Building relationships with our students is essential. A strong connection facilitates trust, risk-taking, and often improved effort.
What do you know about your students? Would you like to know more?
Ask your students to write you a letter. It could be open-ended, of course, but by providing a few optional sentence starters you might elicit some interesting responses.
- My favourite thing in the world is…
- I am most proud of…
- I want you to know…
- I wish my parents knew…
- I am challenged by…
Remind your students that the letters are private between the two of you. Respect that privacy.
The letter might be a separate task, or it could be this week’s journal entry. Regardless, it is a powerful opportunity to learn about your students and set a strong foundation for a year of learning. And remember, Josh Shipp has said, “Every kid is one caring adult away from being a success story.” You just never know when you become that one caring adult.