Relationship Building Activities
The very first day of the school year and as well as the consistency throughout the school year can have a positive tone, however this means that I have to prepare to learn who is in my classroom. I must learn different personalities and names in order to aid the growth of my students. But I do not have a lot of time to spend with every individual and build each relationship, so this leads to me discovering and deciding on various activities to pursue these relationships.
The first activity that I really appreciated and will implement into my classroom is a beginning of the school year survey/questionnaire. For this activity, I just need to organize questions based on what I would like to know about my students. I can include parent/guardian contact information, fun questions, and even ask about my students’ expectations for the class. I can change the format how I would like. I can use open and written response questions or I can create survey questions that overview their view school. Provini (2013) says these different types of surveys can be adapted to various age groups of children. I will be able to easily structure the questions to where each age group can understand. I would include pictures for younger students in elementary school. For older students in middle and high school, I would ask them more detailed things about them such as their main responsibilities at home or other extracurricular activities. These surveys are also convenient if I need to keep a record of important information. For instance, allergies and other health conditions can become surprising in an emergency situation if I did not include that category on the survey. This will help to ensure that I am aware of my students’ needs and it shows them that I actively want to be there to support them.
Another activity that would benefit my students is to create classroom expectations with the students. Harmon (2017) suggests that having students be involved in the classroom management process will show that the teacher appreciates their input. My plan of action to help include my students in this process is to split them up into groups first. Then, I will list as many ideas as possible within each group. Finally, the entire class will vote on the top four to have as the permanent rules for the school year or semester. I chose this activity because I like how it allows the students to be creative and they understand what rules they will work with in their environment. They can also have a visual reminder of the things they committed to. Moreover, the activity can be adapted to using different types of charts or notes. In summary, this activity is perfect for the very first day when I initially meet my students in order to help them set the expectations.
For the last main activity I would for relationship building and classroom management, I would use a combination of transition tools. Davies (2010) provides twenty-five attention-grabbers to help make sure students can be safe and have structure. Most of the ones that I liked are music based in order to make sure my students stay musical. I will definitely use these as a simple way to bring my class’s focus back to me. One of them involves clapping a specific rhythm and having the students repeat it back until every student is doing the rhythm. Another one includes using hand motions for the song “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and then singing it once everyone is doing the movements. The final example from this list I want to use is called “The Still Waters Game”. The game starts with the teacher saying a certain rhythm and then at the end of the rhyme all of the students have to quietly freeze in place. The winner must hold his or her position the longest (or unless the teacher concludes with another rhyme). With all three of these resources to help me, I can use them to not only grab their attention, but also have fun with them. Music teaching includes a lot of movement, rhyming, as well as clapping so these methods are valuable to me. I love all of the suggestions that were on the list, but I will definitely practice teaching using these ideas.
In conclusion, the relationships with my students has an essential part of being able to teach them and keep order in my classroom. When I have a knowledge of their behavior patterns I can use many techniques to help them transition, learn about them, or establish a stable environment. Moreover, I can keep the engagement level higher instead of losing my students due to distractions. My mindset to help them achieve must be focused on what is best for them as I build that relationship with them.
References
Davies, L. (2010). 25 ways to Obtain children’s attention in a school setting by LEAH Davies, M.Ed. Parent, teacher, counselor help with children: books, DVDs, songs, game, curriculum. http://www.kellybear.com/TeacherArticles/TeacherTip54.html.
Harmon , W. (2017, August 3). Create your classroom rules with your students for a powerful start to the year. The Art of Education University. https://theartofeducation.edu/2017/08/08/3-benefits-creating-classroom-expectations-students/.
Provini, C. (2013). First-Day-of-School surveys: Get to know students. Back-to-School Surveys: Get to Know Students, Education World. https://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/back-to-school-student-survey-questionnaire.shtml.