The Overlooked Side of Personalization: The Teacher’s Perspective

When we talk about personalization, we often talk about it from the students' perspective. If it's something they can relate to or connect with, then they become interested in the lesson/topic and more active in class.

For example, I once taught a group of 12-14-year-olds a lesson about video games. I play video games in my free time, so I talked about the ones I liked the most when I was their age (Prince of Persia, Devil May Cry, Resident Evil...). They started asking me questions about them, and I answered. I even showed them cutscenes and gameplay videos, which wasn't a part of my plan, but I did it because it was interesting to them and got them to talk. And needless to say, it helped a lot with the final task because it wasn't just a task anymore. It became a way for them to connect with me the same way I connected with them.

I'm saying is that you should consider sharing a little about yourself with your students when there's an opportunity to do so. When your students feel like they know you—that they can connect with you on some level—they're more likely to be active in class and more eager to learn.

What about the other, usually overlooked perspective? I'm talking about the teachers' perspective.
A teacher can plan "the perfect" lesson, prepare fun activities, and go the extra mile, only for students to barely participate because they don't feel that there's a connection between them and their teacher.
Understandably, teachers want to make sure that their TTT is low while STT is high. However, if your students can't connect with you, then you're just this mostly silent, instruction-giving enigma to them.
I'm not saying that you should befriend your students or spend the entire class talking about yourself. All

Another example of this is a lesson I taught to a group of 7-9-year-olds. The lesson was about memorabilia and personal collections. I collect action figures and model kits. I took one of the action figures I own (Iron Man from Marvel's Avengers, in case you're wondering), and I showed them pictures of the others. They kept asking me questions about my collection, which in turn got them to think and talk about stuff they collect or would like to collect.

As teachers, we usually avoid high TTT, but what if high TTT (like sharing something about yourself with your student) is just what they need to connect with you and relate to the lesson? This is what I like to call high-quality TTT. As long as you share just enough to spark interest and connect with your students without dominating the discussion, then go for it.