Today my supervisor told me that I should use simpler language when talking to the kids. He said he caught several words from me which he was sure will leave the kids scratching their head, but he could only remember the word 'moderate' when I tell the class that I can lower my voice only if they do so too.
Speaking (and even SMS-ing) in complete sentences and with respect and reason is second nature to me when I am in the teaching mode. Much of it is influenced by my stint of being a kayaking coach, when I was mentored by JB and got lots of practice learning to incorporate technical terms in the delivery of lessons. My personal beliefs also play a part here - a teacher should be professional and polished when on the job, sensible and reasonable, giving and commanding respect by his bearing. It also stems from my personal teaching philosophy, that one needs to be a role model to students, so a teacher must speak the way they will want to be spoken to themselves. Also, I personally do not believe in talking down to people, and adolescents are the most egoistic people alive to boot.
Most importantly, I think Secondary 1 students are still young and I believe they still can learn language by picking it up unconsciously, even though initially they might not understand all that I say. Just a familiarity with difficult words by frequent exposure will eventually lead to understanding and application. Using simple language and an authoritative voice can help make a teacher's lesson easier to manage perhaps, but then a chance to introduce cognitive dissonance and hopefully some small revelations will be lost. They will not be able to break out of their own stereotype about themselves as children/students/teenagers, pick up a better vocabulary, model formal discourse, and learn about communicating with respect and courtesy.
And these things, above all, are what makes a character. Any bit of factual knowledge in books pales in significance compared to the value of acquiring eloquence and an admirable personality.
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