When students trust that you are someone who is genuinely interested in them, and not someone paid simply to be in the classroom, they are notably more likely to put forth effort when you ask it of them.
Here are two possibilities for building rapport for Day 1 of The Challenge!
Choose one or both of the following:
a) Choose one of your most challenging students, find something positive he or she has done in the last week, and call home to pass along the compliment. Don’t give in to the temptation to also bring up any of the student’s shortcomings, however talented the student may be at displaying his or her faults. Let this be a purely positive moment for the parent/guardian. Afterward, buy yourself something fun for having made that much good happen!
b) Identify an upcoming game or performance of one of your students (perhaps one of your more challenging students) and plan to attend. You might make that student’s week! For bonus points (not that we’re keeping track), take a friend with you, and have a contest to write the funniest haiku related to what you see in the game or event. I’d suggest you think carefully before sharing the haiku with anyone at the school.
What do you think of this? Share your thoughts via social media using these tags: #5DTC and (if specific to today’s material,) #5DTCday1 Please also add #edtechteam and @rushtonh, if you have space.
And if you have a suggestion, critique, compliment, or story to share with me, please do so via the 5-Day Teacher Challenge Feedback form.
Thanks for working to add new tools to your teaching toolkit!
In service,
Rushton