Wednesday, April 27, 2011

How much do I want to know about my students?

In order to help a student be successful, I believe that having a respectful, friendly, yet professional relationship with that student must be established first. Being a student’s friend is inappropriate, and something I am not comfortable with. Being a student’s advocate and mentor is appropriate and the role I take in the classroom. If you were to ask any of my colleagues about my classroom environment, the first thing they would mention is the positive rapport between students and myself. I laugh and discuss issues comfortably with students, but I don’t discuss the latest gossip and my personal matters with them. I am proud of the relationships that form between students and myself. I feel I am a respected teacher with definite rules and limits, but at the same time, I am a compassionate individual who loves kids and wants the best for them.

I would like to know about my students’ academic struggles, but those struggles are so often influenced by outside physical and emotional stressors that it is sometimes tough to draw a line in the sand, so to speak. These outliers and how they are dealt with can play a huge role in student success. I want to know about my students’ safety, and well being to a certain professional extent, so that I can ensure that they are able to perform at their full potential. common sense as it may seem, I feel like teachers sometimes need to realize that students are people too. Students have bad days too, just like the rest of us.

If I have a student that is struggling, it could be for a plethora of reasons outside of motivation, effort and understanding. For example, it is difficult, to say the least, to concentrate on your studies if you are still worried about the violent argument you had with Mom or Dad earlier, or that you won’t get to eat lunch today, or that you might be pregnant… Students are people too. I want to know about their academic well-being, but sometimes there are unpredictable outliers and if they are effecting learning in a negative way, I want to know how to best help my students. Being informed about these types of issues can help me help me students navigate school while they navigate the outliers. I don’t want to get intimately involved, but I do want to carry out my role as their teacher and mentor and help them to succeed in their studies to the best of thier ability. 

No comments:

Post a Comment