Winning Ways: Teachers Talk about Building Rapport with Students - Three Perspectives

• Becoming "Public Relations" Teachers
  
• Making Content Relevant
  
• Using Democracy in the Classroom

Teacher Talk: Mr. Moore, you have taught at the high school level for many years, how can teachers achieve rapport with students?

Mr. Moore: One of the first things you must do is show you care about the students as individuals. This can be done by addressing them by their preferred names in a warm, friendly manner and with a smile, This part of what I call "continuous public relations work" that gives them respect from you and builds self-esteem. The greater they want to learn from you, the more they will! I think teachers have to be firm with students, but also get them on your side. Simply being tough is not going to get them to want to learn. Also take the time at the beginning of the year to learn and review names so they know each person counts. Use part of the first day to create a comfortable atmosphere; set up name games so they get to know each other too.

Teacher Talk: What about discipline?

Mr. Moore: I think when kids explode in the classroom we tend to take it too literally and fall into the trap of saying "Don't you dare say that to me!" Truth is, the students are blowing off steam, or really saying, "I'm having a bad day." The teacher must work with the student to find out why. Don't react to what the student said, instead get the kid out in the hall, smile, and see it in its broader context. Confrontational situations are lose/lose. Ask "What's the problem?" and diffuse the situation. If the student does not talk, I've found it effective to say,"Was it something I said? Is there anything I can do to help you?" The main thing is do be consistent; don't let problems pass. Beginning teachers can practice on each other too - the more practice you do, the more comfortable you will be in the classroom when these situations come up.

Teacher Talk: What is your approach to grading assignments?

Mr. Moore: On homework, teachers have to get work back immediately and with at least some positive comments. Students need that positive feedback. My students keep their own grades,too, and once every six weeks I sit down with each of them and ask, "Is there anything I graded you on that you think is unfair?" Or simply "How is everything going?" If a serious problem comes up, I don't try to take it all on myself. I help them identify options, or refer them to a counselor.

Teacher Talk How do you establish high expectations for your students?

Mr. Moore: I tell them they all start out the semester with A's and can do "A" work - a "C" is not good enough. I explain to them that outside of school you would not put up with "C" work, so why do so in school? For example, would you want a tax auditor doing"C" work on your tax reports? or an airline pilot, or a surgeon? Too often we focus on failure instead of success.

Teacher Talk: Any other tips for our new teachers?

Mr. Moore: Ask veteran teachers about teaching and discipline strategies. They may have some excellent tips.

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A key to hooking the students is to relate the content to their lives. Personal connections to the subject matter need to be found, instead of teaching content without the kids in mind-we are building kids, not refrigerators! For example, when looking where things went wrong in U.S. History, the connections with today can be made; we are still vulnerable to these mistakes.

At Tri-North, we teach an 8th-grade humanities approach to English, including social studies, math, and other areas. We pool our teaching resources and help students to reflect on some basic questions they need to understand, such as"What does our country stand for?" We have students examine symbols which represent America (i.e. the Statue of Liberty and the bald eagle) and then create their own symbol which they feel is representative of America.

There must be a sense of reality in what they are studying, where we say "This is important" because there are implications for their future employment. They have to learn these kinds of things in order to succeed as life-long learners.

The students need to have something they enjoy too. I try to get the kids to read each evening and have some positive experiences reading what they want. We are journaling as well. This affords students the opportunity to interact with a book, to question, respond, disagree, or celebrate.

Assessment

I utilize portfolio assessment, which allows me greater flexibility in structuring my classes. For example, my students create portfolios and assess them at the end of each semester so they see their own growth.

Classroom Management

Extend yourself and they will know it. If you just shout to stay in control, it doesn't help. Teachers have to be respectful toward students, and leave sarcasm out. Also, I tell my students how hard I work and I try to get papers back within a week. I have high expectations for all my students. Bad papers are not acceptable, so I allow them to make revisions until they are done right. It takes a lot of effort to be an effective teacher, yet being able to make a positive impact on students' lives makes it all worthwhile.

Ms. DeLuce can be reached at Tri-North Middle School, 1000 W. 15th St., Bloomington, IN 47404

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Using Democracy in the Classroom

In our classroom, there are three principles which guide us in our work together: maintaining dignity, honoring diversity, and democracy. To operationalize these ideas, we build our curriculum around questions kids have about themselves and their world. This approach empowers them to find answers to their own questions and presents a very different classroom atmosphere where students direct their own learning.

At the start of the year, we ask the students, "We will be working together for a year. How can we get to know each other?" Students decide on the activities and we do them. For example, one class wanted to do a survey of each other's interests, which led to an exploration of how to make a survey. So their ideas are translated into classroom learning. Then students begin to think of the questions they have about themselves and the world, and the class identifies the common ones. A committee of students goes through the lists and tries to find themes which connect the questions. Eventually, the students vote on them and pick the first theme (i.e. the environment or conflict).

Another committee is formed to find the original questions which fit under this theme "environment". Later the class works together to brainstorm for activities to answer their questions. The students then go through a process of deciding on activities, re-identifying questions they have (or changing them), and actually planning out the activities. Students find this very engaging. After an activity, we go back to the initial questions and ask, "How are we doing?"

The entire school day is not devoted to this at first, as it would be too much, so we do work on other things. The point is students are involved in a process where classroom learning is student-directed and democratic. We also allow for re-evaluating of the questions, themes, and activities.

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