Classroom Presence Pocketbook

We all know teachers who exude an air of authority and who command attention the minute they walk into a room. Their presence communicates itself to students, often without a word having been spoken. When they speak and interact they come across as engaging, effective communicators. Their classes are calm and focused, students and teacher work well together and behaviour is rarely a problem. How do they do it?The Classroom Presence Pocketbook shows how to create presence through your teacher persona. In doing so, it plugs a gap that exists in teacher training and CPD. It draws on exciting and not widely disseminated material from the world of acting and improvisation to provide straightforward tools and strategies that all teachers can use to improve their classroom presence.The book starts with a look at how 'status techniques', used to good effect in stand-up comedy, theatre improvisation and politics, can be used in the classroom. With assertiveness and rapport they form a triad of core skills for creating presence. A later chapter on how to connect with your audience draws on Rodenburg's 'circles of energy'. Building presence through breathing, voice, spatial awareness, high expectations, behaviour management and NLP techniques complete the picture. As with all Teachers' Pocketbooks, cartoons, diagrams and visually attractive presentational devices support the text throughout.Rob Salter initially trained as a theatre director. He taught Drama for 16 years in London schools before moving to work in Special Needs. He now runs a consultancy specialising in meta-cognitive approaches to teaching and learning.