These are a group of students I taught a couple years ago. They invited me out after arriving in China. They all study abroad.
In Canada, the relationship between students and teachers is more professional. When you leave school, you rarely ever want to spend time with your teachers outside of school. In China, students always invite me out to watch movies and go to a restaurant and KTV.
We watched Men in Black recently and before that, we have watched several movies together.
It still feels a little awkward as a teacher to be with your students outside of school but i have gotten used to it. You just have to remember that you are still their teacher so you should refrain from acting like a complete idiot around them.
Thats one of the risks of doing this. Sometimes teachers will make a fool of themselves around their students and it could impact the respect they once had for you when they see how you behave outside the classroom.
All in all, its still a fun experience and the students get to know me better. This improves the relationship in the classroom but its important that you dont present yourself a simply their friend. When you try to be the friend, students will tend to slack off in your class because they see you as the “cool teacher.” I think its important to carry yourself well and lay down the rules when students misbehave.
