HOW TO MAINTAIN A POSITIVE MINDSET IN THE CLASSROOM PAPER 1

Maintaining a positive mindset in the classroom is one of the prerequisites of a good teacher .As a teacher the duty of every seasoned teacher is to make the classroom very conducive and welcoming for every pupil or student. However, the pupils or students also have their roles to play in order to make teaching effective in the classroom. The attitude , the opinion  and the way pupils perceive their teachers goes a long way to determine if teaching has actually taken place or not.

The classroom as we all know is a place where teaching and learning takes place. In other words, if a teacher teaches and the students or pupils have not learned anything then teaching has not taken place. If a student or pupil is not in the right frame of mind then the whole process will be a total waste of time. Thus, its prerogative for both pupils or students and teachers to maintain a positive mindset in the classroom.

Here are some tips to guide us as teachers:

1.   Passion: As a teacher, you must be friendly, accessible and approachable to your pupils or students because fostering is one of the duties of a good teacher, let them be able to share their joy, pains and fears with you. Let them always yearn to come to school, make them your friends .Be endeared to them, try and show more understanding if a pupil or student misses a subject and performs poorly in a course or subject. Show empathy and be passionate about them, show them genuine love, show them that you truly care about them. Let them have that sense of belonging when they come to school, you never can tell you may be a comforter to them because you do not have an iota of what some of your pupils go through at home

2.   Consistency: Be ready to go over that explanations again, do not give up on that slow learner, everyone cannot learn at the same pace. Be deliberate about it, make conscious efforts to make a slow learner feel good and not loose his/her self-esteem .If you have to spend more time on him or her, do it. Never make the slow learner feel like a black sheep of the class. Ben Carson used to be one of the dullest in his class, always coming last in his class, he suffered bullying and oppression from his classmates but thank God for his mother who was not so educated but she never gave up on him, she kept encouraging him amd gradually his self-confidence was ignited .Today Ben Carson is a renowned neurosurgeon .That girl or boy you refer to as dull could be your President tomorrow and he will grow with that mindset. Unfortunately for you, whatever decisions he takes will affect you adversely or positively. A saying goes thus:  “What goes around comes around”, so be careful what you sow into your pupils or students.

3.      Optimism: Make positive comments about your pupils, encourage them that nothing is too big to achieve, no dream or aspiration is too big, no subject is too hard to get Grade A. Build the confidence in that child, tell him or her he or she is the best, every child has the tendency to be dull or smart, it all depends on your input as a teacher. Making negative comments about a child may affect that child emotionally and psychologically forever and that child will never forgive you because he or she will always make reference to how you killed his or her self-esteem while they were in primary or secondary school.

4.   Emotional stability: Leave your personal issues out of your job, do not transfer aggression to them, they are not responsible for your plight. Always create a very amiable atmosphere when you are with your pupils or students. Do not let them perceive that you are unhappy, they will not be happy as well. Encourage yourself that no matter the challenges tell yourself it will pass. Do not let anything turn you into a monster that you are not, do everything possible to be happy always, it will reflect in your teachings and when you eventually see the results of your efforts on the pupils or students you will never regret you did.

5.   Mentorship: Be a mentor or model to your students in the way you dress ,speak and in your attitude. Whether you like it or not, your students or pupils copy everything you do even more than they copy their parents. You cannot have a negative life and have a positive heart. Always live an exemplary life. Watch your back because unknowingly to you, you are being watched closely. Avoid raising your voice when talking to your pupils they will go back home to exhibit every dirty habit they see you put up in class. Speak in low tones and have an eye contact with them when speaking to them, it will teach them to be able to speak publicly and it will erase every form of timidity in them.

6.      Leadership: Everyone loves to be listened to. The only way you can lead is if you make yourself a good follower, be ready to listen to whatever they have to say, give room for mistakes, if they knew it all they will not be in school in the first place. Give them responsibilities, give them roles to play, give titles like class shelf keeper, class monitor, class sanitation officer etc. This will make them cut some of their excesses because they do not want fall short of your expectations so that they do not get impeached as the case may be.

7.  Partnership: Make the class rules together, let them always give you their opinions and suggestions when you need to do anything, make them feel very important, let them know their opinion counts. Make efforts to know their minds, by always doing a self-evaluation through their opinions about you. Give them room to express themselves in black and white without writing their names. This will put you in check.