Making Connections with Students

One of the greatest pleasures of teaching occurs when the teacher is able to make meaningful connections with students. Increased motivation is the wonderful outcome that occurs when students connect with teachers.Making a connection with students comes by having a vigilant attitude as you teach and then seizing the opportunity when a student demonstrates an intensity of interest in the subject matter being taught.

I approach the goal of establishing connections with students with a dual strategy. At all times I use every opportunity to impress upon the students that I care for them and that I am trying to make there learning experience as enjoyable as possible. You can never tell when a "connection moment" will occur but by putting in the groundwork of a caring, friendly and positive approach in your pedagogy then you will create a fertile atmosphere to successfully create positive connections.

During last term my course material involved activities that asked students to consider the meanings of words like "ambition", "aspire" and "desire" and the vocabulary was linked to the concept of "a dream job." This topic struck me as being extremely important as a key motivator to get my public school Thai students to gain an appreciation of how the study of English is a key element in making their ambitions a reality. I spent extra time on the topic and whilst the majority of students were unable to give a clear description of their "dream job", I asked the question of each student hoping to plant some seeds of thought concerning their future career ambitions whilst emphasising the importance of English as a bridge that can realise their ambitions.

Advance the time 5 weeks later to today. I went early into my classroom for a Matayom 6 (the final year of public secondary education in Thailand) class which usually has about 40 students to find 6 students waiting even though class did not officially begin for another 15 minutes. Straightaway I engaged them as it was a valuable opportunity to teach them in a small group. I asked them if they remembered our class last term about "ambition" and began asking each of them if the had been thinking about their dream job. I was pleasantly surprised that thy had improved their understanding of the concept regarding ambition. Three of the girls said they were hoping to become nurses, two indicated that they were considering becoming teachers whilst the other student said she would like to work in hospitality. This was a great moment as I could see that they had begun to focus on life after school. As our discussion continued the student who was interested in hospitality described to me how she would like to work on big boats so that she could work and travel at the same time. I explained to her (just as the majority of pupils began to enter the classroom) that the correct term for "big boats" was "cruise ships." She had never heard of this description before and had me repeat it to the group several times before asking me if I though her ambition was a good idea. I emphatically agreed and praised her for having such a great ambition whilst reminding her of the importance of mastering English in order to have a successful career in international hospitality. The other students had entered the classroom by now and I had to get on with the job of teaching the whole class.

When the class ended the student thanked me for the lesson and I happened to notice on the inside of her thumb that she had written the words "cruise ship". I was so pleased to feel that she had discovered a worthy ambition for herself and that I had made a genuine connection with that student who now had an enhanced motivation to study English.