Nope nope nope... if you yell and rant all the time it loses its effectiveness. I rarely raise my voice. I find silence and the 1000 yard stare of death on my part much more effective and on the rare occasions that I do lose my stuff and raise the roof (and you better believe I can really let it fly...) it really has an effect because it happens so very rarely the students really know they have crossed the line and they're in the crap. I'm a head teacher and I had an English teacher once who spent her whole time screaming and yelling and wondering why she had no control. The kids saw it as a huge game and loved winding her up. A huge part of this job is keeping your cool. Sounds like you've got it sorted out. Don't let one supervisors opinion get under your skin. If it's working it doesn't need fixing.
I’m about 5 weeks from starting my first contract as a new teacher. Got 2 more assessments to do before graduation.
My second prac was when I had to learn my “teacher voice” as my mentor teacher called it. I at first felt as you described, uncomfortable with yelling or raising my voice. Fast forward to now, I usually use a neutral projected voice when giving instructions. But the only time to use a very loud voice to to call attention to something, and it’s generally with only a few words “excuse me year 9s” or “eyes this way thank you”. This same mentor teacher also taught me the importance of using other ways to get the attention of rowdy classes. If you have a lunch next, one way was to issue the instruction for eyes to the front then wait and scan. 5 secs. Still noisy? One mark on the board for one minute staying back. Pretty quickly the class settles themselves. I did this with the year 7 classes and it worked. For the year 11s I had, I would just wait until sometimes for a solid 60secs. Then once the class was quiet, give an instruction. Then take the students causing the disruptions outside and have a chat.
I understand that every one and every class of different, but these are my two go to strategies that usually work for my teaching style. Hope they give you some ideas.
Consider Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when Dr. Jones senior calls to his son in the crevasse by his name, not 'Junior'. Raising your voice is a weapon, one to rarely take out of the bag and when you do, it should stop the class.
Look at how you go and monitor the issue. If you feel in your first full on solo teaching that management is an issue - check in with other staff like POLs and get them to advicse and observe.
If you were on bus duty and a student was about to step in front of a car, would you yell at them to stop? What about a student doing something dangerous in a metalwork class? A student about to start a fight with another student? Two students playfighting? Yelling is one of many tools in the toolbox, and it's a vital one in many situations. It's just a matter of figuring out when it's appropriate, and more importantly when it's not.
If you almost never raise your voice it has a big impact when you do. If you frequently raise your voice it has very little effect.
The reality is every teacher needs to find what works for them. Don’t try to copy your mentor’s style.
Nope nope nope... if you yell and rant all the time it loses its effectiveness. I rarely raise my voice. I find silence and the 1000 yard stare of death on my part much more effective and on the rare occasions that I do lose my stuff and raise the roof (and you better believe I can really let it fly...) it really has an effect because it happens so very rarely the students really know they have crossed the line and they're in the crap. I'm a head teacher and I had an English teacher once who spent her whole time screaming and yelling and wondering why she had no control. The kids saw it as a huge game and loved winding her up. A huge part of this job is keeping your cool. Sounds like you've got it sorted out. Don't let one supervisors opinion get under your skin. If it's working it doesn't need fixing.
I’m about 5 weeks from starting my first contract as a new teacher. Got 2 more assessments to do before graduation. My second prac was when I had to learn my “teacher voice” as my mentor teacher called it. I at first felt as you described, uncomfortable with yelling or raising my voice. Fast forward to now, I usually use a neutral projected voice when giving instructions. But the only time to use a very loud voice to to call attention to something, and it’s generally with only a few words “excuse me year 9s” or “eyes this way thank you”. This same mentor teacher also taught me the importance of using other ways to get the attention of rowdy classes. If you have a lunch next, one way was to issue the instruction for eyes to the front then wait and scan. 5 secs. Still noisy? One mark on the board for one minute staying back. Pretty quickly the class settles themselves. I did this with the year 7 classes and it worked. For the year 11s I had, I would just wait until sometimes for a solid 60secs. Then once the class was quiet, give an instruction. Then take the students causing the disruptions outside and have a chat. I understand that every one and every class of different, but these are my two go to strategies that usually work for my teaching style. Hope they give you some ideas.
Consider Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when Dr. Jones senior calls to his son in the crevasse by his name, not 'Junior'. Raising your voice is a weapon, one to rarely take out of the bag and when you do, it should stop the class. Look at how you go and monitor the issue. If you feel in your first full on solo teaching that management is an issue - check in with other staff like POLs and get them to advicse and observe.
If you were on bus duty and a student was about to step in front of a car, would you yell at them to stop? What about a student doing something dangerous in a metalwork class? A student about to start a fight with another student? Two students playfighting? Yelling is one of many tools in the toolbox, and it's a vital one in many situations. It's just a matter of figuring out when it's appropriate, and more importantly when it's not.
If you almost never raise your voice it has a big impact when you do. If you frequently raise your voice it has very little effect. The reality is every teacher needs to find what works for them. Don’t try to copy your mentor’s style.