building relationships with your students

Hello lovely humans,

Just dropping in to share some ways in which you can build relationships with your students.
You don't have to do all of these but I have shared various ways as not everyday will work with every teacher or every class!
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• Positive notes - praise the students when you can and this will show how you care and like to see them succeed.
• Eat lunch with the students or socialise and chat with them at break time. chat to them while on supervision.
• Stay connected - sending or SCHEDULING a little hello/ happy holidays during school break is a nice touch.
• Create traditions/ or follow ones that the class have - tea/ hot  choc morning before the holidays
• Ask Questions about the Classroom: When we ask students about how they feel and see our classrooms, it communicates that their opinion and feelings matter.
• Attend after school extra events - graduations/ mass/ schools show/ etc. students notice the teachers that support their school events
• Give students a questionnaire to get to know them at the start of the year so you can learn about their interests and show interest in them.
• Greet students as they enter the room or as you do. be cheerful & positive
• Make the students feel safe and comfortable in your presence - NEVER EMBARRASS a student by calling them out on something in front of the class.
• Smile - something so little can mine so much! never underestimate the power of a smile and hello.
• Tell little bits of your personal life. Don’t spend hours and hours spilling the beans about everything there is to know about you, but it is important for students to get to know you. things you could tell them include:
  • Sharing a picture here or there will help your students realise that you do indeed have a life and they might actually be able to relate to you!
  • A movie you watched
  • Food places you have tried
  • About your pets
  • Achievements (sporting/ talent)
  • Milestones (MY STUDENTS KNOW ABOUT MY NEW HOUSE - THEY WERE AS EXCITED AS I WAS ABOUT MOVING IN!)
• Lastly, be patient! This is one of the hardest parts about building student relationships. Many teachers want to have an immediate relationship with students. That is not the best for the teacher or the students. Strong relationships take time to build

I would love to know if any of these work for you, please be sure to let me know what worked and didn't work for you!

Toodles,
Múinteoir Cole