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Taking time to let students connect pays off in greater focus
Grade 7 language arts and Grade 9 leadership, Woodman School, Calgary
I start every Monday’s class by giving students the chance to share about their weekend. I don’t cut them off or limit their time, and if every student wants to share and it takes some time, I let it happen, letting go of my own anxi-eties over covering curriculum. My goal is to build rapport with my students in order to create a safe learning space, one in which students are willing to take risks.
My middle school students love sharing about their worlds, problems and experiences, and through this process they learn to connect with and listen to one another. This process also helps remind me that a young person sits before me, not just a student I am meant to teach. This sharing helps me connect with them, and they with one another, so in moments when curriculum, learning or their own hardships get tough and they need to persevere, they feel safe to make themselves vulnerable and ask for help, whether for academic or personal reasons.
Through this sharing we become a class whose members care about one another and, in the end, I teach the curriculum with a focused group of young people who are ready to engage in the material. It also provides lots of opportunities to laugh, share joy and remind ourselves of the importance of social connection which, during these strange times, is more important than ever.
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