Rapport
Burgess connects Sun Tzu to the best strategies in behavior management by stating "we don't want to develop techniques to win behavior management battles, we want to develop techniques that allow us to avoid the battle altogether." (19) So what is the secret to being able to "positively" be able to avoid the battle?
Burgess identifies engagement as one piece to positive classroom management, but also notes developing rapport is "equally important to your success in avoiding battles with students." (20)
Burgess notes that we need to not try to get students engaged in what we're trying to teach as much as we should try to figure out how to connect what you're teaching to what students "are already interested in." (21)
We need to create classrooms where students know that they are loved unconditionally. Burgess recommends that we use whatever time we can to get to know our students and also take time to determine their interests, learning styles and multiple intelligences.
Discussion Questions
- How do you currently try to connect and build rapport with your students?
- After reading this chapter, how will you attempt to build rapport and engage students in the future?
Don't forget to respond to at least one one other person's comment.
ANSWER:
ReplyDeleteThis section was one of my favorites, as this is one of my favorite things to do! If you don't know WHO you are teaching, you'll never know HOW to teach them! You need to build relationships and trust to truly take students to the next level (students willing to take risks and try things, knowing they very well may fail). If you don't have the rapport or "buy in" you're only going to meet resistance. I love talking with my students! I use daily classroom community prompts to not only build rapport and connect with my students, but get them to buy in to the "team" concept of our classroom. Every day is something different... asking their opinion on a topic, a thought, having them write a letter or talk to a peer... it's very empowering.
2. I'm always looking for ways to build rapport and engage students in the future (this is such a huge part of classroom management... something I'm extremely passionate about). I've been doing a lot of research into responsive classrooms. This year I went to a Positive Discipline conference in NJ, which parallels a responsive classroom... and both suggest classroom meetings. I'd like to add classroom meetings to my weekly routines to help build rapport/engage ALL learners. I'd also like to do "Fridays with Forney" and eat lunch in the cafeteria with my class to help build that rapport with students. It's amazing how much a little extra attention secures that buy in with students.
In building rapport with my students I find that it is easy to use connections from previous students such as siblings or friends that have been in my room. This allows for a personal connection with some students, which allows for other students to open up. I also tend to tell stories about my own kids and their school experiences, along with my own experiences from back in the olden days of when I was in first grade. Being able to open up with personal stories of own my family allows my students to know me as more than just their teacher. After reading Mindset last year and sharing what happens to your brain when confronted by hard tasks my students were more willing to try and encourage encourage each other to continue to try, which helped build not just rapport with me but with each other.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this chapter I liked his idea with the play dough, that is easy to recreate with first graders. I would like to use more time this year to have students listen to each other as they share stories about themselves. I would like to be able to have students move around the room more with their seating arrangement, maybe let them pick who they sit by. Hopefully, this will be something that can happen in the spring.
When I was teaching one of the first things I did in each class was play a version of the Name Game. I would take the class outside and we would stand in a circle. I would ask each of the kids to think of an action that went with their name or maybe the first letter of the name. I used to call myself "Junkyard Jim" and would then walk around like I was picking up trash. Someone named Tim who liked football might say that they're "Touchdown Tim" and hold their hands up like someone had scored a touchdown. The game was that you had to say your name, do the action and then repeat the names of the people who went before you. So if you happened to go last, you had to same the names and do the actions of the whole class. This was a great way for me to learn everyone's name right away and then always try to use their name whenever I saw them in the school. I think it builds instant credibility. I try to do the same think across the whole school but it's much harder. However, it makes a significant impact when you see a student walking with their parent and you can call that student by name and ask them a question, say hello, say good bye, etc.
ReplyDelete