Every year someone has posted the TED Talk from Rita Pierson about being a child's champion. If you have never seen it please watch it; she is an amazing speaker.
This school year started off with quite a bang, I have 8 students- 4 third graders and 4 fourth graders. Each of them with unique needs, two who have never been in our program. To say that there is some growing pains would be putting it mildly.
Usually, building relationships with students had been easy. I knew the kids from my colleague's room and had an opportunity to get to know them before they came to my classroom. This time, I had two new students who had no idea how our program worked. As I said in my previous post these are kids that other schools no longer want. They come to my classroom feeling dejected, failed, and mistrustful of adults. I can't say that I can blame them if their mantra from adults has been: you are not worth much and I don't want you here.
How in the world can I build relationships with students who do not trust adults? With one of my students, I continued to tell him that I liked him no matter what he did. I continued to build trust with him by honoring who he is not what he does.
But student relationships are not the only important relationships to a teacher; it's the colleagues as well. I am not an island, I need the support of my colleagues now more than ever to be successful.
I think I am hardest on myself, this is my third year teaching; I thought I should have this all down pat. I'll admit, I do not. I need to ask for help when I'm stuck. I am still learning the ropes.
So a reminder to myself and to those who are in their first years of teaching here are the ways to build relationships with students and adults.
1. Ask for help! Send a text, smoke signals or a carrier pigeon. There are things that you do not know yet and that is OKAY. As much as you were prepared in your preservice teaching program there is no class that covers everything. Your colleagues will always help you.
2. It's okay to be vulnerable with colleagues. This is a profession that requires heart and sometimes your heart will break. They will be there to help you pick up the pieces.
3. Be a champion for your students. Always seek out the positive in the toughest kids in your classroom. No child can learn if they have no self-esteem. Who was your champion in school? Why did you enter into this profession? How can you turn a failure into an opportunity to learn? Build relationships before even starting curriculum. Ask your students what they did over the weekend, what is their most favorite thing in the whole wide world?
4. Change your mindset. I felt like a failure at the beginning of the year. However, I have turned that into an opportunity to change things in my classroom. Things are calming down and I'm continuing to evaluate and revamp as I need to. It's okay to fail in front of your students too! What a powerful lesson it is when you make a mistake and your students see how you handle it. Also, NEVER miss an opportunity to apologize to a student. We all make mistakes, model the behavior you want your students to exhibit.
5. Take care of yourself. The most important relationship you have is with yourself. We can be our own worst critics. Give yourself a break. One of the most important things I can do is to leave work at work. If don't care of myself, how can I care for my students? No student learns from a surly and grumpy teacher. Get enough sleep, eat well, and exercise.
7. Find your Disneyland. Disneyland is, for me, the happiest place on earth. I can be a kid there, I can truly forget my worries. Find a place where you can let it go (pun intended). No problem can ever be solved by worrying nonstop. Even if I can't go to Disneyland, I find places that remind me to talk a breath and slow down.
This school year started off with quite a bang, I have 8 students- 4 third graders and 4 fourth graders. Each of them with unique needs, two who have never been in our program. To say that there is some growing pains would be putting it mildly.
Usually, building relationships with students had been easy. I knew the kids from my colleague's room and had an opportunity to get to know them before they came to my classroom. This time, I had two new students who had no idea how our program worked. As I said in my previous post these are kids that other schools no longer want. They come to my classroom feeling dejected, failed, and mistrustful of adults. I can't say that I can blame them if their mantra from adults has been: you are not worth much and I don't want you here.
How in the world can I build relationships with students who do not trust adults? With one of my students, I continued to tell him that I liked him no matter what he did. I continued to build trust with him by honoring who he is not what he does.
But student relationships are not the only important relationships to a teacher; it's the colleagues as well. I am not an island, I need the support of my colleagues now more than ever to be successful.
I think I am hardest on myself, this is my third year teaching; I thought I should have this all down pat. I'll admit, I do not. I need to ask for help when I'm stuck. I am still learning the ropes.
So a reminder to myself and to those who are in their first years of teaching here are the ways to build relationships with students and adults.
1. Ask for help! Send a text, smoke signals or a carrier pigeon. There are things that you do not know yet and that is OKAY. As much as you were prepared in your preservice teaching program there is no class that covers everything. Your colleagues will always help you.
2. It's okay to be vulnerable with colleagues. This is a profession that requires heart and sometimes your heart will break. They will be there to help you pick up the pieces.
3. Be a champion for your students. Always seek out the positive in the toughest kids in your classroom. No child can learn if they have no self-esteem. Who was your champion in school? Why did you enter into this profession? How can you turn a failure into an opportunity to learn? Build relationships before even starting curriculum. Ask your students what they did over the weekend, what is their most favorite thing in the whole wide world?
4. Change your mindset. I felt like a failure at the beginning of the year. However, I have turned that into an opportunity to change things in my classroom. Things are calming down and I'm continuing to evaluate and revamp as I need to. It's okay to fail in front of your students too! What a powerful lesson it is when you make a mistake and your students see how you handle it. Also, NEVER miss an opportunity to apologize to a student. We all make mistakes, model the behavior you want your students to exhibit.
5. Take care of yourself. The most important relationship you have is with yourself. We can be our own worst critics. Give yourself a break. One of the most important things I can do is to leave work at work. If don't care of myself, how can I care for my students? No student learns from a surly and grumpy teacher. Get enough sleep, eat well, and exercise.
7. Find your Disneyland. Disneyland is, for me, the happiest place on earth. I can be a kid there, I can truly forget my worries. Find a place where you can let it go (pun intended). No problem can ever be solved by worrying nonstop. Even if I can't go to Disneyland, I find places that remind me to talk a breath and slow down.