As a teacher, I think the most important thing you can do before the year gets under way is to get to know your students. We have talked so much this year about the tremendous influence that knowing your students has on your ability to effectively teach. Getting to know your students on a personal basis not only allows your students to feel more comfortable and have more trust in you, but it also allows you to cater your teaching in order to best help the student succeed. Being understanding of what your students have going on in their lives can help everyone involved. The article I read for last week talked about a teacher who stayed involved in the community. Camping trips with students, classroom phone trees for emergencies 24/7, and going to sporting events are all ways that these teachers got to know their students on multiple levels. Although this involved working outside of school hours, the teacher had a better idea of who their students were and where they come from.
Within the next few weeks I will take the time, whether it be during recess or centers, to ask each student a couple of questions. I want to ask them who their family is made up of, what they are scared of, what their favorite memory is, and ask them to tell me one thing they think is unique about them. If possible, I will answer these same questions about me. By doing this, I hope to make the kids more comfortable with me as well as to gain some insight into their lives. I will be able to learn about these children on various levels and get an idea of what inspires them or what they fear. Also, getting a further look into their family life might help me to see why certain students act or behave the way they do. We have a lot of emotional students in our classroom and my CT attributes that to troubled home lives. I am excited to get to know my students on a more personal level.
There definitely are things that happen before school that effect behavior, but there are also some school settings too. An overcrowded classroom or many unexpected changes in schedule can also cause certain behaviors to occur. I think that is important to keep in mind because I know many teachers that don't consider these things. When you are getting to know your students, are you going to use that information to teach about the community in your classroom? How do you plan to use that information? Is it something that just you would use or is there some of it that you would have the whole class know?
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