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Hello Edunators,
As I type this I'm listening to the rare thunder clap in late November here in Missouri and anticipating the arrival of a pending "blizzard" for my area as temperatures have fallen almost twenty degrees in the last six hours or so. On the heels of Thanksgiving, I'm reminded how grateful I am for safety and security my family have been provided in my life and I hope you're all feeling blessed as well this holiday season.
I'm equally blessed for the opportunity to work with some tremendous educators around the country, including many of you, who are commited to bettering yourselves and your schools in the name of improving student learning. We are in the most noble of professions and for your work and your support, I am truly grateful.
Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your continued journey. Today I'd like to share with you my latest work, a response to an educator who asked me to share some ways to build rapport with students in the classroom. I hope you'll find it useful. I hope you have a great return to school this week (for those of you who were off) and as always, please let me know if there's anything I can do to support you or your students.
Focus on learning & BE GREAT today!
-Mark
www.Edunators.com
markclements@Edunators.com
www.twitter.com/Edunators
www.facebook.com/Edunators
To be sure, most teachers already do an outstanding job of building rapport with thier students. They see the value in it, and are intentional about creating positive relationship and ensuring students have a positive opinion of them, their classmates and the class overall. However, a few teachers will occassionaly tell me that they know building relationships with students is important, but that they “don’t have time” to do the things we suggest for building relationships. However, you REALLY don’t have time NOT TO! If students love your class, they’ll follow directions more accurately, work harder, treat each other kinder and generally be more pleasant to work with.
First, remember most of these should never be REQUIRED of students if the goal is to build positive vibes between the student and the teacher or the class as a whole.
To be fair, being yourself, showing empathy, treating students with respect and taking a genuine interest in their lives will usually be enough. But, sometimes a little "gimmick" here and there can help as well, especially with challenging classes.
Regardless, we're all always looking for a few new ideas. Try some of these out and let me know how they go!
 1. Handshakes - I started off just creating an individual handshake for my most challenging students, as a way to “celebrate” their coming to class everyday. Then, I met a colleague who did this every day, with every student and I thought “I could do that” and eventually tried it myself, having 108 individual handshakes my last year in teaching. We all know students respond to being greeted at the door everyday, this takes it to the next level. Not feeling the physical contact? How bout a fist-bump or a “high-elbow” during flu season? No? Fine - just greet them at the door. But remember, physical contact is one of the 5 Love Languages and some of your students will appreciate the steril fist bump.
Continue Reading "15 Ways to Build Positive Relationships With Students"
Based on our popular “30 Questions for Teacher Reflection” and “35 Questions for Student Reflection” this expansive eBook comes in PDF format and is full of opportunities for school leaders to reflect, refresh, internalize their learning and prioritize for the future.
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