SMILE, HAPPY FACE AND KIND WORDS OF A TEACHER: TOOLS FOR A POSITIVE CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

ANGELITA N. CUDIA

Before, teachers were viewed as a terror figure in the classroom, teaching with long sticks and thick eyeglasses and wearing an A – line skirt and a bun or a replica of Ms. Tapia, A strict teacher of Wanbol University during the early years of Tito, Vic and Joey. The era when punishment was viewed as a necessity for children to acquire the basic knowledge. Because during those years it was strongly believed that a child will learn more if they fear the authority rendering it.

Some successful individuals narrated how they master their multiplication table or their grammar lessons under the supervision of their terror teachers and they praised and thanked them for what they achieved, but some despised them because they were not able to finish their studies due to the embarrassment and fear they were subjected to during their younger years. To sum up, individuals who succeeded under the supervision of strict teachers were just few compared to those who were not satisfied but they remain very silent out of fear and respect to the teachers. They believed on what their parents feed to their young minds that learning should be acquired through pain and hardships because according to them these will prepare them to face life challenges in the future.

Students nowadays are different, they are very vocal and they are open tell their feelings towards others, they even shout out how they hated being embarrassed and their fear of being with strict teachers. They love cool teachers that they even treated as their friends and confidante. Why not be one? As a teacher, our goal is for the positive learning of our pupils wherein there is no fear but respect to established good classroom management and this can be possible if the teacher is smiling, happy and enthusiastic to teach. A smiling teacher in the classroom ease the tension and fear among the learners and that may encourage them to ask questions for clarifications on lessons deemed unclear to them and this will build their confidence and learning will be possible. A happy and smiling teacher will produce learners who are confident to face life challenges respecting other’s rights.

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The author is Teacher III at Pitabacan Elementary School

Magalang North District, Magalang, Pampanga