Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Yujiawan Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Yan'an Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY RAPPORT? WHAT ARE THE PRACTICAL WAYS TO HELP ESTABLISH RAPPORT? Rapport means a close or harmonious relationship in which the concerned people understand each others feelings and communicate in a better way. Inside a classroom, establishing rapport between the teacher and students is very much important. It plays a very crucial role in determining whether the class was a success or not. It also shows the teacher whether the class was enjoyable by the students or not. We can say that students do take part in each and every exercise in which they feel comfortable and the environment around them is relaxed. Teachers also play a motivating role here as they provide encouragement to the students. Now lets discuss ways by which teachers can establish rapport with students. The teacher must be aware of basic behavior of students who get along with whom and which do not. This is helpful while making the seating arrangement inside the class. A little basic information about each other like what their name is, where their home is, do they have any pet? Etc can be very helpful in this scenario. Sufficient group work activities and pair works can be used very effectively for establishing rapport with the students and we can even change pairs frequently for helping students to build good rapport with other students as well. Having an ice breaking activity during the start of the first lesson can act as a stimulant for them as they can enjoy as well as learn together. Stimulate the students to help each other in various activities both inside and outside the classroom. Allow students to correct each other mistakes while doing any written activity such as questionnaire, gap fill, sentence prompts, surveys, etc. In this way they can have good view about each other. We can also use mime, videos, pictures or drawings as engaging activities. As a teacher you have to give clear cut instructions so that there is no confusion about the details and students can get a clear idea about the activity that they have to do next. For the pictionary, memory games, anagrams, word linking, or any other game you want to conduct inside your classroom you must have to give clear instructions to the students so that they can understand the details of those games. This way they can learn with fun. Use those activities that involves students talk time much more than the teacher’s talk time. If students are given much time to talk in a class they become confident and have a good sense of what is taught in the class. Use role-play activities for making the students talk time much more and the teacher can grasp what are the students weaknesses, where the student is lacking and what improvement can be done. These activities help them to retain knowledge for a much longer time. One of the best way to build rapport with the students is be positive in everything you do and make them feel like you’re enjoying the job. You enjoy being with them and enjoy their company. This way they can communicate with you in a much better way than they are doing before. Show personal interests in students and ask them for their comments and opinions about how the class went, what they like about the class, what they enjoyed the most about it and how you can make it much more interesting for the students to be willing to learn. Don’t forget to smile. Smile is the prettiest thing you’ll ever wear.
