Culture and climate are essential for an educator. In my many years as a classroom teacher establishing positive relationships with students and developing a collective culture within my program was always at the forefront. Putting intentional thought in the planning of lessons to develop those relationships from the teacher to student and student to student takes time but when blended with content makes for higher student achievement. That’s what it’s truly about, isn’t it? When you entered my classroom you were generally greeted with a sign that read “Risk Boldly,” Establishing that culture general takes time and cultivating students to “Risk Boldly,” takes even longer but diligence to make students feel safe in the classrooms pays in spades in the long run.
If students don’t feel safe or comfortable at school, it will directly impact behavioral and academic outcomes (Yahnke, 2019). In my earlier years of teaching, I had to figure out how I could get to know my students, their interests, what they do in their free time, etc, while still maintaining a standard of professionalism. It’s a fine line to walk with students, but it’s so important to stay on the professional side in order for them to still respect you (Meador, 2019). Especially when I was teaching agriculture, this was a hard line to maintain because we go to student’s houses and evaluate their projects for fair and we take several field trips, so this is a skill in and of itself. Same as in coaching, you push the family mentality but need to find the line. Although, it is vital to you and your students that you build and nourish professional relationships because a student doesn’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
I would say the first step in establishing positive relationships is having conversations with students, showing them your personality, and getting to know theirs. Walk around the classroom while they quietly work on assignments, ask them questions about what they do outside of school, and be sure to add stories to your lectures to make them more interesting. Honestly, I would pick up their learning styles pretty quickly, since they seem to be less interested in the styles that don’t work for them. You’ll always have the students that are first on the list for hands-on, whereas some of them are excited to do worksheets and paper assignments. Usually, when I assign classwork, I give students several options to show mastery and they will pick the choice that aligns with how they learn best.
References:
Meador, D. (2019, October 23). Why it's important to maintain professionalism in schools. Retrieved September 10, 2020, from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-importance-of-maintaining-professionalism-in-schools-3194680
Yahnke, K. (2019, May 6). How school safety impacts student success. Retrieved September 10, 2020, from https://i-sight.com/resources/how-school-safety-impacts-student-success/
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