Recently I was observing in a classroom, when an aide leaned over to a student and asked him to follow the directions the teacher gave. The student immediately replied, “Why? He doesn’t even like me.”
Obviously I don’t know how the teacher felt about the student. But the student believed the teacher didn’t like him.
This brief interaction started me thinking.
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Do students generally feel the same way as this student?
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What about myself? If a teacher doesn’t like me, can I tell?
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What makes students feel a teacher likes them?
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Is our behavior better when we feel someone likes us?
We need to help students know we like being around them. How do we do this?
One easy way is to increase our positive interactions.
In other words, we could watch for what students do right instead of what they do wrong. Find them fun and enjoyable to be around. Laugh at their jokes. Have them teach us about what they are interested in.
Positive interactions go a long way to create a learning environment where students want to behave well.
This week, start noticing whether your interactions with students are positive. Does it make a difference? How so? I’m eager to hear your thoughts! Share them below.