Week+7

Week 7 How do you know who your students are? April 27, 2009 Amber is purple  Luke is **__BLUE__** Nicole is PINK Mathew is GREEN 

I found this lecture particularly interesting. How do we know our students?!?!?!

Having now been helping out at a school near me for only 2 days I have surprised myself by how much I have learnt about the students in the class and also how much I remember. On my first day I spent a lot of time with the students in a casual manner. I was lucky because they were so excited to meet me and were asking me all sorts of questions. I saw this as the best opportunity to ask some questions myself. And boy did I learn alot about the students. It wasn't hard to find something each child was interested in and once I asked them about an interest there was no stopping them. It was several weeks before I saw these students again but they hadn't forgotten me. Nor had I forgotten them. Most of their names I still remembered and a lot o the things they were telling me in the first week I had remembered.

I think the key to my questioning during that first week was showing interest in the student. Once they knew I was interested in hearing what they had to say the more they trusted me and the more they wanted to share. This was the same thing I found doing the YMCA school holiday program. The kids were more likely to share with me because I bothered to get to know their names and something interesting about them. Some of the volunteers at the YMCA were baffled why some kids would not respond to them and it was solely the fact that they had not bothered to learn names, basic facts or even begin to build a relationship with them. That was a huge difference between volunteers that I noticed.

I was surprised by the suggestion to visit the homes of our students. For some reason, I thought it would not be allowed, an invasion of privacy or something along those lines. I went home and mentioned it to my Mum and she said that my grade two teacher visited me when I had my tonsils out that year. I have no memory of it, but asked Mum if she thought it was weird and she said no. She thought it was a very nice idea. You could learn a lot about your students from visiting their home. Would you just turn up? Or should you make a phone call first? I don't know how comfortable I feel with the idea. I think it is a great idea, but it could be unsafe; turning up at a house, all alone, when you don't know what type of environment you're getting yourself into. But it would be so nice to have a cuppa with the parents and it could make them feel more comfortable with you, they could discuss any problems with you. They may not think something is big deal, and worth coming into your classroom to discuss it, but in their own home, they could really open up.

Getting to know your students is very important. I imagine when I begin a year, with my new class, I would ask them to write down (depending on the grade) some facts about themselves. Or I really like the slide show idea - I can't remember which lecturer mentioned it though. To get them to do a slide show about them, so __they__ are telling __you__ what __they__ think is important for you to know about them. Remembering their names quickly is important and I would like to be able to have a chat with each student at least once a week. Whether it be whilst on yard duty, or first thing in the morning before the bell goes. Just so they see you as someone on their side, who cares about them. Amber, I think if you are going to visit a students home now-a-days it is very important you speak to your principal, and the students parents first. You are going to a students home, to turn up unannounced could be taken the wrong way and could be detrimental to your career. If you let the parents know you are coming, with the permission from your principal it cannot be taken the wrong way. We need to be careful how we are viewed as teachers, especially me as a bloke.

When I have been in classrooms I have been getting to know the kids and it pays dividends on your relationships. On the first day I would jot their name down in my notebook with a little fact about them e.g. Joshua – goes for Hawthorn, or Eva – has a horse etc. I would usually lead into the conversation with that. They would immediately open up to me because they feel I have listened to what their interests were and remembered. This has worked so well for me and will use it whenever I meet new students.

How do I know who my students are? Well, I let them tell me and at the same time, I have them tell each other! I think that the first part of a year (or time in a class with a new group of children) should be spent getting to know each other - team building so to speak. After all, this group of individuals needs to be able to work together collectively to create an effective teaching and learning enviroment! I feel that a considerable amount of time should be dedicated to this task of getting to know another. As a class we can explore what makes us all the same as well as what makes us all different. We can celebrate the differences and appreciate the richness this brings to our learning environment. We can investigate the way in which we all have different talents and interests and again celebrate the diversity. I really like the idea of having the children give a powerpoint presentation on themselves - I imagine that this would be an extremely illuminating experience. The effort that goes into getting to know each other and into team building at the end of the year does not need to stop there. I personally am an advocate for 'Circle Time' as a space to continually build the connectedness between the individuals in the class. I like to use circle to to explore current class issues and emotions (Children can raise issues too, or bring an issue to me to raise) as well as to celebrate our achievements and have some fun. By doing this regularly, bonds between the teacher and class, as well as between the children and the class strengthen throughout the year. My last point is this: it can be easy to overlook some of the quieter children in a class; the ones who don't constantly seek attention. I think that it is important to try to have a personal moment with each of the children in your class at some point each week - to make sure that each child knows that you are aware of them, thinking of them and that you appreciate their presence in the class (no matter how hard this might be at times!) -Mathew Next Previous