How to Be the Teacher’s Pet
Whether you’re a high school student, taking nighttime college courses, or enrolled in salsa at your local community center, you have designated instructors, those who willingly lead the masses to newer insights. They deserve more than a pat on the back. They deserve intrinsic and extrinsic respect. The next time you really want to impress teachers to reach ‘pet’ status, consider the following strategies.
Answer Questions
There’s nothing worse than asking a germane question to a crowd full of cricket chirps. Teachers want to know that the information is setting in. Forget about how cool or not cool it is to know the answer and help your good ole’ teacher out, letting them know they’re doing a good job in passing along knowledge. Raise your hand. Answer that question.
Pay Attention
Hey, some teachers understand you’d rather be somewhere else than in Shakespeare’s Verona. Or would like to scratch your eyes out rather than hear about trigonometry; but, consider respecting the teacher as a person, regardless of their chosen area of scholastic concentration. In the very least, you could look somewhat interested and try to learn a little about the rings of Saturn. Respect your teacher as another human being, and pay attention.
Volunteer
Sometimes teachers need to do five things with two hands. It makes for some creative thinking, but it’s likely they’ll appreciate a pair of helping hands. Rather than watch your teacher ponder ways to grow more limbs, help them out. For instance, rather than speak into the blackboard while writing, they could use a ‘recorder’ to scroll on the board while facing the class for oration. Rather than have them ask at the brink of two-limbed disaster, volunteer to help your teacher.
Gifts
Who doesn’t like getting gifts? To show your ultimate appreciation you could send a gift to the venue of learning or present it personally to your teacher on the last day of class. What could you give? Something thoughtful and fun is a good place to start. How about popcorn gift baskets? Or bookends? Or anything small but expressing appreciation? A simple “thanks” would do fine, but why not augment your message with a small token?
The following article is a bit tongue-in-cheek but does speak upon viable, underlying points. It is important to express engagement and appreciation to teachers; an expression could take the shape of popcorn gift baskets or enthusiastic participation.
Citations:
Richard Ortiz is a member of a team of writers, working for WebiMax, an online marketing firm, assisting small to large clients.
