HOW TO MAKE YOUR PUPILS FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU

Yay....! the long awaited post is finally going to be unleashed 💃💃💃 😁

Is it possible for your pupil to look straight into your eyes and just say; I love you...💖💖 or have you ever had a pupil who said this to you, "...when I grow up, I want to be a teacher like  you...? " 

This brings to us another hot topic among educators and a very controversial one I must say. Most "disciplinarian teachers" think it is impossible for pupils to love a "serious minded teacher" lolzzz...!

I'll share some tips that have helped me through the years. I am one teacher that is soooo loved by my pupils and class parents and 😁 I'm generous enough to share some useful tips that will help do justice to this topic - How to Make Your Pupils Fall in Love with You💖💖💖💖💖💖

Several years ago, it was Open Day in a school I taught at the time and a dear parent of mine came to see me with just a single request; "Miss Blessing please help me let my son know that I love him too, it's not only you that love him"🙆 OMG, I froze in shock for some seconds then quickly responded in laughter, "haaa... you are his mum and I can never take your place". That response brought a lot of relief as I could see it all over her.

Now, how did it get to this point that a child could love his teacher so much that his mum almost felt threatened by that love? I'll try to share some tips that have always worked for me in building cordial relationships with my pupils.

1. LISTEN TO THEM: As a teacher, there are things I've listened to that honestly is completely none of my business but hey... I need to listen all the same and that makes me connect with the child in such a profound way. Imagine a child trying to tell you how grandma came to the house and went shopping with her mum then made a yummy meal😃 All I do is listen, smile, nod and I always cease the opportunity to teach good morals e.g in this case I could say, "wow, grandma is really kind, did you remember to say "thank you...?"

2. BE REAL: Children know when you really love them and they certainly know when you fake it too, oh... yeah! Ask me how...?  Do you take time to study the child's mood and genuinely seek to find out if the child is going through a difficult moment?

I have had to call home on several occasions to find out if something went wrong before drop-off and 99% of the time it's usually the affirmative. Oh... don't mind him, he wanted to take his toy to school or "she doesn't like the snacks I gave her but that's what I have, she should manage it". 

So when you see a child who is always agile come into your class with a moody countenance, it is your responsibility as the class teacher to find out what's going on and address it immediately otherwise, you might lose that child for the whole day.

A child may be present physically but completely absent minded just because of a trivia issue that wasn't properly handled at home and ignored by an unobservant teacher. 

3. PLAY HARD & BECOME THEIR FRIENDS: OMG...! If you want those children to fall head over heels in love with you..., then you got to play- play- play and play🤸🤸🤸🤸🤸🤸

I play a lot when I teach my preschool pupil cause it gets all eyes fixed on me at that moment 😁 I sing, dance, mimic, tongue twist, play with my voice texture, I just do something funny that will certainly make them smile, laugh and stay focused.

Even the older ones at Grade level, I create special times to talk with them as pals, tell stories and create games around the lesson taught just to make them bubble with excitement.

4. RESPECT THEM: Of course, they deserve to be respected too just like every adult. They don't like it when we yell unnecessarily or use offensive words. Most adults think children are the only ones to use their magic words but we need to model it to them. 

We must learn to use the words - please, thank you, I'm sorry, excuse me, pardon me as adults and educators especially. So instead of saying, "James come here" we should say; "James, please come". 

Don't forget to always say thank you to them when they do anything for you no matter how little the help rendered may seem, e.g  picking up your pen from the floor. Remember to say, thank you.

5. SHOW EMPATHY: Always put yourself in the child's place/ shoes. Sometimes we have a child who isn't feeling so well or just recuperating from illness, we must learn to be very patient with such children. They may not be able to meet up with the expected pace but we shouldn't expect so much. Also, we might need to create a comfortable class environment. 

There are times I've had to inform my pupils that a child is under the weather and I'll need their cooperation in making that child feel comfortable. You'll be amazed at the different suggestions - " can we switch off the AC and fan?" 😃 Someone else will say, "can we stop making noise?"

The children are indirectly learning to care for others and show empathy as well.

What are your thoughts? Please remember to leave a comment on this topic.

In our next post we will be discussing how to make the most of the summer holiday to equip our children.