Sarah lent me this book by LouAnn Johnson (Jossey-Bass, 2005). It’s about the teacher-woman on whom the movie Dangerous Minds is based. There are some useful teaching tips in it, some of which I’ll list here for reference:

• Consider what quality of teacher you’d like to be: super, excellent or good. Super means you dedicate every second of your life to it and you usually burn out quickly. At the other end, good means you know how to balance life with work, which gives you more shelf life. It’s good for me to think about this, because I’m a rabid perfectionist, but in this profession particularly, that can lead to a premature crash-and-burn. “Regardless of whether you choose to be a super, excellent, or good teacher, you will still be contributing to society, performing honorable and necessary work, and helping to shape the future of our country” [or of the lives of people in whichever country I land].
• “Choose Your Persona.” Teachers are essentially actors. Spend some time considering what message you’d like your presence to convey. While it has to be true to who you are, of course, it can spotlight just one or two facets that seem most conducive to the environment. Dress the part. “Because your students will take their cues from you, it’s very important that you decide before you step onstage how you will portray your character.” I’m not accustomed to being in a formal authority role, though I’ve led many a project, so this is a stretch for me, and important to consider before I set foot in a classroom. At another time I should spend time here considering what that persona will be: strict or flexible, formal or informal, serious or funny… “Once your students decide who you are, you’ll have a hard time convincing them to change their perceptions. You can change their minds, but it demands so much time and energy that if you goof and get started on the wrong foot… you may be inclined to simply cope with the status quo and hope things will improve over time. Coping and hoping, however, are poor substitutes for self-confidence and leadership.” She suggests sitting down and listing your strengths and weaknesses, combining your three strongest assets and mushing them together into a persona. For her, its making certain rules that can’t be broken, taking the time to know each student personally an using humor whenever possible to make her point without making students lose face.
• Decide what environment you want your classroom to be: formal or more spontaneous. Do you want students to raise hands before speaking? What do you do when they don’t? Be consistent in observing established norms. In considering the kind of classroom you want, think of your own classes: which did you enjoy most and which did you dread? What kind of environment was best for you? How did the teachers communicate their attitudes toward you?
• Control your classroom, not your students: Rather than scolding or sending people to the principle, take them outside the classroom, explain their infraction, and give them the responsibility to change their behavior and return to the classroom, or go to the principle. You may have to repeat this step.
• What do you want your students to know? This has two levels: the curriculum itself, and the underlying messages. In ESL you’re teaching whatever, but under that is, perhaps, building their ethical standards and thirst for knowledge, teaching them to analyze and think on their own, accept one another… reflective of my values and ethics as relevant to this setting.
• Respect yourself. It’s the only way to get students to respect you. Explain on the first day of class what you value. She tells her students it’s self-respect. She tries to build that, self-discipline and self-confidence in her students. By respecting your students, you’re modeling (although that hasn’t worked with one of my colleagues at SIT; what then?) Respect does not entail thinking you’re right, or that you have all the answers.
• There is no such thing as a casual remark to a child. “Be careful. Everything you say, every single day, may be recorded in your students’ hearts forever.”

I stopped reading there. The next chapter is on preparation. I should probably buy the book so I can fill it with yellow streaks.