Five Ways to Support Emotional Connections Between Students and Teachers
By Douglas Reeves
August 30, 2020
In my live and virtual travels around the country, one consistent concern I am hearing is the difficulty of establishing and maintaining emotional connections between teachers and students. We can’t wait for schools to resume live instruction for this vital part of learning. Here are five ideas you can apply right now:
1). Old fashioned telephone calls. I’ve seen instances of students holding pictures of their teacher while they speak on the phone – one to one- with their teacher. It’s only a few minutes, but just five or six calls a day do wonders for the students and, most especially, their teachers. They all crave human connection that doesn’t happen in a group video call. This is an obligation that should fall not only on teachers, but every staff member – para-professionals, bus drivers, admins – anyone drawing a paycheck should be helping teachers make personal connections.
2). Sidewalk visits with safe distance – this requires some support, and perhaps some gas money, but while the weather is still good, it’s great for teachers to be outside and great for students and families to see and talk with their teachers, if only at a distance.
3). At-school in-person meetings. You didn’t say if your staff is working from school or from their home, but the advantage of being in school is that they are safe – the only person in the classroom, but they can also engage in PLCs with easy social distancing. Collaboration on units, common formative assessments, parent communication, etc. is essential, and there is nothing better than face to face, mask to mask, communication.
4). Focused assessments – I’m seeing teachers move away from traditional unit assessments and homework to highly focused checks for understanding done during the live video instruction – just two or three items, followed by 3-4 minutes of work, then random (equity stick) checks for understanding. 100% of students are engaged, and the teacher knows that the student – not their parents – is actually doing the work. This does require carving up traditional projects, assessments, and tests into very small increments, but I think that’s just good teaching and precisely what we need now.
5). Intensive checks for disengaged students – we need to acknowledge that many students simply checked out during the past six months, and some remain checked out no matter how many computers ware distributed. Before we assume that they are just disengaged, let’s take steps to find out why – again with personal calls. Perhaps they are bored, but perhaps they are caring for siblings while parents are at work in essential jobs. Perhaps they are sharing technology with other siblings. Perhaps – and I’ve already seen this – they are taking on manual labor or other jobs to help pay the rent. We can’t come up with more innovative solutions to engagement if we do not first learn why students are disengaged.
We are supporting schools in key areas of focus (the most important standards and the highest leverage practices), equity, and relationships. Please call me directly at 781.710.9633 and share with me your greatest challenges as this new school year starts. Thanks!