I Don't Come To Work For Kids To Like Me...

So now educators you have been back at work for a few weeks now and hopefully you have gotten back into your routine of things and your students have also come back to reality that they are in school. Take a look at the title of this post and think about how many times you have said this or you have heard seasoned professionals say this. I know for myself, I have said this statement many times, partly because I had heard others say it, but internally that is how I felt; I really wasn't going to work for students to like me, but I was just going to teach and not really worry about my relationships with my students. Boy...was I wrong and hurting and impacting the learning of my students.

 

Managing the Madness (Berckmeyer, 2018) is a book that the middle school that I work at is reading and if you are an educator, I truly recommend this book. This book has reaffirmed my beliefs in what I have been learning in the last few years about not only middle school students but about relationships with students in general. While this blog is about my own personal experiences in education, I will back my statements with data, that is the nerd in me. Robert Marzano, Jana S. Marzano, and Debra J. Pickering (2003) stated that teachers who develop meaningful relationships with students have fewer behavior problems and better academic performance in their classrooms than teachers who do not. If you have not gotten the picture, RELATIONSHIPS MATTER!!! Yes you do come to school for students to like you. Now, there may be skeptics that say, "Well, I do not want to be their friend, I want to be their teacher." While this is very true, there must be boundaries; schools must get back to being safe and loving environments that are welcoming for students to come. What are at loving and safe environments? RELATIONSHIPS!!!! They matter, and as an educator you should make it your mission to build positive relationships with your students. Life is about RELATIONSHIPS, how you build them, how you maintain and keep them, and how you repair them. Below are my suggestions on how to begin building relationships with students no matter what time of the year it is: 

1. Greet students as they enter the classroom. 
2. Learn the name and at least one or two significant pieces of information about everyone of your students that you teach. 
3. Say hi, good morning, how are you doing,... to at least 10 different students a week.  
4. Call home and give a student's parent a good report at least once a week. 
5. Attend extra curricular activity events and cheer for the students.  
6. Tell your classes at least three things about you that are not school or work related.  
7. Have genuine and honest conversations with your students on a weekly basis.  

As always leave a comment and let me know what you think about this addition of EduSense.  

Berckemeyer, J. C. (2018). Managing the madness: a practical guide to understanding young adolescents & classroom management. Westerville: Association for Middle Level Education.

Marzano, R. J., Marzano, J. S., & Pickering, D. J. (2003) Classroom Management that works. 
Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.