I'm going to start posting weekly blogs. Your posts and responses to other's posts will earn you jeans tickets for next year!
The questions will be based on last summer's book study, Engaging Students of Poverty and the book Help for Billy. Even if you have not read one or both of the books you will be able to answer the questions.
"What do children need at school to make learning better? In other words, what would make you look forward to getting up and going to school every day?"
Students need a lot of things to be successful, but what I think that students need most is to feel accepted and wanted. Everyone wants to be liked. When you are liked you are a part of a group and you then begin to feel that you matter. When you discover what makes you unique to the group, you find your purpose. Having a purpose gives you drive. The drive then motivates you to want to be better. Successful people know what they want out of life and are willing to go after it. Once students find success they want more of it. Just like 4 to 1 from last year. When they hear positive praise, it reassures their need to feel liked and accepted.
ReplyDeleteNICOLE,
DeleteI like how you laid this out in an order. Success can't just happen right away. There are certain things that need to happen before students can feel successful and you showed us that so clearly in your post. :)
I thought about myself for the second part of this question. What would make ME look forward to getting up and going to school every day? I enjoy going to school every day because even if I am feeling grumpy and tired I know something or someone is going to pick me up. There is someone to talk to and make me feel better. There is someone to laugh with, ask questions to, and have fun with!! Our kiddos are the same way! They want to come to school and know that we are going to build them up. They want acceptable, love, and to feel safe. When students feel those things, they are more open to learning and feedback that help them succeed.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, THE SUN IS SHINING RIGHT NOW!!! :)
I agree with what you said Hannah, when I read this post I thought about myself and what makes me want to get up everyday and go to work or college. Once you have built comfort in a setting and feel accepted I think that you need to have goals. Achievable goals are what has lead me to be successful. They make you feel proud and to keep you going to be even more successful.
DeleteI think you guys all have the same idea...relationships. I know when I was in school, that was why I enjoyed going to school. The relationships with peers are very important, but I think just as important are relationships with teachers. I think it is important for our students' learning to build these relationships in our classroom. I believe, if we want our students to enjoy coming to school and wanting to be at school every day they need to feel safe, they need to feel like someone is expecting them to be there, and they need to feel like someone is there in their corner. I think this is true for adults, too :)
ReplyDeleteI loved being able to build relationships with my peers and my teachers throughout school! I completely agree that students' need to feel safe. It is key for our kiddos to succeed.
DeleteI read the second part of the question thinking of myself in mind as well. There's a lot of factors that make me want to come to school each day. First, my relationships with people at school. I can be on my drive to school thinking: I can't wait to tell Laura about this, or I wonder what Leslie would think about this... I also get excited about what's going to happen next. This could be with behavior situations (although sometimes it gives me the opposite feeling! ha) , lesson plans, or even things we are working on as a staff. I'm invested and I want to keep moving forward because it makes a difference, and I have to see that it is going to make a difference. I think kids need to be invested and see that their hard work and great attitudes will also make a difference. I also think knowing what to expect gives me a greater drive for wanting to come to school. When I'm not sure what's going to happen (will the rain mess up Jamboree day?)... I can't help but feel a little uneasy and less confident. I'm sure kids have to feel the same way. They worry about what they will be doing in art class or if we are going to still be talking about the three branches of government. They feel so much better and excited if they know what to expect.
ReplyDeleteJust like all of you I thought of myself when thinking about why I love coming to work each day. There are many reasons but the 2 that stuck out the most were the relationships I have with the people I work with and the kids and also loving what I do because I can feel successful (at times)! Some of the strongest friendships I have are with people at Monroe. Knowing I am going to see these people when I am there is comforting. Kids are no different, when they have friends they feel accepted and feel comfortable in their environment. This will then lead to them to enjoy school and find success in what they do.
ReplyDeleteI just want to add on to the other posts by saying I think students want to feel like they matter and are a part of something bigger than themselves. I know my students were great cheerleaders for each other. They were also usually more than happy to help a peer to be successful. I love watching them grow individually but also as a group. It is important for them to realize they are a part of the whole and their actions affect others. I noticed this with my school family group too. It is an important concept for being a part of society!
ReplyDeleteI agree with what all of you are staying. Building relationships with students is key in setting up a successful environment for students to feel safe and welcome. Sometimes though basic needs need to be met in order to start building those relationships with students. I junk about in in the fact that if I am tired, hungry, thirsty, or upset about something I am not going to. E able to put forth my best effort. I think the same is true for students. Working breakfast this past year opened my eyes to how much some kiddos walk I with at the very beginning of the day. Sometime they just need to eat or sometimes they need someone to talk to whatever it may be it helps them to start their day off on the right foot.
ReplyDeleteKids need fun in their lives. We are so concerned with getting all of the core subjects in, that we have forgotten to sprinkle in some fun with it. If the students are having fun at school, with learning, then I feel it will entice them to want to come everyday. I also love the relationship that I make with the kids and the staff. All of that makes me excited for day and I can't wait to see everyone! I also believe that the students feel welcomed, safe, respected and are a part of a family at Monroe. Who wouldn't want to come and spend time with that kind of love!
ReplyDeleteThis statement made me think about myself as a student and the infamous question, who is your favorite teacher? I have 4 teachers that come to mind when asked that question, one at elementary, one at middle and 2 in high school. They were my favorite because I was confident they truly cared about me and because I knew that I wanted to do my best for them. I think about life now still being in the world of education and want every kiddo at Monroe to feel that way about every teacher they have, every adult they encounter and their relationship with me. They need us and we need each other. There are jobs everywhere but there's no other place I'd rather be, I love coming to school every day and seeing each of you and our students. What we have is special and you can't find the closeness we share everywhere!
ReplyDeleteLike many of you, I thought about myself when reading this question. I went into the field of Speech Pathology for many reasons, the main one being that communication development and deficits truly interest me. To me, being an SLP is motivating. I want to come to work each day because I absolutely love what I do; I love working with kids that are a puzzle and helping them find their voice to be successful. School needs to be motivating. It needs to be interesting and enriching for the students and I think that teachers are what create that. When positive relationships are built within the classroom, students feel safe and loved which in turn helps them to be successful! When you feel safe, you are less afraid to ask for help, less afraid to fail and more excited to succeed.
ReplyDeleteI think all of you hit the nail on the head.... it's all about relationships. This question made me think about the kids who struggle with peer interactions. How can we help them be socially appropriate? Help them attain and maintain the friendships they want? One of the biggest obstacles I feel is teaching kiddos how to engage appropriately peer to peer. When they engage an adult at school inappropriately, we can be there to guide them with better word choice, using manners, overlook what they said to hear what they meant, etc... Kids don't have those tools to provide help to their peers. I think that one way to help kids build relationships among themselves is to use class meetings to teach kids phrases, questions, etc... to help guide them through their interactions. Example: Problem- "So and so doesn't want to play with me?" Ask the older kids to brainstorm, what they would do. Maybe have the younger kids practice saying something like, "Did I do something to make you mad?" Relationships rely heavily on conversation and many kids don't have anyone to model how to converse effectively. Many of our kids are programmed to think that everyone is out to get them.
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