Building Rapport with Students

** Get to know your students as soon as possible. This includes learning something about each student and learning to deal with various personalities.

** Enter the classroom with confidence. If you seem insecure, the students will realize it and you'll never have control over the class.

** Plan well. The student teaching experience is limited, so create realistic goals for what you want to achieve with your class.

** Use a variety of teaching strategies in the classroom. Plan to use worksheets, games, role playing, group work, and other approaches in order to motivate students as well as help them learn.

** Have a specific discipline plan for the classroom that is coordinated with your cooperating teacher. Start by knowing the school's rules about discipline.

** Smile a lot and have a good sense of humor. It can be contagious.

** Be flexible. A lot of teaching is trial and error. What works for one class may not work for another.

Source: http://education.indiana.edu/%7Ecafs/tt/v3i1/tips_st.html