Excellence in
Education: Building Relationships
It's about relationships. At the heart of our mission are
the relationships we create with our students. As a first-year teacher I
remember being told to be a firm disciplinarian, to establish my authority as a
firm dictator. Perhaps you were told, "Don't smile until November,"
"Don't let students see your weakness," or "Never show
emotion."
So on my first day, I listed rule after rule after rule. You
can't do this, this or this. Then I laid out the consequences--well let's be
real, the punishments. The endless listing of rules continued; the students
were only saved by the bell. Of course, within days, students saw right by my
facade. In due time I became more comfortable sharing personal stories, my
enthusiasm with their learning, and at times my disappointments with their lack
of progress.
I know this isn’t rocket science, but science does prove
that student-teacher relationships are one of the most important influences on
student achievement. In Visible Learning, John Hattie’s research ranks
student-teacher relations as #9 out of #138 influences.
Some simple every day steps:
- Greeting students at the door
- Pre-do now: As students enter your classroom post a picture or a message about you. Possible postings: Last night I went to...I made xyz for dinner last night...A personal goal of yours...I feel great about myself because I met my goal of losing 5 pounds last summer.
- Create activities that will help you relate to your students
- 2x10 : Choose your most challenging student and talk to them every day for 10 consecutive days for 2 minutes each day. Make the talk about something non-school related. This one might take a little time away from “instruction,” but the rewards are worth it.
Most of these activities take away from class time. What
they will do, however, is create meaningful and lasting relationships with your
students. And isn't that why we became teachers? Soon students will seek
you out after class to share their own experiences, their own success and
failures and to simply talk. As you open up to them, they’ll open up to
you.
So please ask yourself, "Do I know enough about each
of my students to teach them?"
Administrative
Notes
Positive Referral Link: http://goo.gl/s0KXRB
Work Order Request Form: http://goo.gl/H7hFwK
Some upcoming dates:
April 18: Prom
April 30: Honor Breakfast (Top
Decile)
May 17: Scholarship Banquet
May 18: Senior Picnic
May 26/27: Now sent in stone:
Senior Exams
May 29 @ 6pm: Graduation
May 29 (full day) and June 1:
Exams (as it stands now)
Some upcoming edcamps (opt-out credit can be earned):
February 21: Edcamp NOVA
(Ashburn): I’m registered but unable to go because I’ll be at another
conference http://edcampnova.org/ Because
of the snow, this event has been rescheduled! I’ll let you know the details as
they become available.
March 21: Edcamp Arlington http://edcamparlington.org/
Edcamp
RVA (Richmond)
April 18: Edcamp Delaware
(Wilmington)
Still waiting for more info about
Edcamp MetroDC and Edcamp95 (Virginia/Prince William maybe)
What I’m
Reading
Marissa
Meyer, Google VP, 9 Principles of Innovation : Not an education article,
but a lot of this pertains to what we should strive for in our classrooms
Quote of the
Week
Dylan Wiliam: If we create
a culture where every teacher believes they need to improve, not because they
are not good enough, but because they can be even better, there is NO limit to
what we can achieve.
