SCHOOL is exciting when we have a lot of friends there. Have you ever thought about counting your teachers as your friends too? I can see many of you are surprised at this, but just think about it.

I am not talking about your teachers being your buddies with whom you can sit, chat and play, but teachers being people whom you like and who like you too; thinking of teachers as friends — not foes who are always troubling you and whom you are always planning to trouble without being caught.

To be happy at school and do well there, you need to form a relationship with your teachers that is based on respect, warmth and affection, the kind you have with your parents or favourite uncle or aunt. Again many of you are raising your eyebrows on this … I can understand it. But again, give this a little thought.

Your parents scold you and are strict with you sometime or the other. Then they appreciate you when you do something well. Don’t teachers do this too? It may come as a surprise to some of you but teachers want to like their students, they want their students to be good and do well always, they have your best interest at heart. When a student is good and does well, it gives a sense of accomplishment to them. It means they have done their job well.

Students who sit with disinterest in the class and perform poorly make teachers feel disappointed and disheartened. Imagine you are the teacher and during the class, some students are not paying attention and are looking at each other, whispering or signalling, or worst, they are looking at you but with a look that clearly shows that they would rather be anywhere else but there. Won’t it annoy and disappoint you? And if a teacher is not happy with you, that negative energy is bound to transfer to you and you will have the same negative feelings towards the teacher.

So in order to enjoy and get the best out of school and your classes, attempt to build a good bond with the teachers so that both of you get along well. It is basically trying to get into the good books of your teachers, and I won’t call it trying to be the teacher’s pet because that has a sort of negative connotation to it, which implies that you are trying to flatter your teacher to get some special treatment from them, especially regarding your marks.

Let us go over some ways in which you can be in your teachers’ good books, and these are things that you already know and do, but there is no harm in doing a recap.

First impression

THE first impression can truly remain as the last impression for a teacher. If you disappoint or annoy a teacher with your behaviour in class or your refusal to follow their instructions on the first day itself, you’ve had it!

What they perceive about you initially will be very hard for you to undo, and it will take a lot of time and effort from you. So why not save yourself all the hassle?

And just like some of you are a bit stressed or anxious in a new school or a new class, it’s the same for teachers too. They too are under pressure and, trust me, all of them want to make a good first impression so that students like them and they can get along well for a trouble-free year.

Be punctual

BE seated with your books, notebooks and stationary ready when the teacher enters the class. Don’t be late. If the first ten minutes of a lesson are interrupted by students arriving late, be it from another class held somewhere else, a trip to the water cooler or washroom, it is distracting for everyone and the teacher is unable to start the lesson properly until everyone has settled.

Sit in the front

SIT in the front row, preferably the centre. This signals to the teacher that you will not misbehave and are serious about your studies. Teachers learn to trust the front bencher and consider them as studious because it sends them a signal that the student is ready to give full attention to the lesson and is not afraid to be asked questions.

But not everyone can sit in the front so wherever you sit, behave yourself.

Be attentive

GIVE your teacher your full attention. Talking in class, unless allowed to have a class discussion, is the worst thing you can do. It distracts your attention as well as that of other students and the teacher, it annoys the teacher and breaks the tempo of the lecture. No matter how quietly you may think you are whispering to your friend, the teacher always notices.

Be inquisitive

ASK for more information about what is being taught and convey to the teacher when you don’t understand something. Teachers really don’t mind repeating or explaining in detail when asked by students, provided the questions are not asked with the intent to disturb the lesson or make your friends laugh, because the teacher just knows that you are trying to create disturbance in the class by unnecessary interruptions.

When you get a question wrong in class work or a test, and you are not sure about the correct answer, do ask the teacher. They will appreciate the fact that you are concerned about your studies.

But don’t act unintelligent or dumb on purpose. When you are faking it, it shows. And unnecessary and smart (according you) remarks in class will get you nowhere, so avoid them, even if your friends latter pump up your ego by telling you how they enjoyed the way you answered the teacher.

Answer questions

TEACHERS often ask questions in the class to either gauge if the students have paid attention to what was taught or just to make the class more interactive. Either way, do answer questions, especially when no one else volunteers. The silence is very awkward when the teacher asks a question and no student attempts to answer it. So be the student who rescues the teacher from such an awkward situation.

But don’t take the role of answering questions too far and end up monopolising the class, without giving others a chance to answer or take part in discussion.

Don’t make fun of them

DON’T make fun of teachers behind their back. They know. It is common to keep funny nicknames of teachers, but some of them are outright insulting.

So avoid taking their nicknames — all school walls have ears! You just never know who might hear it and you may get in trouble. Let your friends joke around, you keep mum. And if the jokes are getting offensive or insulting when you are in a group who is talking about a teacher, either ask them to stop or you move out of that group. Even if you did not say a word, if anyone sees you with them and hears them talking this way, they will assume you are part of it too.

No eating or sleeping in the class

EATING chewing gum or something from your lunch box in the class is a cardinal sin. Okay so you didn’t get caught the last time but there is always the first time — just don’t do it.

Sometimes teachers do see students doing all the things that you are not supposed to do and may decide to ignore it for various reasons — they may not want to break the flow of their lecture or stop and disturb the focus of other students. But they will slot you as mischievous and will reprimand you in their own way later on.

The seven deadly sins in classroom

These are some things that you should never ever do in class. They are as sinful as the seven deadly sins, and just as tempting to indulge in. Read on…

Talking: Thou shall not talk with thy friends during a class – or thou shall stand outside the class.

Cheating: Thou shall not cheat — or be condemned to eternal shame!

Sleeping: Thou shall not sleep in the class — or thou shall be knocked out of your dreams!

Forgetting: Thou shall not forget to do the homework, the books and notebooks at home and about the test that is to take place — or thou shall learn a lesson thou shall never forget.

Disturbing: Thou shall not disturb the class by poking the child in front of you, hitting others with paper balls, cracking a joke, etc — or thou will miss thy games class or recess time.

Lying: Thou shall not lie to the teacher — the teacher will always catch thee. Fighting: Thou shall never fight in school — or thou will soon have no school to fight in! W.R.