ATTN: Aspiring teacher

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This fall I will begin teaching high school science. During my student teacher evaluations I was consistently told that I lacked the rapport with students, did not portray enthusiasm, and had significant interpersonal communication problems with students, teachers, and administration.

For the next 8 months my goal is to dramatically improve these dimensions so that I will not only be hired, but also manage to keep my teaching job. What advice do you have as far as when and where I can improve my social skills? While I am married, my wife and I live in a very small community that does not offer much socializing opportunities. Does anyone recommend behavioral measures (e.g., volunteering)? I am also interested in any book recommendations that would help someone like me.

Thank you!

Hello cvonphole,

I began teaching last year. Coincidentally, I am the same age as you. I have felt that I lacked rapport with students. My current teaching position is only part time, and I don't get much direct feedback on my teaching, except from the students. I find that I am pretty good at interacting with students who show enthusiasm for the material. However, I do feel that I need to improve my interaction with students who are struggling or nervous about the material.

As far as communicating with colleagues and administration, I think this is probably about the same as it would be in any other professional job. I have read a few books over the years about business and interpersonal communication and spent a lot of time thinking about it. I would not say I am a great communicator by any means, but this has helped me tremendously.

Do you feel confident in interacting with your students? I noticed that for the first few months I was teaching I was very nervous and unconfident in front of the students, and this seemed to make the students uncomfortable with me. I still feel anxious going into class fairly often, but I've found that acting confident seems to cause the students to respond to me in a better way. For me this means that they aren't afraid to ask me questions about the material, grades, the class, and so on.

I had the good fortune to work alongside a veteran teacher last year, and I learned so much from him. A lot of what I am doing now is putting into practice things I saw him do. Does your school have any kind of mentorship program?

Hello LogicOrNot

I like the point that you make about communicating with colleagues and administration. Few jobs out there today are truly autonomous. You're right. I would be facing similar situations whether I taught or was in some other professional job. While I feel confident interacting with students in the sense that I don't feel nervous up-front, I now am aware (through other's observations) that I don't display the passion or meet the needs of many of the students. I am always amazed when I look at a recording of myself teaching. While feel that I am enthusiastic in the moment, the recording illustrates my lack of facial expressions and monotone voice.

As for the veteran teacher, I sure hope that I have one. You're right. This would make a big difference. Probably one of the biggest issues, was that the last teacher I worked with was overly critical (even with veteran teachers) and was not very understanding. Let's just say she had a reputation among her colleagues.

Thanks for the advice.