Intro to Teaching 4.3

Building Strong Relationships

Intro to Teaching 4.3

Identify the importance of building strong relationships

Identify examples of building strong relationships throughout the school year

Analyze examples of real-world situations related to building strong relationships

Learners Can:

​Humans communicate in many ways, including nonverbal communication. This involves conveying messages without spoken words, such as through body language and gestures. People use body language to express their feelings, reactions, and intentions. The body language teachers use while interacting with students impacts the learning environment.

This teacher uses hand gestures and an excited facial expression to teach a small group of students.

This teacher crosses her arms while correcting a student in front of the class.

This teacher crouches down to student eye level to help with independent work.

This teacher is sitting casually on desk with a light smile while teaching a lesson.

This teacher scrunches his face in irritation while holding his hand up to cover part of his face while teaching a math lesson.

This teacher is pointing her finger at student in front of the entire class with a stern look on her face.

Hotspot

Which of the following images represents nonverbal teacher communication that helps build a safe and positive learning environment?

​Positive nonverbal communication from teachers creates a welcoming and engaging classroom environment, encouraging students to participate and feel valued. On the other hand, negative nonverbal cues can make students feel anxious or disengaged, hindering their learning experience. A teacher's nonverbal communication style is part of their classroom management, which is a critical part of being a successful teacher. It creates the learning environment and directly influences student engagement and focus.

A teacher's presentation style and their interactions with students send a message about who they are. Open and positive communication styles send a message that the teacher values the students as part of the learning environment. This contributes to building relationships and creating trust in the classroom.

-Justin Tarte - Directo of teaching and learning in the Union R-XI School District.

"Teachers who put relationships first don't just have students for one year; they have students who view them as 'their' teacher for life."

These four components work together to develop a classroom management style. While there is no specific strategy that works for every teacher or every group of students, the composition of students, with their diverse skills and needs, requires different approaches from those used with other groups of students.

By focusing on these four components, all teachers will find success in developing a positive learning environment.

The Four Components of Classroom Management

Review the four components of classroom management as you read below. Pay particular attention to the first component, building strong relationships.

Building Strong Relationships

Having a good relationship with your students allows for mutual respect. This is the foundation of your classroom management.

Setting Expectations

By setting expectations for learning right away, your class will be able to engage in a variety of learning experiences.

Effective Discipline Strategies

While being proactive is key to classroom management, there will be a need for discipline when a student makes a choice that is not productive for the classroom environment.

Physical Space

The placement of your furniture and the class seating chart has a huge impact on the success of your classroom management.

Building Strong Relationships

Building strong relationships with each of your students is key to successful classroom management, whether you are teaching virtually or in person. It is the first component that you should focus on and should start before the school year even begins by reaching out to families. Some of the benefits of having strong relationships in the classroom include the following:

more engaged students

less likely for students to make negative choices

easier to handle difficult situations

makes learning more fun

helps bring families and schools together

Multiple Choice

What impact did Ms. West have on Mr. Arnold's academic performance and behavior in elementary school?

• Through intentional empathy and care, Ms. West empowered him to invest in his dreams.

• Through intentional discipline and control, Ms. West controlled him through yelling and detention.

• Through intentional lesson planning, Ms. West connected all learning activities to be related to his personal interests.

• Through intentional seating, Ms. West placed him in the back corner of the room so the rest of the class was not distracted by him.

​The video highlights the numerous benefits of building strong relationships in the classroom, including increased student engagement, reduced negative behaviors, and allowing for authentic empowerment. By fostering these relationships, teachers can create a more positive and effective learning environment.

Strategies For Building Relationships

Building strong relationships with students is a cornerstone of effective teaching. When teachers can create a supportive and engaging learning environment, students thrive. There are specific strategies that not only enhance the educational experience but also build trust, respect, and a sense of community within the virtual and in-person classroom. Key approaches to building meaningful connections with students include:

tell your story

know your students

respond with compassion

The best way to begin building a relationship is to be authentic and honest. Tell students about the challenges you have faced in life, learning experiences, and failures. By sharing yourself in a professional yet genuine way, you can build trust and respect with your class. When sharing personal details, it is crucial to maintain professionalism and ensure the information is age-appropriate and relevant to the school setting.

Tell Your Story

Knowing your students allows you to build connections between them and the content you are teaching. This will engage them in the lesson and further strengthen your relationship. This can be done through beginning-of-the-year activities and regular conversations about their lives.

Know Your Students

Everyone will make a mistake at some point and the way you respond as a teacher has a huge impact on a student. By responding to situations with compassion and care, you are building a relationship of trust. This allows for students to feel safe to make mistakes, learn, and listen to you.

Respond With Compassion

Match

Connect the scenario with the strategy being used by the teacher.

• When a student accidentally spilled water on their project, Mr. Zhang responded with understanding and helped them clean up without any reprimand.

• Mr. Smith shared a story with his virtual students about a time he struggled with a difficult project at work and how he overcame it through perseverance and learning from his mistakes.

• Ms. Rodriguez starts each school year with activities that help her learn about her students’ interests, hobbies, and backgrounds.

respond with compassion

tell your story

know your students

• respond with compassion

• tell your story

• know your students

​Building strong relationships with students involves being authentic, understanding their backgrounds, and responding with compassion. These strategies help create a supportive and engaging classroom environment, fostering trust, respect, and a sense of community. By implementing these approaches, teachers can enhance both the educational experience and their connection with students. Not only should teachers build strong relationships to start the school year off in a positive environment, but teachers must continue to invest their time and efforts in strengthening their relationships with students and their families.

Mrs. Harris starts the school year with a “Getting to Know You” week, where she engages students in activities that reveal their interests, hobbies, and backgrounds. She uses this information to tailor her lessons and create a welcoming classroom environment.

During this time, she also shares her own stories and experiences to build rapport and show her students that she is approachable and relatable.

Beginning of the Year

As the year progresses, Mrs. Harris continues to build relationships by regularly checking in with her students. She holds one-on-one conferences to discuss their academic progress and personal goals.

She also incorporates their interests into her lessons, making the content more engaging and relevant. By showing genuine interest in their lives, she strengthens the trust and connection she has established.

Middle of the Year

Towards the end of the school year, Mrs. Harris reflects on the growth and achievements of her students. She organizes a class celebration where students can share their successes and challenges.

She writes personalized notes to each student, acknowledging their efforts and progress. This final gesture reinforces the strong relationships she has built and leaves a lasting positive impact on her students.

End of the Year

​How does Mrs. Harris intentionally build relationships with her students throughout the different parts of the school year?

What impact does this have on the classroom environment?

​Building strong relationships with students throughout the school year is really important. When teachers keep connecting with students, it helps everyone feel more comfortable and supported. This ongoing connection makes students feel valued and understood, which can boost their confidence and motivation. It also helps teachers understand each student's unique needs better, allowing for more personalized and effective teaching. Plus, strong relationships can help solve problems early and create a sense of community in the classroom. Overall, staying connected with students all year helps them grow both academically and personally.

Not only do teachers need to build strong relationships with students, they must do the same with families.

Building strong family-teacher relationships is essential for creating a supportive and effective learning environment.

Building Strong Relationships with Families

​The video highlights the benefits of early and proactive parent-teacher communication. These benefits include addressing and preventing classroom issues, fostering stronger home-school connections, and deepening teacher-student relationships. Keeping these advantages in mind, answer the following question.

Multiple Select

Which of the following points does Dr. Robinson encourage teachers to discuss with families when issues arise with a student?

• academic performance and homework completion

• caring and concern statement

• strategies for families to discuss behavior with their child

• extracurricular activities and sports involvement

​Open Communication: Maintain regular and transparent communication with caregivers through emails, newsletters, and meetings. Keeping caregivers informed about their child's progress and classroom activities fosters trust and collaboration.

Active Listening: Show genuine interest in caregivers' concerns and suggestions. Listening actively and empathetically helps build mutual respect and understanding.

Positive Interactions: Share positive news and achievements about their child, not just concerns. Celebrating successes helps build a positive rapport and reinforces the importance of family involvement.

Involvement Opportunities: Encourage caregivers to participate in classroom activities, volunteer for events, and join caregiver-teacher associations. Involvement strengthens the connections between home and school.

​Involvement Opportunities: Encourage caregivers to participate in classroom activities, volunteer for events, and join caregiver-teacher associations. Involvement strengthens the connections between home and school.

Open Ended

Exit Ticket: Write a Short Letter

Writing a short letter as an exit ticket provides an opportunity for students to understand the practical application of theoretical concepts. It reinforces the lesson content about building strong relationships by having students apply it in a personal context. This exit ticket is a powerful tool for reinforcing lesson content, enhancing writing skills, and fostering positive emotional and relational growth among students.

What teacher had a positive impact on your life?

Write a short letter or email to a teacher who has impacted your life in a positive way. In your letter, make sure to connect lesson content regarding building strong relationships in your explanation as to why that teacher had a positive influence on you.

You can choose between the following options to complete this activity:

1. Write the teacher of your choice an email and take a screenshot using the snipping tool on your laptop.

2. Using word processing software, type up the letter and upload the document.

3. Handwrite the letter and upload a picture of your finished letter.

While it is not a requirement, sending your letter to the teacher you wrote is highly encouraged. That teacher has had a positive impact on your life; in return, sending that letter will positively impact your teacher's life.

identified the importance of building strong relationships;

identified examples of building strong relationships throughout the school year; and

analyzed examples of real-world situations related to building strong relationships.

In today's lesson, you: