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Identify one or two practices you could implement to further nurture your students.
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This coming school year I would like to help students nurture each other more by making a station full of materials for writing encouraging notes to others that they can then put into their classmates’ mail slots. I also want to make it a practice for all students to stick up for those they see being bullied in any way by role-playing situations, especially at the beginning of the year, so that students get the message that this is wrong and that we look out for one another in this course. Though I had already made it a habit to greet each student by name and to leave the final few minutes of the day for wrap up reminders and positive shout outs, I did not always do that perfectly or even very well. I want to work on that more this next year.
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I teach high school and one of the things that I have found is that students like teachers to be present in their extracurricular activities (games). Although I do attend some games, I would like them to feel more encouraged by seeing me there more often.
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I could further nurture my students by asking them what their interests are and attending sports events. I already attend all the concerts, but so far have only attended the sport events my own children are in.
Praying before the start of each course is another way I can nurture my students. -
I can take time at the beginning of courses to ask students about their day. I also like to do occasional “heart checks” with my course to see how they’re doing overall.
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I once read about a teacher who often asked students to complete ballots asking who they would most like to partner with. This allowed the teacher to know who was being left out of friend groups and then she could be diligent to have that student included and/or not left out when making partnerships and groups within the course. I would like to try that sometime. I also would like to try to feel I can put my work aside and give full attention to the students who wander into my course during my work time or before and after school. These students are coming in to see me for a reason and I would like to feel that I can give them my time and love.