In my opinion, building relationships with students, teachers, parents, and the school community is the most important component is a student's success. How do we teach that? Can you teach adults to build relationships with students in a way that they feel comfortable being risk-takers, explores, and knowledge seekers? Is it even humanly possible to teach people how to build meaningful relationships?
I reflect on my life and the relationships that I have and I compare mine to a plant. I must water the plant, pay attention to the plant, and love the plant, if I want it to grow. I know it is a simplistic analogy, but it makes sense to me. If I don't water it, show it attention, or nurture it, it will not survive. Isn't that true of many of our relationships?
Think about ALL of your relationships that you have in your life that you have built or let go. Your significant others, friendships, family members, clients, co-workers, and so many more. What makes them healthy? What makes them meaningful? What makes some of them withstand the test of times, but others are somewhat easy to let die? You are the only ones that can answer those questions, but I am going to share my thoughts...
If we maintain healthy relationships with people that we care about, it aids us in having a happier life. If there is friction, lack of communication, no compromise, or a plethora of other issues, eventually it bleeds into our everyday lives. Poor or struggling relationships can tarnish so many areas of our lives that we care about, whereas, healthy, loving relationships can improve your quality of life.
So just think about it...If your child has a teacher that can't, won't or doesn't know how to build a solid relationship with a child, how will that year effect them. A teacher sees a student roughly 175 days out of the year for about 6 hours a days in grades K-6, which is 1,050 hours of their LIFE. If that your son or daughter has a teacher that doesn't build a relationship with them, it can be detrimental to their learning journey. That is such a scary thought for me as an educational leader, aunt, and lover of public education.
Long story short...we as adults understand the importance of maintaining healthy relationships and the overall effect it can have on our lives, so why aren't we putting more emphasis on teacher/student relationships?
Think back to the teachers you had in school. Do you remember the ones that you scored high on their tests, or the ones that believed in you, pushed you, and inspired you? In today's society it is so much more about meaningful relationships than it is content. Content should always come second to the child.
After teaching "at-risk" teens for so long, they could tell me the exact day they started hating school. How sad is that? It literally made my heart hurt for them, and then I spent months trying to inspire them to love learning again. Typically a life-changing event had occurred in their personal life, then they got behind in school, and didn't have a strong enough relationship
with their teacher to feel safe enough to inform them of their situation.
I truly believe that ALL kids LOVE to LEARN, WE as educators have to continue to support and encourage them during their journey. So, if you have strong relationships, remember to nurture them, and if you have a wilted plant, it's never too late to bring it back to life.
With all of the hate in this world, let's be kind to one another and spread the love :)
Happy Trails,
LMR
If we maintain healthy relationships with people that we care about, it aids us in having a happier life. If there is friction, lack of communication, no compromise, or a plethora of other issues, eventually it bleeds into our everyday lives. Poor or struggling relationships can tarnish so many areas of our lives that we care about, whereas, healthy, loving relationships can improve your quality of life.
So just think about it...If your child has a teacher that can't, won't or doesn't know how to build a solid relationship with a child, how will that year effect them. A teacher sees a student roughly 175 days out of the year for about 6 hours a days in grades K-6, which is 1,050 hours of their LIFE. If that your son or daughter has a teacher that doesn't build a relationship with them, it can be detrimental to their learning journey. That is such a scary thought for me as an educational leader, aunt, and lover of public education.
Long story short...we as adults understand the importance of maintaining healthy relationships and the overall effect it can have on our lives, so why aren't we putting more emphasis on teacher/student relationships?
Think back to the teachers you had in school. Do you remember the ones that you scored high on their tests, or the ones that believed in you, pushed you, and inspired you? In today's society it is so much more about meaningful relationships than it is content. Content should always come second to the child.
After teaching "at-risk" teens for so long, they could tell me the exact day they started hating school. How sad is that? It literally made my heart hurt for them, and then I spent months trying to inspire them to love learning again. Typically a life-changing event had occurred in their personal life, then they got behind in school, and didn't have a strong enough relationship
with their teacher to feel safe enough to inform them of their situation.
I truly believe that ALL kids LOVE to LEARN, WE as educators have to continue to support and encourage them during their journey. So, if you have strong relationships, remember to nurture them, and if you have a wilted plant, it's never too late to bring it back to life.
With all of the hate in this world, let's be kind to one another and spread the love :)
Happy Trails,
LMR
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