Relationship Building - Effective Strategies

As we are in a cycle of continuous improvement in building our expertise as teachers by professional reflection and working side by side with colleagues remember:

• one size doesn’t fit all; what might suit a colleague’s personality might not suit ours; be discerning
• try new things; the only risk is not taking a risk
• authentic role modelling to students, that we are prepared to accept challenges and learn from them is powerful
• the key is striving to make our teaching a little better every day; every child in our classes is loved by someone, just as we are, and that someone wants the best for all of us.

 The following tips and strategies may not work for all of us but they are worth trying before dismissing them:

• getting to know our students outside class at lunchtime and during co-curricular activities builds a positive rapport and enhances teacher/student engagement in class
• read school newsletters and local newspapers to learn more about things our students do as young citizens in their communities
• don’t miss an opportunity to mention that you were impressed by something they achieved outside class
• the key is for relational learning to take root; people are what it’s all about; brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, etc. first; students and teachers second.
• when walking around the school make a point of saying hello with both your voice and face to as many students as you can
• a smile generates great power and costs nothing
• take the school photos home for the weekend to put names to faces; students really thrive when we use their christian names in the yard, particularly students in classes we don’t teach. 

In our classes:

• discuss with each class what they believe are fair and appropriate expectations to run the class by
• a good strategy to achieve consensus is to use the “Think, Pair, Share”; this ensures every class member’s input has been considered and they are not seen as our rules
• print these expectations/agreements and give one to each student and place a larger copy in the classroom 
• revisit the expectations/agreements several times each term.

Should individual students not meet an agreed expectation, remind him/her that he/she has not met it and ask him/her to do so. Should he/she be uncooperative, simply restate the expectation.

If he/she continues to ignore your requests, arrange to meet the student out of class time to discuss the expectation; ensuring that the student understands the expectation and that he/she had input in creating the class agreements.

Stay measured and resist the urge to become frustrated. When we give loud, very often it may spur an unwanted louder secondary response from an individual student who may feel their image has been damaged; their peer esteem is precious to them. When we threaten this, trust is shattered and engagement ruined.

Remember, students don’t care what we know till they know we care; also, the remainder of students in the class do not need to hear outbursts from us. 

These strategies are worth trying; give them a go. 

“Many of us don’t realise that “them” is really “us” Anon