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    • comprehension
      • activating schema
      • connecting
      • inferring
      • predicting
      • questioning
      • retelling / summarizing
      • visualizing
    • concepts of print
    • environmental print
    • fluency
    • non-fiction
    • spelling
    • word building
    • word consciousness
    • vocabulary
  • writing
    • creative writing
    • grammar
    • informative writing
    • tripod grip
  • math
    • computation
    • counting
    • numbers
  • science
    • animals
    • plants
    • science experiments for kids
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    • cooking
      • new for us foods
    • crafts
    • foundations
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      • critical thinking
      • fine arts
      • listening
      • pretend play
      • sorting
      • speaking
    • holidays
      • new year’s
      • valentine’s day
      • president’s day
      • st. patrick’s day
      • april fool’s day
      • easter
      • mother’s day
      • teacher appreciation
      • father’s day
      • july 4th
      • halloween
      • thanksgiving
      • christmas
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building relationships with students and colleagues: 6 secrets to success

home / teaching / professional development / building relationships with students and colleagues: 6 secrets to success
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I’m thrilled to be partnering with Advancement Courses, a leader in K-12 professional development with over 240 online courses in 20 different subject areas. 

Relationship-building in schools may be the most important thing that teachers do. If teachers arenโ€™t connecting with students and colleagues on a personal level, how do we do our best work? 

After years in the classroom, and many, many conversations with fellow educators, here’s what I found to be true. . .

Building Relationships with Students and Colleagues: 6 Secrets to Success

Building Relationship with Students 

Students spend up to six hours a day with their teachers, so imagine how much modeling teachers do in that time! When teachers have a strong connection with their students, anything is possible. 

According to the American Psychological Association, โ€œstudents who have close, positive and supportive relationships with their teachers will attain higher levels of achievement than those students with more conflict in their relationships.โ€ It makes total sense. Students know when teachers genuinely care about them and believe in their abilities. 

Here are three quick ways that teachers can build meaningful relationships with students:

1.)  Get to know your students. 

Ask about their interests, give them opportunities to share, and offer an open ear when they need someone to listen. Go to their sporting events or recitals. Talk about timely topics, and let them know you care. 

2.)  Let your classroom reflect your students. 

Hang student work (yes, even the big kids!), try interactive bulletin boards, and consider a flexible seating arrangement in your classroom. Sure, we all may be more comfortable with the traditional desk arrangement and teacher in the front running the show, but thereโ€™s a lot of current research touting the benefits of exploring different classroom arrangements. 

Remember, reading material should give students an opportunity to learn about each other and all sorts of people. Diversify the authors in your room, the genres, and the modes in which students consume texts. There are so many possibilities!

3.)  Have fun with your students. 

Kids are under so much stress these days that we really have to keep the atmosphere light when we are able to. Giving students a chance to really laugh is a great way to keep things fun in your classroom. Have a joke or a fun fact on your board each day. Or, when students line up, choose one student to read a joke. You may get some eye rolls or muffled giggles, but itโ€™s worth it even for just one smile on their way out of your room.

Building Relationship with Colleagues 

But student-teacher relationships arenโ€™t the only important ones in the school. Teachers must get along with the other adults in the building, too! 

Not only are teachers demonstrating what strong, healthy relationships look like between adults and children, but they are also demonstrating how adults can and should effectively communicate and interact with one another.

Relationships with other teachers in the school โ€” the para-professionals, specialists, building service workers, cafeteria workers, and the admin team โ€” are all important. When the whole school can support the same vision and mission, then those ideals can be driven to the students. 

Here are three quick ways that educators can connect and support their colleagues:

1.) Remember that casual dress days totally rock. 

Honestly, teachers love to get the โ€˜goโ€™ to wear jeans on Fridays, to play along for student spirit weeks, or to dress down on pajama day. It makes a big difference to not have to really worry about getting all dolled up for just one of the five days of the week. Itโ€™s amazing how much casual days can affect teacher morale.

 2.) Play games together. 

Doing something collectively, as a school, really can boost energy among the staff. Whether itโ€™s a springtime softball or kickball game, a wintertime weight loss challenge, or a fall chili cookoff, staff-centered games can be a lot of fun. 

When we know each other personally, often weโ€™re more likely to collaborate and support one another professionally. Who knows what awesomeness these kinds of โ€˜team-buildingโ€™ activities can lead to?

3.) Show that mutual respect goes a long, long way. 

Folks in school buildings work really, really hard. From building service to the principal in a large high school, Iโ€™ve got to believe that every person is doing the absolute best they can with what they have.

And rarely do any of these people have a weekend totally off of work or an evening to themselves; rather, their planning, grading, and assessing carries far into their personal time. Often, building service workers also carry weekend hours for school events. 

For that reason, itโ€™s important that everyone in the school building recognizes that each and every person is doing his or her best work. Every, single person deserves an equal amount of time and respect.

Advancement Courses teACh Team is all about building relationships this year!

Iโ€™ve mentioned that we are all about building relationships this year with the Advancement Courses, teACh Team! Many of you know that for the last few years, I have been working closely with Advancement Courses and some of the country’s most influential educators to share topics that matter most to teachers. We’re excited to announce that the partnership is continuing and is growing stronger than ever!

Join us this Thursday, February 27, 2020, at 8 p.m. EST as we talk all about building relationships in schools.

Click below for more information:


Check out a few more posts I’ve written about the importance of professional development:

Stay in touch with Advancement Courses: 

  • Advancement Courses on instagram: @AdvancementCourses
  • Advancement Courses on facebook: @AdvancementCourses
  • Advancement Courses on twitter: @AdvanceTeaching
  • Advancement Courses on pinterest: @AdvancementCour

Check out my other posts about Advancement Courses:

online pd for teachers | advancement courses | teachmama.com
woman at laptop taking an online professional development class

fyi: This post was written as part of a partnership with Advancement Courses, but as always, my opinions are all my own, influenced only by my experience as a parent and educator.


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About amy mascott

teacher, mother, dreamer. lover of literacy, fun learning, good food, and three crazy-cool kids. finder of four-leaf clovers | dc metro ยท http://about.me/amymascott
tweet with me: @teachmama

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Click the link in my bio to learn more and to grab a TON of free resources for families and educators. 

This yearโ€™s registration deadline is approaching, but you still have time! 

What better way to get students to engage in civics and contribute to their communities? 

https://teachmama.com/bring-the-national-civics-bee-to-your-community/

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Have you heard of The National Civics Bee? #ad 

The National Civics Bee is an initiative aimed at encouraging more young Americans to engage in civics and contribute to their communities. 

Organized in partnership with The Civic Trust of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the competition in your community will inspire middle schoolers to become better informed about American democracy, to engage respectfully and constructively in the community, and to build greater trust in others and institutions. 

Learn how to bring The National Civics Bee to YOUR community now: https://teachmama.com/bring-the-national-civics-bee-to-your-community/

Iโ€™m thrilled to have partnered with @mom_select and @civicsbuzz for this exciting campaign! โ™ฅ๏ธ๐Ÿค๐Ÿ’™

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Find it at your favorite bookstore or order here: https://amzn.to/3Pu3tWs

(This is my affiliate link, so when you use it, I will earn a small percentage of the sale, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for using my link and supporting my small business!)

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For the next few weeks leading up to my own start to the school year I am sharing a new series called โ€œDe-Mystifying Dyslexiaโ€ and I would love for you to join me! 

Follow in my stories or on the highlight above!

#dyslexia #teading  #readingteacher #raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia

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Quick! Thereโ€™s still time to see if your area is registered to participate in this yearโ€™s National Civics Bee! #ad

Click the link in my bio to learn more and to grab a TON of free resources for families and educators. 

This yearโ€™s registration deadline is approaching, but you still have time! 

What better way to get students to engage in civics and contribute to their communities? 

https://teachmama.com/bring-the-national-civics-bee-to-your-community/

#CivicsBuzz #strongcommunities #middleschool #civicsbee #teachersofIG
View
Open
Have you heard of The National Civics Bee? #ad 

The National Civics Bee is an initiative aimed at encouraging more young Americans to engage in civics and contribute to their communities. 

Organized in partnership with The Civic Trust of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the competition in your community will inspire middle schoolers to become better informed about American democracy, to engage respectfully and constructively in the community, and to build greater trust in others and institutions. 

Learn how to bring The National Civics Bee to YOUR community now: https://teachmama.com/bring-the-national-civics-bee-to-your-community/

Iโ€™m thrilled to have partnered with @mom_select and @civicsbuzz for this exciting campaign! โ™ฅ๏ธ๐Ÿค๐Ÿ’™

#CivicsBuzz #middleschoolers #teachersofIG #communitypartners
View
Open
Oh HEEEEEYYY, @luvvie โ€” did you see that @littletroublemaker made our hallway bulletin board? ๐Ÿ˜‰โ™ฅ๏ธ

(Itโ€™s what Rusty the ๐ŸฆŠ is currently reading.) 

Find it at your favorite bookstore or order here: https://amzn.to/3Pu3tWs

(This is my affiliate link, so when you use it, I will earn a small percentage of the sale, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for using my link and supporting my small business!)

#readingteacher #raiseareader #kidlit #bestbooks #linkinbio
View
Open
How can people with dyslexia learn to read? ๐Ÿค”

Here are the 3๏ธโƒฃ elements that reading instruction should contain in order to be most effective for students with dyslexiaโ€”

#demystifyingdyslexia #raiseareader #readingteacher #teachreading #dyslexiaawareness
View
Open
Lately when I find four leaf clovers, Iโ€™ve been leaving them. ๐Ÿ€๐Ÿคท๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ

So if youโ€™re in Maryland, and you happen upon a lonely, little 4-leafer with very little grass, weeds, or leaves around it, I donโ€™t know WHO tried to set you up for success.

#yougotthis #keepyoureyesopen #itsthelittlethings #kilpattyluck
View
Open
Okayโ€”how do we know if someone has dyslexia? 

Which professionas are able to make that important determination? 

โ–ถ๏ธ Watch to find out. 

Hit me with the questions you still have about dyslexiaโ€”and know we have a few more posts to go!

#demystifyingdyslexia #raiseareader #teachreading #readingteachersofig
View
Open
What are some of the common signs of dyslexia?

Watch to learn and find out!

#demystifyingdyslexia #readingteacher #raiseareader #teachreading #dyslexia
View
Open
True โœ… or false โŒ?

#demystifyingdyslexia #dyslexiaeducation #readingteacher #raiseareader #teachreading
View
Open
What do you know about dyslexia? 

What questions do you have about dyslexia? 

For the next few weeks leading up to my own start to the school year I am sharing a new series called โ€œDe-Mystifying Dyslexiaโ€ and I would love for you to join me! 

Follow in my stories or on the highlight above!

#dyslexia #teading  #readingteacher #raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia

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