HowdoIKnowMyStudents?Asaneducator,peopleoftenaskmehowIknowwhatisgoingoninthemindsofmystudents.Manystudentsarequiteshyanddon'tspeakallthatmuch.Atthesametime,inaclassroomofmorethanfortystudents,itishardtohavemanyone-on-oneconversationswitheachperson.So,howcanIreallyknowwhatmakeseachstudenttick?Myanswer?Ilookattheirbodylanguage.Itiseasytorecognisewhenstudentsareinterestedinalesson.Mosttendtolookupandmakeeyecontact.WhenImakeajoke,theysmile.WhenItalkaboutsomethingdifficult,theylookconfused.Iknowwhenstudentsarereallyinterested,however,becausetheyleanforwardandlookatme.Peoplehaveatendencytoleantowardswhatevertheyareinterestedin.Soifastudenthashisheadloweredtolookathiswatch,itimpliesheisboredandjustcountingtheminutesfortheclasstoend.Iftwofriendsareleaningtheirheadstogether,theyareprobablywritingnotestoeachother.

Ofcourse,noteveryonewholooksupispayingattentioninclass.Somestudentslookup,butthereisanabsenceofeyecontact.Theireyesbarelymove,andtheyalwayshavethesamedistantexpressionontheirfaces.Itisasthoughtheyareasleepwiththeireyesopen.Somestudentsareamusedbysomethingelse.Theyspendalltheirtimelookinganywherebutatme.Thenagain,somestudents'favouriteactivityisdaydreaming.Withtheirchinsontheirhands,theyoccupythemselvesbystaringoutofthewindoworupattheceiling.Theyarecertainlyinterestedinsomething,butwhoknowswhat.Themainthingisremindingdistractedstudentsthattheyneedtopayattentioninclass.Whileitiseasytoperceivewhenstudentsareinterested,bored,ordistracted,itissometimesmuchhardertodistinguishwhenstudentsaretroubled.Studentswhoareangry,afraid,orexperiencinganxietymayhavetheirarmscrossedinfrontoftheirchestsandtheirlegsclosedorcrossed,liketheyareguardingtheirbodies.Studentswhoaresadorworriedwillnearlyalwayswearafrown.Theymayalsohidetheirfacesintheirhandsliketheyareembarrassedorashamed.Somestudentsactthiswaymerelybecausetheyareafraidofbeingcalledonbytheteacher.However,ifastudentdoesnotbothertobrushherhairandhereyesareredfromweeping,thenIcaninferthattherearedeeperissuesatwork.Itcouldbethatsheishavingseriousconflictswithotherstudentsorathome.Whateveritis,IknowIneedtoinquireandassesswhatisgoingon.Ultimately,mydutyishelpingeverystudenttolearn.Theirbodylanguageletsmeknowwhentoadjustclassactivities,whe