The first day of school…. there is nothing like it!  All teachers have stories of lack of sleep, crazy dreams the night before, the excited faces of students and teary eyes of parents.  Teachers know that they can maximize the learning potential of every student in their class by developing positive relationships. Building a trusting relationship with your students can be both challenging and time consuming.  But, it is essential for students to learn.  

Here are some tips that help foster the development of relationships and good classroom environments:

Provide Structure:  Children positively to having structure in their classroom.  It makes them feel safe and leads to increased learning. It is essential that teachers set the tone early by establishing clear expectations and practicing class procedures.  A structured classroom is one with minimal downtime.  Each day should be loaded with engaging learning activities with little to no downtime.

Teach with Enthusiasm and Passion:  Excitement is contagious! When a teacher introduces new content enthusiastically, students will buy in.

Have a Positive Attitude:  Everyone goes through personal trials that can be difficult to handle.  It is essential that your personal issues do not interfere with your ability to teach

Incorporate Humor into Lessons:  Laughter is good for our health! Teachers should incorporate humor into their daily lessons.  This may be sharing an appropriate joke related to the content you will be teaching that day.  It may be getting into character and donning a silly costume for a lesson or laughing at yourself when you make a silly mistake.

Make Learning Fun:  Learning should be fun and exciting.  Students love teachers who incorporate creative, fun, engaging activities into their daily classroom.

Use Student Interests to Your Advantage:  Every child has a passion for something.  Use these interests and passions to their advantage by incorporating them into lessons.  Student surveys are a fantastic way to measure these interests.  This will see increased participation, higher involvement, and an overall increase in learning.

Incorporate Story Telling into Lessons:  A good story will allow students to make connections that they may not have made otherwise.

Show an Interest in Their Lives Outside of School:  Talk to students about their interests and extracurricular activities that they participate in.  Also, be considerate when assigning homework. Think about the extra-curricular activities occurring on that particular day.

Love your student:  Enough said.

Go the Extra Mile:  Going the extra mile may mean donating clothing, shoes, food, or other household goods that a family needs to survive.  It is about recognizing and assisting in meeting student needs inside and outside of the classroom.

Good luck establishing relationships with your students and have a great school year!