A teacher’s day can be crazy. We’re helping kids, answering questions, trying not to lose all twenty-three, no, twenty-four of students, dealing with crisis, and make sure learning is taking place simultaneously.
Sometimes, in the whirlwind of the day, I don’t do everything I’m supposed to do on cue. Teaching can often be triage, three or more things in front of me at any given time, and I have to choose what to do first. I’ve forgotten to take the attendance because I was helping a student with her paper.
Luckily, I can enter it later, because I’m in the habit of connecting with each student who enters my room, so I can remember our morning greeting, a bit of conversation, and “How was your weekend?” I don’t have to say, “Uhhh, did I see that person?” I know we’ve made a connection.
Connecting is important. It’s the number one thing that makes me love teaching, and makes me successful. It’s not just about remembering who was in class that day, it’s about making students want to come to my class. Many of them report that they don’t like history but that they enjoy coming to my class. That’s a big endorsement. If by the end of the year, I tell them, I can make them like school a little bit more, that’s my report card. It’s how I know if I’m a good teacher.
It’s all about connections.
Via Edumorfosis