Hi there, In my experience as many years as a teacher, I think that what students want is to "first connect" with you. They want to know "WIIFM". Bizarre - right? Your obvious answer would be "you are working on your future - what else should be in it for you?". But for us old foggies who grew up in a time when we were "commanded and instructed", those methods don't seem to work any more. Some of the students are very motivated, the majority want to achieve the learning without putting the necessary work - yes, as if with a magic wand! So what I find is that my first job is not even to try to teach anything but to "connect" with them as a person. Once they have their compass in your direction, now you have their attention. Next, you follow up quite close and they realise that you are not there to nag them or tell them off, but to support and supervise... because as I always say, the human being comes first and everything else comes second. By this time, it is very possible that they have already understood what you and I already knew from the beginning: that learning is an active endeavor, not a passive receiving of useless information. And when they click into feeling that they "actually" do want to learn the subject, then you are just there on a mini-holiday, while they do the work... not even realising that they are actually doing the work. This philosophy may sound simplistic but teachers need to realise that this is a process. It takes me about 4 months to develop their trust in me and to give them the "will" to actually want to "own" the knowledge - and then I am everyone's favourite teacher! 😅 Anyway, I hope this helps. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Best of luck, Ana
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