Just a reminder that we do have class on Tuesday, November 10th. And take a look at the RSS feeds I have included in the margin of the blog this week. These are news articles related to teaching and the profession. Please read any of the articles of interest to you.
I believe that the art of teaching is shown in the teacher's ability to have a positive rapport with students. According to Webster's Dictionary, the word rapport means "relation; connection, esp. harmonious or sympathetic relation: a teacher trying to establish close rapport with." Hopefully, your cooperating teacher has a good rapport with the students. Watch your cooperating teacher this week in order to answer the following questions:
What strategies does the teacher use to build and maintain rapport with students? How are opportunities for success provided for each student? Do the students have a positive connection with the teacher?
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In my situation observing a first grade classroom, it is crucial for teacher to rapport with the students, especially at this age. My teacher i am observing is overly nice to all the students, keeping a positive tone which seems to make the class think positive of her. in order for her to relate or rapport with the student she has to know their interests and hobbies. there is a lot of drawing time in her class which they draw things they like. most common drawings is of their families, there sports, and their pets at home. when she walks around looking at these drawings, she asks them questions like "ohhh you like baseball?!? THATS TERRIFIC!!! how long have you been playing? what position? i used to play softball when i was younger and i loved it... and so on. in this first grade classroom, it seems the would never get old of this type of relationship.
ReplyDeleteThe PE teacher that I am observering has an awesome relationship with her students. The kids love coming to class, maybe because it's gym class, but maybe its just because of her personality. The teacher has an a really funny sense of humor and the kids enjoy this. Although she has a sense of humor she is also viewed as being "forceful" or when she asks the students to do something they listen. I feel it is always good to have that balance. Students love to give her hugs when they enter the gym, and go out of their way to say hello to her in the hallways. I can tell the students really respect her and I believe this is because they feel like she really cares and takes intersest in their daily lives. Just last week the students had to run the mile and there was one student who didnt even want to give it a try so the teacher ended up running the last three laps with him. I thought that was a really encouraging.
ReplyDeleteChris, I agree that teachers can build relationships with their students by learning about the students home lives. It allows the teacher to find out what his or her students likes and dislikes are and then maybe use this information in daily lessons to get the kids excited about learning. It often allows the students to put a relationship to what they are learning to a real life situation.
ReplyDeleteIn my years of school, i have had many teachers who really connected with their students, and also many teachers that had no connection whatsoever. I think it is very important that the teacher has a good professional relationship with each student. BY doing this it helps to connect with the students. Some of the ways my teachers would connect with the students is they would find out their interests or their hobbies. If they found out they were involved in a sport they would follow up on the person and asked how their games went. Even if students got to class early, they would start conversations with them asking how their weekend went and what all they did. They would then respond by telling them what they did that weekend. That way both people learn a little more about each other.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I haven't seen a whole lot of personal interaction. Of course the teacher talks to her students and listens as they speak, but it usually pertains to the lesson at hand. I've seen one student that has a behavioral issue that she seems to make an extra effort with to encourage him to be involved in class and to do his work. Because he is in her last hour of the day, he often stays after for a few minutes and talks with her.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to think she does know things about her students and would like to talk to them about their weekends, but she doesn't have time. She has these students for only 50 minutes or so, and there is very little time for extra conversation. I think its because these last two hours of the day, the only ones I have time to observe, are the worst behaved classes she has. The teacher spends A LOT of time reprimanding them for talking and not doing what she has asked them to do. And then there's the time spent asking students to go get their folders so they can write down what they've done wrong and she has to sign off on it. I'm amazed these students learn anything in there with so many of their classmates disrupting class and holding up the lesson.
Okay, I'm getting a little off topic here, but my teacher asked me if I'd learned anything in any of my education classes that I might suggest to her to help bring these kids under control. My first thoughts are to make a new seating chart and put the students that are well-behaved in between the ones that aren't and to change from having group tables of 4-6, to arranging the tables in rows. Any other suggestions? These are 6th grade students.
In the Special Education classroom that I taught in, it was incredibly important to make sure the students felt comforatable and used to the teacher. In order to maintain a rapport with the students, the teacher would continue to talk with the students and ask them questions in order to get a response. Connections and relations are not one way, it is important for both people to be communicating with one another and that was happening a lot in our classroom.
ReplyDeleteOpportunities for success came in different ways in our classroom. If students behaved well and did what they were supposed to do, they would be rewarded in the game that we had in the class, making them closer to succeeding and winning in that game. Also, we had weekly quizes in that class, and the students could test how far they had come along and how much they had learned by how they did on the quizes.
In our class, almost all the students had a positive connection with the teacher. Everyone had their moments of negativity, but for the most part it was positive.
Chris, I think it is awesome for teachers to have a relationship with their students like that! Not only asking questions, but actually caring about the answers. Most people say, "How are you doing?" and "What's Up?" without really being concerned about the answers. It is awesome to actually care and let the student know you care.
ReplyDeleteBen- yeah it is definatley nice to be able to have a teacher I am obersving be so concerned. I am sure i am like many other students in the class when i say many of my past teachers lacked this quality.
ReplyDeleteAshley- i really liked your blog as well. P.E. is one of those classes that kids absolutley love or they dread to go to class. Activities like kickball and baseball are so much fun while the running portion like the mile is dreaded. when you have a teacher that has that awesome relationship and even gets involved like running a few laps with the kids during the timed mile is awesome. definatley an awesome teacher!!!
Russ- I think that your teachers are very smart and caring. I think talking about things other than school and taking interest in the students lives is a great thing to do to encourage your students and let them know you care.
ReplyDeleteThe teacher I am observing is very involved in the lives of her students and always keeps a positive attitude! Just today she asked how a boys nephew was. He is a brand new uncle. She asks how their weekend is and she is very interested in their lives. She also asks before class starts like Russ's. She gives every student several chances to help their grade out and has several points offered each day. The students have a positive reaction to all that she does. They joke and laugh along with her. They are very respectable to her and admire her. I do know someone who has had her as a teacher and they absolutly loved her as a teacher. She moved down to 8th grade when he was and he was very upset that he didnt get her as a teacher. She is an AMAZING teacher and I hope to be like her in her teaching and involvment style.
ReplyDeleteAshley- i also really liked your blog about your PE teacher. I think when students can joke around with their teachers and the teachers can joke back in a respectable manner but at the same time the students know where the boundaries lye...i think both the students and the teacher have a good thing going for them.
ReplyDeleteThe teacher I am observing is a fourth grade teacher and in fourth grade the students like to tell the teacher everything. They count on the teacher to listen and remember everything that they tell her. My teacher knows a good amount about the students home lives. She never has to ask, but she will sometimes to make sure everything is still going all right. One Monday morning when some students were trying to finish up their morning work; the teacher asked the students about their weekend and one exciting thing that happened during it. Every hand in the class shot up so fast I did not even see all of them go up. She called on everyone because she wanted to know all about their weekends. When they said what they did she did not only listen she asked questions back about what happened. SHe has a great rapport with the students; it is definitely the closest I have seen a teacher to her students in a classroom.
ReplyDeleteChris and Ashley-- Just wanted to agree that teachers can build relationships with their students by learning about their home lives and hobbies. The teacher I am observing is amazing at learning about her students home lives from just what they tell her and then her asking more question in the future about their home lives.
ReplyDeleteJamie- do you happen to know if your host teacher plans those 5-10 minutes into every Monday? It can take several minutes to catch up on 30 students' weekends. By the way, its encouraging to hear that 8th graders admire and respect a teacher. ;o)
ReplyDeleteAshley- this goes back a couple of weeks... you asked how old my host teacher was. She is 36 and has 11 years of teaching under her belt.
ReplyDeleteDebbie -
ReplyDeleteSounds like your host teacher is struggling. I find it fascinating that she has asked you for advice. Here are a few things I would suggest without knowing the details of the situation.
Proximity - your teacher needs to be constantly aware of what is going on in the classroom and at the first sign of trouble she needs to physically move to the student causing the problem. Her presence might stop the misbehavior.
Parent involvement - if she has not tried to contact the parents, this should be her next step. The parents know this child better than anyone. The teacher and the parents need to form a partnership to help Johnny be successful. The parents can help the teacher figure out what Johnny's currency is - every child is motivated by something. The teacher and the parent can work out a system of rewards and punishments and the teacher and parent need to be communicating daily for a while until the misbehavior stops. This may not work if there is no support at home. But it is worth a try!
My biggest suggestion is probably not one that you should offer, but reflect upon this and make sure you do this in your own classroom - engage the students in the learning process. If it is an effective lesson that is engaging the students, chunking together bite-size pieces of the new content, playing games to review and retain content, etc. then the students will be so engaged in the lesson that there will not be as many behavior issues.
I also find it interesting that you feel your teacher does not have much rapport with her students. Maybe they don't feel connected to her, maybe they don't feel safe, maybe they don't feel like she cares about them as individuals. Yes, it takes time to get to know your students on a personal level and make connections with them, but it is so worth it!
I welcome the rest of you to offer Debbie some suggestions. I am curious what you think...
Hi, guys - just had a thought that I wanted to share.
ReplyDeleteAs I was writing down my reflective thoughts tonight for my action research, I just recognized that by using the blog while you guys are out doing your observations I feel more connected to you than if I didn't talk (virtually or face-to-face) to you for 4 weeks straight. I wonder if the use of the blog will help me with teacher-student rapport. When I taught 8th graders I consciously tried to have good rapport with my students. But as I teach this class in college I don't see my students as much so I feel that it is a struggle for me to build that rapport.
But just as it is time consuming in the classroom to get to know the students and build rapport, it is also time consuming at the collegiate level to ensure that rapport.
Here's a question for you to think about -
Is teacher-student rapport necessary to maximize student learning?
Mrs Bishop-
ReplyDeleteFrom what I can gather, its really just her fifth hour class, her 6th hour gets talkative sometimes though. They are a little hyped up after lunch. I've also heard from another teacher that they tend to group students that need extra focus into their harder classes in the morning, which are Math and English. That means some of the students are mentally checking out by the time they get to their afternoon classes.
I understand what you're getting at with trying to grab their attention with fun activities, but sometimes you just have to teach the lesson. And the other day, they WERE doing a fun activity. She was trying to go through their homework quickly so they would have time to do a fun experiment, and she warned them that they would not have very much time to do it if they kept talking and didn't clear their desks. Even the normally well-behaved kids act like they don't hear her half the time. Mind you, it isn't like this everyday, but on the days that it is, very few of the students fear the consequences of not doing what they're supposed to be doing.
And to be fair, the students aren't doing anything really bad, its just talking. But its non-stop on the days they get going. And again, it isn't the whole class, but maybe a third? She calls them by name and asks them to please be quiet, she gives them a warning, and the next time they have to get their behavior folder and write down what they've done wrong. After a certain number of incidents (two?), their teachers will contact home. Another one or two, and they get detention. And so on, until they end up going to the office. This folder is cummulative between all their classes and teachers.
Thanks for the suggestions, I'll pass it on next week.
As for whether rapport is important for student learning... absolutely. I have a class this semester where the teacher is constantly griping at the students' poor study skills and most of the class cannot stand her. Every once in a while she'll go over the top trying to build rapport by asking about how they got their cast or crutches, but probably couldn't tell you the names of more than two students in there. She constantly gripes about the student athletes having to miss class for their sports. I don't think she realizes how much their sports mean to them and that she is alienizing them by speaking the way she does. At least half of our class is failing, and its a pretty easy class. A different attitude would go a long way in her students wanting to try harder.
ReplyDeleteAshley...I too feel a good sense of humor can attract positive attention. and especially from kids, because when they have an adult talking to them and joking around with them like they are older, the students love it. I remember when I was in about the fifth grade, and the teacher I had was great at building relationships with students that would allow them to maybe put in a little extra effort for her. I listened to what she had to say more than i did other adults because she wasn't commanding with her directions or instructions. She did a great job making us all feel comfortable and that helped me a whole lot in the long run. I not only worked harder, but began to understand how to talk to and treat people.
ReplyDeleteIn the classroom I am observing, my teacher is very consistent. You can tell that the students like that they know how their teacher is going to handle different situations. I think that consistency is very necessary when building rapport within the classroom because students need to be able to trust their teacher. They need to be able to know that their teacher will be something constant in their lives, something they can always look forward to.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of being close with her students, I can definitely tell that they trust her and look to her for answers. I've observed on Mondays in her classroom and she has to have them settle down so she asks them how their weekend was and if they did anything they want to share. There are still some shy kids in the class so not everyone raised their hand, but the majority did and shared their stories. She didn't just do this because she felt like she had to, I could tell that she was interested by looking at her and she genuinely looked like she wanted to know about their weekends. There were even some kids at the end who asked her how her weekend was and though I'm sure she didn't share every detail, she did share. It helped them to build relationships together and get to know each other. I think that she has awesome rapport with her students and everyone can be comfortable with each other and know that their teacher cares about them and will be something constant in their lives.
Chris-It is definitely important for the teacher to be actively involved in getting to know their students. Especially at the elementary level, children are going to relate better to people who want to listen to their stories. My teacher is also very friendly with her students and you can tell that they look to her for answers. It is awesome to build a relationship with students that will be constant and consistent in their lives.
ReplyDeleteI just read my last post... I meant alienating them. I knew it didn't sound right, but couldn't figure out what was wrong at the time.
ReplyDeleteI am observing a fifth grade class and I noticed that the teacher has established a good rapport with her students. I think that in teaching especially at the elementary level having a good rapport with the students can be one of the most important things. The teacher I am observing incorporates appropriate classroom humor into her interacting with the students. The teacher has established a positive learning environment for the students and inreturn has gained respect from the students.
ReplyDeleteI'm doing my observations over winter break so I don't currently have a teacher to talk about but I do remember my old teachers and their relationships with students. I always felt like I could learn much better with a teacher that wanted to know his or her students. In 7th grade some of my friends had a teacher that was always rude and didn't really seem to care about her students. Almost all of them hated her class and it effected their grades. I want to have a very good connection with my students and I want them to feel like they can come to me for absolutely anything. I want every child to be able to have the same opportunities to be successful.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Bishop-
ReplyDeleteI do think teacher-student rapport is very, very important in maximizing learning. Teachers and students need to always be on the same page to be able to be successful. Even something as small as eye contact from a teacher to a student can make a big difference. It will show that the teacher is interested in what the student is saying and will make them feel more comfortable to voice their opinions.
Sami-
ReplyDeleteGood point about even the small things, like eye contact, making a difference in how the students perceive the relationship between them and their teacher. I hadn't thought of that as a way to build rapport.
Sami-
ReplyDeleteI realize now that a teachers speaking ability and communication is very important. Looking back I remember having teachers who knew their stuff but did not know how to communicate with their students and in the end came off as a bad teacher just because they would not have a good rapport with their students.
I suppose it would all depend on whether or not the teacher is teaching high school middle school or elementary.
ReplyDeleteI would think that one would have to act more like a parent to a elementary kid or middle school kid.
But in high school i would say it helps if you try to see things from thier point of view and keep your class exciting to them by cracking the occational apporapriate but funny joke.
Being friendly and always helpful and sometimes sharing some of your interests in hopes that a student may relate and be able to talk and discuss somethign with thier teacher is good too.
in high school i had 3 teachers taht i could do this with and it helped me feel quite at home in the school and the classroom and not feel silly going to them when i needed help.
Mrs. Bishop--
ReplyDeleteI think that it is important because i know from experience how it helped me.
in my last year of high school i was falling behind in Calculas and AP Physics because they both run along the same lines and moved quite fast.
I would have really screwed myself because i don't like to ask for help or admit that i don't know how to do something.
If i didn't have good rapport with the PHysics teacher who also knew a great deal of calculas then i would have gotten D's in those classes, instead i passed with an A and a B.
It was important because it allowed me to go to them for help even though my general personality loathed doing so
I am observing a first grade and a kindergarten classroom so the positive attitude and happy environment is very important. the kindergarten teacher, at the end of each day, calls the kids up individually and tells them what she liked about how they behaved in the class or something positive they did that day! the kids seem to really respond to that. they always hug her and seem to happy to come back the next day!
ReplyDeletemrs. bishop-
ReplyDeletei think that the connection between a student and a teacher is extremely important. i know from high school that the teachers that knew my family and my back ground were the ones i really learned from. i felt more comfortable in there class and they were more approachable :)
Jamie
ReplyDeleteI feel that being involved in your students personal life is very important. Because you need to know sometimes what is going on at home. I know that I want to be involved with my students one day!
My teacher is very involved with her students for one because she is an amazing teacher and because with first graders...they tell you everything! She is always worried about her students and is there for them whenever. They joke and laugh along with her but know when it is time to get down to business. They are very respectable to her and admire her, I know most of the little girls want to grow up to be her. I believe she has a very positive connection with all of her students, even the ones that are getting in trouble all the time.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest the school I am at is a small town so everyone knows everyone out side of school. The teacher already really knows the students which makes it easier for her to build a relationship with the students. Every teacher wants the students to pass the class. So they will teach something new and stay on the topic till everyone has a good understanding of it. If if ends up taking a while the teacher may move on. Then at the end of the hour will students are working on homework they may go over to the desk and explain in different ways til there is some understanding. If they don't have enough time then they will offer to the kid to come in before or after school or even during their free time the school give them. Like I said earlier, everyone really knows everyone so there is a lot of post. connections between students and teachers.
ReplyDeleteThe teacher I observe always calls on different students. She also calls them up one at a time at her desk to read a page from their book, I think that pulling the students up individually helps the students become more comfortable with her. My teacher always comments on their work, and if they say they can't do it she always tells them that they know that she knows they are able to read it or they are able to spell the word right. When writing words on any of their assignments she has them help her spell them, that way she knows that they are trying to spell out the word, for instance, Skittles, they sounded it out to skitls.
ReplyDeleteI believe that they students do have a very positive relationship with her, she i very down to earth and willing to help.
I am observing a first grade teacher. They stick to their routines very well every day and the students know what they are supposed to do, and if for some reason they do forget she doesn't directly tell them what they forgot she just gives them a hint. The students in her class listen very intently and don't get out of hand. When they switch activities from their desks to the floor to read a book as a group they do it quietly and sit next to their "turn and talk partners" which are someone they can converse with about what they just read, when the teacher tells them to. This helps them to stay focused as a group and she also asks questions while she is reading the book to keep them focused. Students will tell her about their weekend and she will respond by asking questions in the time allowed, she knows her students and takes pride in them.
ReplyDeleteBrittany- It sounds like your teacher is very good with her students. I remember my fourth grade teacher would always ask us about our weekend, and she always had funny stories to tell us about her weekend. I wanted to stay in fourth grade for the rest of my life. That is probably the most comfortable classroom I have ever been in.
ReplyDeleteAlex- I went to a small school so I can relate to that is has lots of benefits and a few drawbacks. The fact that they usually have more time to help before and after school. And that they already know them before their probably in their actual class so they don't have to spend so much time in class getting to know everyone they can focus on what needs to be done.
ReplyDeleteIn the class im observing the teacher has such a good rapport with her students. She is so flexible with her teaching if something is not working in her lesson she has another idea of teaching it right away. She smiles all the time and has a very good personality which seems to be contagious with the children. I have seen her use a variety of teaching strategies in the class. She creates realistic goals for what she wants to achieve with the class that day and always has confidence when teaching. I can tell the students have a positive bond with her because they give her hugs all the time and ask how her weekend was and you can tell they trust her just by the questions they ask.
ReplyDeleteKIMBERLY-
ReplyDeletei love how they have "turn and talk partners" that is such a good idea. And when teaching a lesson i agree it is so important to have children answer questions.
i am observing three different secondary art teachers. two out of three are very involved with their students. they have a very fun and outgoing personality. however, the odd ball of the three that i am observing is very boring and somewhat snobby. i get aggrivated when i am observing because she shows little to no interest in her students and their lives. when a kid goes up to her and says for example..."this weekend i did..." she will simply just blow them off and say "coooolll...." i dont know, it just bothers me. because she gives off such a negative attitude, her students do not enjoy her class.
ReplyDelete-ashley creer
ReplyDeletethat PE teacher sounds very inspiring and very much like a teacher i had in high school. a kid can tell if a teacher truly cares... it makes a big difference.
i completely agree with sami. things as small and minor as eye contact or casual coversation make the student completely aware with a comforting feeling of interest from a teacher.
ReplyDeletethe students in the class i am observing have a close and genuine relationship with their teacher. daily he conversates with nearly all the kids in his different classes, casually asking them how their weekends were, or what they did. the students love to talk to him. i see a strong connection between him and the majority of his classes. although he does ask what they did etc.. he never goes to far into details and avoids all chances of a student giving hm too much information.
ReplyDeleteHayley,
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to hear you have a teacher that is like that. There are jobs in the world that people would consider "blow off" jobs where they are just there to make money and leave, nothing else. I do not believe whatsoever that teaching is one of those jobs. I know that I personally want to be a teacher because I feel God is calling me to it and I want to help Special needs students learn because they are God's children just like the rest of us. The fact that there are teachers that are truly unconcerned about their students is sad to me. We need to just make sure we don't end up like that and make sure that our passion for helping students learn in everyway increases over our lifetime.
In my experience in school I had one teacher in particular who was really able to connect with students. He found out the kids interests at the beggining of the year on his student info sheet and did a great job of remembering what everyone did. He was always staying in contact and asking questions which made kids like him.
ReplyDelete- Kyle
ReplyDeleteThis teacher sounds exactlly like the one I have described. All the kids love him and want to be there right?
In the classroom that i observe the teacher has a good relationship with each student, she does this by being kind yet stict and talks with each student as an equal. she gives opprotunities for each student to secced by talking with each student privatly if they are having trouble with something. lastly the students do have a positive connection with the teacher there has never been an argument with the teacher they respect her a lot and konw not to mess with her.
ReplyDeletekyle
ReplyDeleteit seems like u went into further detail then i did becasue ur teacher seems to act the same way as mine does he makes them kinda want to be in the class and the students tend to pay more attention
I am currently observing two different classes, a fourth grade class and a second grade class. My second grade teacher does a lot of individual and group works. She often times has two or three students at her table working on reading or math or something else. She also has a daily morning meeting. She firsts asks if anyone has a celebration they want to share. Every kid says something good or fun that happened to them. In my fourth grade class, the teacher also does a lot of group work. She often times has me and herself help individual students with math. She also has read aloud time where all the kids sit around her on pillows while she reads a book to them.
ReplyDeleteDylan- I like how your teacher talks to each student as an individual. I think too many times teachers do not do this. Talking to children like they are equals encourages them to try their hardest and makes them feel welcome and comfortable in the classroom.
ReplyDelete