could be misinterpreted.

Whenever you write directions;

The problem is that, while you give your clear directions, several children will not pay attention, preferring to get their directions from you personally. If you repeat the directions over and over, you are allowing the child to develop lazy listening skills.

When you have given the directions, ask the children if there are any questions about what they are to do. You might even have a child repeat the directions back to you. In the beginning you should remind the children that you will not repeat the directions, so they had better listen very carefully.

Then follow through. This is the hard part. Some children, often the good, sweet ones, will try you out to see if you really mean what you said. Mean it! Don’t make exceptions unless the child was out of the room when the directions were given. Children are resourceful. They will get the directions from another child. I have to admit that I looked the other way when they were asking their friends for the assignment. It won’t take too long before the children see that you really mean it and will begin listening to your directions the first time. This is excellent training in good listening skills.

Praise can be a very effective way to motivate a child to do well. It can also be destructive. For it to be effective, praise must be earned. To praise work or effort that is substandard is demeaning to the child. You are saying, if effect, that this is the best he can do. Children know when they have done their best and when they haven’t. Your judgment is called into question. So is your sincerity. You can be encouraging but honest. When poor work is offered, you can give the child a meaningful look, and say something like, "Hmm, you must have been in a hurry when you did this. I know you can do better. How about showing me how well you can do this paper?" The child may not be pleased about redoing the paper, but he is not insulted. He knows that the paper should be done over.

What you praise is also important. Children should be praised for effort, not for being smart. If, for example a child does well on a paper and you tell him, "Wow, you got an A on that paper! You’re really smart at this!" he will be pleased, however you have told him that he got the A because he is smart. If he does not do well in another area, he will assume that it is because he is not smart at doing that, and will not try to improve. If, on the other hand, you say, "You really worked hard to get that good grade. I am proud of you," when he gets a poorer grade on something, he will assume that he needs to try harder in order to do better.

When a child is having trouble with something, say things like, "Keep trying, I know you can do it." If there is any improvement, encourage them with, "See how many more problems you finished this time! I’ll bet you can get even more done next time. I’m proud of the way you stick to something even if it is really hard to do!" It will pay off in greater effort, and the child can take credit for the improvement.

It is a good idea to talk to the children about trying. No one is excellent at playing ball or playing an instrument the first time he tries. It takes practice. How many ball players hit a home run the first time up at bat? "The harder you try, the better you get," is a good message to get across to your students

Labeling

It is very easy to begin labeling children. "Kim is the class artist." "Peter is a wonderful writer." "Rachel is such a kind child."

This doesn’t sound bad. Aren’t we giving compliments? Won’t it make them feel proud of themselves and raise their "self esteem?"

Surprising as it may seem, it won’t. Children are inherently fair. They know that they don’t always live up to your praise. Their reaction is usually, "No, I’m not, really." This is not false modesty. It is concern that they can’t live up to such high standards.

Kim thinks, "I couldn’t make that picture come out the way I wanted." Peter worries that the his punctuation isn’t up to par. Rachel remembers when she didn’t include a friend in a game.

"But," you say, "Shouldn’t we say nice things about the children? What about their ‘self esteem’?"

Yes, of course you can and should encourage the children, but don’t generalize. Children can accept a specific compliment but extravagant praise is uncomfortable. It is too much to live up to.
"Kim, I really like the way your tiger is crouching. He looks as if he could jump right off the page!" is a much more rewarding compliment than, "You are such a good artist!" It takes a little more thought too.

"Peter, the way you described your grandfather’s house makes me feel as if I had been there," is more meaningful than "Peter, you are a great writer."

"Rachel, I saw how you shared your dessert with Susan. That was a kind thing to do," is better than, "Oh, Rachel, you are always so kind." This kind of encouragement will help them focus on what they did well. Self esteem grows from honest internal improvement not external flattery.

Our public schools are getting a lot of bad publicity. There are schools that have given up and may deserve the criticism. However, this negative publicity paints all schools with the same broad brush. People become discouraged and suspicious. They grasp at any new idea, no matter how unproved or unlikely, to try to make the schools better.

You need to let people know that the children in your class are doing exciting and interesting things. I urge you to call your local newspaper and find out who the education feature writer is. Get acquainted with that person. Call him whenever you do a culminating activity. Learn to take good clear pictures of interesting things that your class is doing. If the paper doesn’t have room or time to do a whole article on something, perhaps they can run the picture with a caption. Kids love to see their pictures in the paper. Their parents adore it! You look good. Your school looks good. Your principal looks good. Your superintendent… you get the point. Publicize!