Can't teach Charisma

Trainee teachers are great to take on and train. I will always welcome another person who shares a passion for working in the classroom. They can be filled with fresh ideas, a refreshingly idealistic notion of what teaching should be like and an enthusiasm in the classroom that becomes infectious. Or they can leave you scratching your head wondering why they ever thought of going into the profession. However, the most challenging type to train are those that lack that vital ingredient in the classroom, charisma.

I sat in on an observation this week of a trainee. He knew about structure of lessons, his subject knowledge was passable but he was a million miles away from relating to the students and he was so boring. Now how do you feed back on that.

"That was great, you had clear structure and good planning. However, you do need to develop some kind of personality to stop the kids hating you."

There was one who used to hold a small finger bell in class and shake it to get the kids quiet. Needless to say they erupted in laughter and barraged her with paper and abuse. Another used to think he was in Hortwogs by saying "Too much Pottering!" when the kids were talking. Again the kids pissed themselves.

I'm not judging, it just makes me laugh. Let's face it, plenty of teachers with strange habits have worked successfully for years.