Recently, my wife and I had the opportunity to watch Disney's "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" with Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner. Thanks, Redbox, we enjoyed it. Many times throughout the movie, I started wondering how many of our students will walk into our schools with similar everyday thoughts? How many of our students question whether or not their family, friends, teachers, and/or principals really understand them or even care about them?
It is ignorant to think our first day of school that 100% of our students are going to come in and not have some uncomfortable or negative feelings. Precipitating factors happen, and are out of our control, but in our four walls at school, we can address and support our students as they process through the hard times. Whether your students come from poverty or affluence, one thing is consistent, they need rich and meaning relationships with their teachers.
Furthermore, a few summers ago I heard a statement from the Flippen Group (Capturing Kids' Hearts) that has continued to resonate with me. We do not deserve to touch our students' minds until we capture their hearts. How do we capture our kids heart? This is sometimes easier said than done, but simply, we must make them feel like they matter.
There is a scene in the movie that speaks into what I heard at Capturing Kids' Hearts. Alexander has wrapped up another terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, and he is in the bedroom he shares with his brother. Alexander hears his brother say, "I love you" and he lights up like a Christmas tree. Now, what Alexander does not know is that his brother is on the phone with his girlfriend. In that moment, Alexander believes his brother cares for him and that he matters. Please understand, I am not saying we need to verbalize to our students the verbatim statement, " I love you", but we need to make a valiant effort to make each student know they matter. Our students deserve it.
I know each teacher has their own way of building relationships with their students and I do not believe their is a secret formula on how to do that, but I hold true to these ideas when building relationships with students. We need to...
Simply, be when your students needs you.
Be involved. Connect and watch your students astound you!
It is ignorant to think our first day of school that 100% of our students are going to come in and not have some uncomfortable or negative feelings. Precipitating factors happen, and are out of our control, but in our four walls at school, we can address and support our students as they process through the hard times. Whether your students come from poverty or affluence, one thing is consistent, they need rich and meaning relationships with their teachers.
Furthermore, a few summers ago I heard a statement from the Flippen Group (Capturing Kids' Hearts) that has continued to resonate with me. We do not deserve to touch our students' minds until we capture their hearts. How do we capture our kids heart? This is sometimes easier said than done, but simply, we must make them feel like they matter.
There is a scene in the movie that speaks into what I heard at Capturing Kids' Hearts. Alexander has wrapped up another terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, and he is in the bedroom he shares with his brother. Alexander hears his brother say, "I love you" and he lights up like a Christmas tree. Now, what Alexander does not know is that his brother is on the phone with his girlfriend. In that moment, Alexander believes his brother cares for him and that he matters. Please understand, I am not saying we need to verbalize to our students the verbatim statement, " I love you", but we need to make a valiant effort to make each student know they matter. Our students deserve it.
I know each teacher has their own way of building relationships with their students and I do not believe their is a secret formula on how to do that, but I hold true to these ideas when building relationships with students. We need to...
- Be real.
- Be present and available.
- Be consistent.
Simply, be when your students needs you.
Be involved. Connect and watch your students astound you!