Let Them Talk — A Technique That Always Works Wonders
A way teachers and students can both have fun while learning effectively.
Classrooms can be noisy, and even at times unbearable when the teachers don’t know how to handle their students. It becomes a pool of crying and howling monkeys to put it subtly and can be a pain to deal with. Most often than not, the instructor usually loses their cool and starts to get really loud and at times very mean that probably can be the worst-case scenario.
Many things can happen in such scenarios, the teacher might throw something at someone and could potentially hurt someone in the process all to gain the focus of attention of the class. In most scenarios like this, I believe the teacher doesn’t have the confidence in his/her students — otherwise, they won’t be treating him/her like this.
Following is perhaps an excerpt from my life that I have used and fairly experienced by my co-peers who have taught classrooms with fairly noisy populous. This philosophy directly seems to work in favor of both the teacher and their students. In this example, I believe a high school classroom will be taken.
Here we have a classroom of 45 students. Each class usually is of 90 minutes. The Lecture contents however only need 45 minutes. The Teacher should divide the 90-minute classroom into a 45+45 session. The first half, he should allow the students to converse in however they way please but not to make a ruckus in the process. The teacher needs to come to a clause with everyone that he or she will give each one of the time to talk to whoever they please for 45 minutes.
“I tell my students, ‘When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. This is not just a grab-bag candy game.” ― Toni Morrison
They can even go outside of the classroom if they please, but the class will start at the other half of the 45-minute window, so be there on time. Most of the time, in Universities breaks, are usually not that long. So this can give the students coming in the classroom ease and furthermore give them some breathing room to relax. In the meantime, it will give the instructor time to fully set up or write the lecture into a specific medium so that he doesn’t need to write most examples on the board, it saves time for him and also helps him to cater more time to his student’s needs.
Afterwards, when the time runs out. You can call out for students to simmer down. In 80% of the times, that I have done this — the class simmers down. As they talk, it is like a warm-up for their brains and minds. This exercise is necessary so that the rest half of their class can be utilized with ease. In many cases, I have seen that most students are sharper at perceiving what I teach them as well as communicating with questions that they won’t ask if they were in a regular nonstop classroom of 90 minutes.
They are mostly quiet and are more prone to participate in classroom activities. It not only increases their performance in the class but also kind of motivates them to reason with the instructor during teaching time. This method is one of the ways that a newly found instructor can use to communicate effectively with their students. So that the students can start to become fond of him.
Furthermore, the instructor should communicate in the first half of the class with each student. It can be on any topic, any local daily issue, and can navigate his way and talk with everyone. Firstly this activity of communicating with each group and wing of the classroom fosters a harmonious bond and also propagates a sense of friendliness among students. As students usually have the heart of a child, treat them as such and they will reciprocate towards you in a friendly manner.
If you shout and act intense their energies will be attacking towards you. Thus there is always a peaceful solution, and this perhaps is one of the easier ones. We all know, the second half of 45 minutes will go smoothly when they have talked to their fill. Sure some kids might talk, they will be attentive while they do it. So it’s not that bad at all.
Mostly, the second half I divide into two sections. One is where I speak and They Listen and The second is where they communicate and I reciprocate towards their questions. It can all be done in a 45-minute window. The best thing is that a usual classroom and human attention are usually around 30 minutes, and they get tired so 25 minutes of Byte Sized Class Lecture and another 20 of Class Collaboration can be really helpful in teaching a classroom of enthusiastic individuals.
“When I act tough they listen politely till the spasm passes. They know.” ― Frank McCourt
My University professors used to use this technique always and It never fails. We all were students and children once, why do we stop thinking at their levels — Unless we want our children to become a collaborative part of the new age of society.
Change needs to happen with us first if we want our children to change.
We have to become the example, we need our students to become first. That is perhaps the best way to teach anyone, my two cents. Kindness begets kindness, and love begets love. Show availability to your students, let them co-exist in harmony and they will do the same for you. Try it, Improvise your way if need be.
Let Them Talk — They will listen when the time stops.
Thank you so much for reading. Our Students are our Children and Our Future. We need to treat them with love and empathy more. They will listen if we show them our support — as they will learn it as well. Peace.
Stay Blessed and Stay Safe!
With Love ❤️
