Building Relationships

About a month ago, we were asked to list the students that we have great relationships with, those we are developing relationships with, and the students we are struggling to get along with. We then discussed ways to reach out to our students. One of the techniques that I have used in the last month is greeting kids as they come into my classroom and releasing them one by one at the end of class. This gives me a few seconds each day at the very least to focus on each person. I have also tried to have more of a presence by circling the room and checking in with students regardless of whether I think they are flying through an assignment without issue or completely lost. I fear at times that my high performing students get lost in the shuffle as I spend a majority of my time trying to reteach and encourage the students who are struggling in my class. I am also trying to be more aware of facial expressions and comments from people who do not typically reach out for help but still require a little bit of help. In regards to those that are acting up in my class, I continue to use the love and logic technique of offering choices. They are given two choices. If they are not able to correct their behavior with their original choice then they are given the other, usually less desirable, choice as a consequence. There have only been a few instances in which I have had to talk to the person again and explain that because they were not able to change their behavior with their chosen consequence they now have lost the privilege of choosing consequences in that instance and must submit to the other less desirable consequence. I have high hopes for the future.

Leaning Objectives--October make up session

I have to admit that in the past I have not been very consistent in clearly communicating learning objectives and performance outcomes to my students. In the last couple of months I have made it a priority to list my learning objectives on the board each day and have the kids read through each bulleted point at the beginning of the class. My follow through still needs work. Ideally, I would like to return to the list and have the kids explain the objective at the end of the class and rate themselves on how well they personally met the objective. More often than not I get caught up in the lesson and forget to provide the necessary closure on the lesson. Each day is a new opportunity to make things right and you can be sure that I will continue to try my best to clearly communicate my learning objectives at the beginning, middle, and end of each lesson.