Student Building Strategies (PART 1) || Student's and teacher's bonding

Greetings, beautiful teachers and students of this community, I hope you had a great week. Today, I'll be talking on students and teachers relationship. As a teacher, there is no way you will meet a student and leave him or her the same way, it's either you leave him or her better or worse. But also, there are cases where a teacher ends up having deep relaxation with his or her student but today, I'll be focusing on my relationship with my students over the years.

My students are my treasures. We learn, laugh, cry together abd become friends again.

Tho I didn't study education, my journey to being a teacher started years ago, when I was looking fur a job, and I had to apply to a school close to my house because I couldn't get a job in the media. I have been teaching since then and in this journey, I have met lots of students and also taught them. The first set of students I ever taught are currently in their final year in the university. And in the course of this journey, I have had both good and bad experiences, and I have fallen in love with this profession even though teachers are not valued and are not well paid.

As a teacher, there are some things I need to make my students understand.

• That there is tine for everything, time to get serious and time to play. When it's time to play which is outside the lesson period, we can and when it is time to be serious, they have to be very serious.

• That there is no success without seriousness and they should never forget the reasons they are in school. I make them understand that I'm not just their teacher but their guardian meaning they can meet or approach me on anything disturbing them.

• My duty is to correct them and correcting them means I care about them. It's better to correct today than live in regrets tomorrow.

I take time take my students understand that there is a line drawn in my relationship with them.

The truth is, all students have different ways of learning. Currently, in education, it is said that there are no good abd bad learners, rather fast learners and slow learners.

The thing is, I differentiate between the fast learners and the slow learners. While the fast learners pick up easily, the slow learners need more time and I may have to employ another means of making them understand example through pictures, story telling, etc. So I don't give equal treatment to both, I give more time to the slow learners but at the same time, I dint abandon the fast learners. Sometimes, I make the fast learners to be the ones to stand in front of the class to explain to everyone. I also encourage the slow learners when they make an attempt.

The slow learners understand better when the fast learners explains

My relationship with my students isn't the same with all students. While I'm very close to some abd they believe in me and whatever I say, there are others that need much convincing.

The way I relate with my students determines the end.

Few times,I have failed to convince my students due to what they see around them. Imagine telling a student that being a teacher is a profession that has fulfillment in all areas, financially and otherwise. They won't believe because they already know teachers are not well paid especially in Nigeria. But when relating with my students, I love using facts and then I show them proof, this is what convinced them. Example, I told them the country Ethiopia is currently in the year 2017 while other countries are in 2025, they refused to believe me until I proved to them. But I relate with them in such a way that no question from them is stupid. I attempt all questions and I also read far and wide because they are very intelligent.

Nobody is above mistake, especially students. If a student makes a mistake, I call the student to order, but if I realize it's not a mistake or the student is intentionally doing it, then the student will be given mild punishment. We have few cases where the student has repeated the same thing over and over and so the student is brought before others to warn him or her, and in most cases his or her offence isn't mentioned. Sometimes, it's peer pressure, so as a teacher, I need to tackle the root of the problem. Example, I once saw a student chewing dry garri in the class, and this student's parents aren't poor, I asked her reasons, she said there was no time to eat breakfast, so in such a case, I only need to warn and not punish.

Punishment should be the last thing

I have come to develop love for this profession and I treasure every relationship with my students. While sine teach you lessons, others helps you develop. As a teacher, I look for ways to leave my students better than I found them, this is the main aim of teaching. I appreciate @memamun for this wonderful contest. I'm calling on @jyoti-thelight @xkool24 @palang to join this contest.