Selling Yourself and Your Course (Student Motivation)

Ted McGurrin, 米健飞

Chinese Language Teacher

Vernon Township Public Schools, New Jersey

In order for one to be teacher, one must first have students to teach. As such, the ability of a teacher to sell themselves and their course is paramount. Particularly due to the misconception that Chinese is a difficult language, teachers must effectively present the language in such a way as to allay student fears/misconceptions as well as spark the student’s interest. I use the following methods in order to accomplish this and hope to speak more in-depth about these items on May 16th.

1. The First Day - Get the Hook in Quickly

The first day is your opportunity to sell yourself and your program to your students. Students will form an impression of you and your subject in the first few minutes, even seconds. For this reason, get the students actively involved in the language right away.

2. Allay Fears and Clear up Misconceptions

Most Americans know nothing about the Chinese language. For this reason, Chinese is often labeled as difficult by parents, administrators and students. Too often students come to me and say that their parents didn’t want them to take Chinese because “Chinese is difficult”. Why would any parent tell a child that a subject of interest to that child is difficult? The second that anyone tells that child that the subject is difficult, it gives the child an excuse to fail. For this reason, it is the job of the teacher to clear up these misconceptions and educate the students, parents as well as the administration.

3. Interest versus Academics

Our job as teachers is to not only teach, but also to ensure that students are excited about our course and want to continue even after they leave our class. For this reason, teachers must struggle with the correct ratio of “interest versus academics”. As an example, speaking only in the target language from day one is wonderful in theory and yes this is, without a doubt, the best way to learn any language. However, what proportion of students will simply feel dejected and lose interest on the first day? I believe that the lower the grade level, the more important that fostering interest is over academics.