6 Strategies for Dealing with Difficult Parents

The teaching profession involves very significant aspects that need to be attended whether you like it or not. Dealing with parents difficult ones especially! Many times teachers can feel stressed or under pressure because of the entire dealing process. Menachem Moscovitz says that teachers can even feel threatened by aggressive parents. 

1. Maintain Your Cool

Yelling or disagreeing with one another will do nothing. When you are dealing with a tough parent try to remain calm and listen to what they have to say first. Menachem Moscovitz says that teachers must find a way to deal with tough situations because they will occur.

2. Build Trust Level with Parents

Menachem Moscovitz says that building trust is important between parents and teachers. Parents also want to hear about the good things going on in school and not only the bad stories. Sending a quick note or a call to parents can help in building trust among both parties. It shows that a teacher is not only focusing on the “bad stuff” but good things as well. Parents soon begin to realize that you are not only there to point only negative things about their kid.

3. Reaching Out to the Community

Reaching out to the community can build a great rapport. Students will learn and realize the significance of giving back to the community. The community will appreciate showcase of care by the young citizens. The school also wins as all of it shows well and it can also gain plus point among the press.

4. Show You Care 

How many of your teachers were liked by your parents? Only one! Yes, there is only one teacher who is liked by parents. Reasons can vary but one common factor is the care amount for sure. Menachem Moscovitz shares that you do not need to act like a mother but try to show that you care about inappropriate amounts. You can seek inspiration from your kid; even if you do not have a kid you must have a niece. Try to treat your young students as if they are related to you this can elevate your care level to a great extent.

6.

Meet Face-to-Face with Parents

Invite them over instead of trying to solve an issue over the phone or email. One of the main benefits of meeting face-to-face is that you can show them samples of their child’s work or record of attendance. You can also show evidence of how many times you have discussed the issue with them.

5. Do Not Allow Yourself to be Under Stress

A few parents may ask the teacher to give their kid a grade or promote them even if they do not fill the basic requirements. Do not fall under the pressure and adhere to your duties. Follow your ethics and do not even fall into the category of someone who does as parents say. If still parents have some issues they have the option to reach out to the principal if they want. Menachem Moscovitz believes that if a teacher starts doing as parents want, they have succumbed to the pressure. 

 

Tips to Use Social Media in the Classroom

There is no doubt in saying that social media has become a part of our daily lives a few years ago this was not the case. But now as we are headed to 2021 every single person is connected to social media in one way or another. Menachem Moscovitz observes that social media has its own share of advantages and disadvantages and it would be fair to say that advantages are more.

We get to see the latest news, events, cinema, and announcements by the government through social media first and the local newspaper later. People are always clung to their smartphones like there is nothing better to do in life. People who do not like technology ‘has’ to push themselves in using it because they feel left alone.

Menachem Moscovitz believes that using social media as a teaching tool can be effective especially during the lockdown period. Online classes can cause a lack of discipline which can affect your classroom’s overall result. With the help of social media you can practice the following;

1. Mingle with Social Platforms

The first thing to do is get involved in social media activities yourself. If you teach English then you can follow other same language teachers in any part of the world and learn from them. Or you can also share anything you would like to tell others such as teaching tips, favorite teaching apps, etc. 

If you want to go the extra mile then you can make a social group in which you can include anyone you want and have discussions with them. When various minds chat unbelievable solutions can be figured out. Menachem Moscovitz believes that students with their young thinking can bring out the best results.

2. Make Students Write Blog

Blogs are a perfect way to display your inner thoughts to the outer world. You can encourage your students to write a blog and make them read each other’s blogs. Through this unique activity, they can learn more about their fellow classroom friends and their vocab will definitely increase. 

Menachem Moscovitz suggests teachers write blogs too, through finding a bold habit we can channelize our inner energy whether positive or negative does not matter. If it is negative then it will cease not to matter but if it was positive then there is a 100 chance of multiplying that same energy and achieve something extraordinary.

3. Tweet…All the Way

Even the president of the world power country tweets if he wants to make some information public. Twitter is not merely a social media platform anymore; it has become much bigger than that. Now it has become a basic and significant public information platform. 

You can encourage your students to share a list of their favorite books or favorite recipe, etc. Through this activity, kids can share their interests without judgment and their confidence level would surely boost. Menachem Moscovitz believes that through Twitter kids can learn a great deal of things that can be helpful in their intellectual growth. Not only this through this they can learn about world events as well.

Ideas for Effective Questioning in the Classroom

What makes students love a particular teacher’s class? To begin with, we can say that the environment created by that teacher and the teaching style of that teacher. The way a teacher teaches matters a lot no doubt in saying that, what kind of questions a teacher asks in the classroom can shape the whole lecture.

Menachem Moscovitz believes that effective questioning is needed in every classroom for a positive and great outcome. The purpose of a teacher should not be only good results but along what also what life lessons can kids grasp as well.

There are five principles with the help of which you can make sure that your class stands out from the rest and an effective method of questioning can take place among your students.  

 

1. Ask Questions that Encourage Thinking and Reasoning

 

Great questions have the power to encourage great thinking- this saying is true in all terms. Unless budding minds are pushed to think in a unique way there can never be a discovery.

Menachem Moscovitz says that effective questioning should be prepared before taking the class. It is useful to build a sequence of questions that can extend students thinking capacity. A good questioner remains flexible and asks useful follow-up questions. 

 

2. Ask Questions Including Everyone

A good teacher always asks questions keeping everyone in mind say Menachem Moscovitz. It is significant to include everyone in the questions asked and thinking. Here are three ways through which you can use this technique;

• Ask questions that encourage a range of reactions or questions that can start a healthy discussion.
• Encourage kids to listen to each other’s reply calmly.
• Make sure to set rules for any sort of discussion.

3. Give Students Time to Think and Analyze

The time between a teacher asking the question and student replying is called ‘waits time’. Menachem Moscovitz suggests that teachers should give at least 10 seconds to students to prepare their answers. 

When teachers increase the wait time to 5 to 10 seconds, the research shows that students begin to:

• Respond at greater length and with greater confidence;
• Offer more unsolicited, but appropriate, responses;
• Offer more diverse, alternative explanations;
• Relate responses to those from other students.

4. Avoid Judging Students Response

Teachers make a silly habit of judging students' responses which leads to mistrust among the classroom. When a teacher judges kids' response as ‘good’, ‘excellent’, or ‘brilliant’, kids morale increases and they start participating more in the classroom. Asks questions that permit a greater variety of responses. 

Benefits of Effective Questioning

Menachem Moscovitz shares that using the effective questioning technique in your classroom brings a host of benefits, as it:

• Encourages students to engage with their project and each other.
• Help students to think out loud.
• Facilitates learning through some active discussion.
• Motivate students to feel confident about their ideas.
• Improves the speaking and listening skills of kids.
• Builds crucial thinking skills.
• Teaches respect for people’s opinions.
• Helps students to clarify their understanding.
• Motivates students and develops an interest in a topic.
• Allows teachers to check students’ understanding.