Teaching is all about relationships. As educators, our role in our student's academic life is equally important as their life outside of that! We discuss all the time about the importance of a positive teacher-student relationship, but what are some specific ACTIONS we can take to build that relationship? I have a list to give you some ideas!
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| The last day of school with my 5th graders! |
BEFORE we jump into that list, I do have to speak on the WHY aspect of building relationships.
Rita Pierson said it best, "Kids don't learn from people they don't like."
If we want our students to meet our high level of expectation that we set for them, there MUST be mutual respect and trust with the teacher and the student. Effort on your end as an educator must be there if you are wanting effort back from your students. In addition to that, you should genuinely want to build that relationship with each and every student on your team not just for the effort they will give you academic-wise, but because you want to be a person in their life they can depend on. If you want to be a person who they know truly cares and loves them beyond just the year you spend with them, a relationship must be established.
So what specific actions can we take to make a profound impact on the relationship we have with our students? Check out the list below and see how I make that happen.
FIND WAYS TO SPEND TIME WITH YOUR STUDENTS OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM
This is HUGE. Seeing your teacher outside of school? Wanting to spend time with YOU at a place OTHER than the classroom? Yeah, that's a big deal in the best way possible. The simplest way to make this happen is to send out an email stating that if their child participates in any sports or activities, you would love if they sent a schedule so you can choose which one to attend ahead of time! Seeing my students' face as they see me cheering them on at an event is priceless. This has also helped me build a fantastic relationship with their families as well! In addition to sports events, I have also attended birthday parties and been invited to dinner by many of the families. (I never initiated these invites, but I feel I was invited because their families knew their student wanted to spend time with me, and they knew I would be happy to go!) In addition to that, every 5 weeks, the 5 students who earned class MVP will eat dinner with me at In&Out burger. They LOVE this, and I love that this special privilege is earned! I also throw a party at my house for my entire class right before state testing. It's a great bonding time, and I am very thankful for parents who donate food and volunteer in helping to plan it.
Kids are smart. They know when a teacher is putting in effort, and they recognize it even if they are not vocal about it. Implementing the list above has not only made me truly enjoy my career even more than I already do, but it has made a huge impact on the way my kids see me. They without a single doubt know that I genuinely care about them. Life is what you make it to be... find the time to make it meaningful with the people you care about most!
💙
Rita Pierson said it best, "Kids don't learn from people they don't like."
If we want our students to meet our high level of expectation that we set for them, there MUST be mutual respect and trust with the teacher and the student. Effort on your end as an educator must be there if you are wanting effort back from your students. In addition to that, you should genuinely want to build that relationship with each and every student on your team not just for the effort they will give you academic-wise, but because you want to be a person in their life they can depend on. If you want to be a person who they know truly cares and loves them beyond just the year you spend with them, a relationship must be established.
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| At In & Out Burger with our most recent class MVPs! |
So what specific actions can we take to make a profound impact on the relationship we have with our students? Check out the list below and see how I make that happen.
KNOW THE INTERESTS OF EACH CHILD
On the very first day of school I have a list with each student's name and during some independent time I make it a point to talk to each student for 3 minutes about what they like. I ask them to tell me all their favorite things (games, food, song, movie, toys etc). This is SO simple to do and EXTREMELY beneficial. If you know what your students are into, this can bring up great conversations. It can also lead to thoughtful book recommendations that will spark their interest! Randy was obsessed with sharks, and he was so happy when I ordered shark books from the book fair. This moment would not have happened if I did not take the time to get to know his interests. Also, I LOVE using their interests to spark creative ideas for lessons! If I know a student is struggling with a certain math concept, I will relate the lesson to something of his interest or do a room transformation based on that ...it's like magic how quickly they will learn the concept in that way!
Interests change so be sure to keep updated with their favorite things.
EAT LUNCH WITH YOUR STUDENTS
Now, I know you're probably thinking 'I have no time for this, there's so much to do!'...I'd be lying if I didn't think those things at some point too but hear me out on this! The grading, the data collecting, the emails, phone calls... they can wait. No, really! They can. The 30 minutes you spend with your kids is what matters. I choose 2 days a week that I spend time eating with my students and talking to them about WHATEVER they want to talk about. They love it just as much as I do. That time spent is quality time with your students that you cannot always get during instruction time. Take advantage of that.
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| Cheering on Caleb from the bleachers! |
This is HUGE. Seeing your teacher outside of school? Wanting to spend time with YOU at a place OTHER than the classroom? Yeah, that's a big deal in the best way possible. The simplest way to make this happen is to send out an email stating that if their child participates in any sports or activities, you would love if they sent a schedule so you can choose which one to attend ahead of time! Seeing my students' face as they see me cheering them on at an event is priceless. This has also helped me build a fantastic relationship with their families as well! In addition to sports events, I have also attended birthday parties and been invited to dinner by many of the families. (I never initiated these invites, but I feel I was invited because their families knew their student wanted to spend time with me, and they knew I would be happy to go!) In addition to that, every 5 weeks, the 5 students who earned class MVP will eat dinner with me at In&Out burger. They LOVE this, and I love that this special privilege is earned! I also throw a party at my house for my entire class right before state testing. It's a great bonding time, and I am very thankful for parents who donate food and volunteer in helping to plan it.
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| At a student's 10th birthday party! |
Kids are smart. They know when a teacher is putting in effort, and they recognize it even if they are not vocal about it. Implementing the list above has not only made me truly enjoy my career even more than I already do, but it has made a huge impact on the way my kids see me. They without a single doubt know that I genuinely care about them. Life is what you make it to be... find the time to make it meaningful with the people you care about most!
💙
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