In her article for Education World, Emma McDonald writes about the steps that can be taken in order to get to know your students. One point that I liked was that she pointed out the importance of showing your students you care. Nina Sears (n.d) adds that getting to know your students can be as simple as asking them about their day and making connections to their lives outside of school, noticing when they look sad or are behaving differently. Both writers note that it is important to acknowledge these things and not to hesitate to act on them. Although teaching is about students the curriculum, it is our jobs as teachers to support our students and make sure they are happy and comfortable at school. I think this is something that can be taken for granted and may be something that teachers loose sight of when things become too hectic.
If you need a little pep talk to inspire your role as a teacher (or as a student) here is a video I found from Kid President on YouTube:
I found this video not only super adorable but also very inspirational. A question he asks many times throughout the video is "What are you teaching the world?" I think this is such a bold statement and really makes me think about how much influence we have as teachers. This video could also be inspiring to children who see a student just like them showing them that learning can be fun and that education is important. This video is a nice reminder that each one of us has the power to do great things in the world if we just put our minds to it.
On the topic of inspiring videos, I found another one on YouTube that was made by teachers and shows their views on the importance of knowing your students.
One teacher comments that you can't have good test scores or teach a good lesson if you don't have relationships with your students. This relates back to Emma McDonald's article as she notes that getting to know your students on a personal level is also the best way to avoid behaviour problems. This is because knowing your students allows you to understand their personalities, attitudes and any outside factors that may influence their behaviour. This knowledge then allows you to prevent misbehaviour and react to what goes on in the classroom. One teacher says that she spends long hours at school planning and creating lessons because each year she is given new students. This is touched upon by Susan Drake in our textbook on Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment. Drake, Reid and Kolohon (2014) write that although you will use the same curriculum each year, the way you teach it will be unique because of the differences in your class each year. Another teacher says that every child has a gift. I believe it is our jobs as teachers to bring out these gifts and use them to make each classroom unique and to allow students to share their gifts with one another. Remembering these things makes me so inspired and eager to teach!! We are given such a great opportunity to change the world and teaching can be so rewarding for ourselves and our students.
Last year in my placement class (EDUC 8P15) my professor got to know each and every student in our class on a personal level. In this class we presented chronicles about experiences that had made us want to become teachers. Some of these chronicles were very personal and my classmates revealed very emotional details about their lives to our class. After only a short time together, I was amazed at how comfortable we had become and how supportive we were of our classmates. None of this could have happened if it weren't for the actions of our professor. She shared personal information about her life with us, she let us know that she was always there to support us and made it very clear that this was a safe learning environment. Her effort to bring us all together was quite amazing and made our learning experience in that class so positive. Each of us definitely shared our gifts (as was mentioned in the video) to learn about the struggles and triumphs that people had gone through. If there was one message I could take away from that class it would be that everyone has their own story and everyone has had things happen in their lives that influence them on a daily basis. What my professor was able to convey to us through teaching and by leading as an example was that it is so important to get to know your students because each one of them is unique and has so much to offer. She also showed us that having students share their stories can not only bring them closer to you but also become closer and more supportive as a class. I hope to use this technique in all of my classes as it was such a positive experience for all of us.
I hope this blog has illustrated the importance of getting to know your students. I hope the connections, videos, and sources I have used have inspired you like they have inspired me!
References:
Drake, S.M., Reid, J.L. & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving curriculum and classroom assessment: Engaging the 21st century learner. Canada: Oxford University Press.
McDonald, E. (October 4, 2015). The Secret Weapon: Getting to know your students. Education World. Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/mcdonald/mcdonald013.shtml
Sears, N. (n.d). Building Relationships
with Students. National Education
Association. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/tools/29469.htm
Teacher quote retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/SallyRideSci/we-love-teachers/
I really enjoyed the topic you chose for this week’s blog. I completely agree having a built and solid relationship between the teacher and student can help immensely with their academic journey. Reflecting back on my experiences, teachers who stand out to me are those who took the extra effort to see what was happening in my life. They would constantly reach out to make school an extension of home. I remember my Senior Kindergarten teacher always had special treats in her closet that she would pull out for me when someone brought a birthday treat in. She did this so I wouldn’t be left out when I couldn’t eat the treats.
ReplyDeleteA question that came to me while reading your blog was how as teachers would we start the school year off to create a ‘safe’ classroom? Would all students really feel comfortable sharing their feelings and emotions with the class? What about when students start to form cliques, how as teachers can we prevent students using the personal information, learned in class, against others as a bullying mechanism?
In your next blog, I recommend diving deeper into the topic. You had a great start by explaining the impact the videos had on you as a teacher candidate. However, I think it would be beneficial to read and understand how you will implement and apply the topic to your teaching. The addition of your personal experience was a great start to diving deeper into the topic!
I thought that this was a great choice of topic for your blog. I definitely agree that it is very important for teachers to get to know their students and that this can be the key to all students succeeding to their best ability in the classroom. In my experiences not only as a student, but in placements I have found that children respond best to teachers who seem to know them really well as they feel comfortable approaching them with questions or for one-one-one help.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting in your second video when the teacher said "we can't have one blanket statement for all students." I think that this is something that is very important to remember when getting to know your students because not all conversational styles or forms of consequences work the same for bad behaviour. By getting to know you students you are able to understand the reasoning for their beahviour, and if consequences become necessary, you know what that child as an individual would respond best to.
In your next blog I would recommend reading over your blog a bit more before posting as there was a few spots where I was a bit confused by the wording. I also think it would be very helpful for your readers if more strategies about getting to know their students are provided.
What do you think is a good strategy for teachers to use to allow their students to feel comfortable opening up to them?
This was such an inspiring blog Meghan! Your message is one that I hold very dear to my heart. In EDUC 3P00 last year we watched a video that talked about compassion in the classroom and the speaker said "kids don't learn from people they don't like" and I feel that point really connects with what you're talking about in your blog. I liked how you mentioned that the needs of students are different. Understanding your students is not just favourable but VITAL to the successful learning. Everyone has something different to offer and it is important students are able to express themselves in whatever way they can.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering in what ways you feel are the best for getting to know your students? Do you think there is one good way to get to know them or are there multiple ways that can be good? Sometimes it can be difficult to get to know students so it’s important to know a variety of strategies. Furthermore, how would you try to get to know students that are not necessarily very open or are shy? Some children have negative opinions on the school system and may not want to get to know you.
In the future I would love to hear about your strategies for the future! Getting to know students is so important and I'm curious about which ways are best (in your opinion anyway). Great job!
Vanessa