Teacher/Student Relationships & Classroom Community

This week in class we talked about teacher/student relationships & Classroom Community. One thing that really stood out to me was that by having a good student/teacher relationship it could even go as far as saving a students life. It just made me aware of how much impact I may have on a life and not even know it. Here are some links that my teacher shared to go along with this week topic.

36 Interesting Ways to Get to Know your New Class
This is a very beneficial presentation. It gives 36 different activities that you can do in your classroom to get to know your students.

What is your technique for Memorizing Names
This one talked about this guys technique for memorizing students names and then through out the question what is your technique. It's been quite interesting reading all of the comments. One of my favorite ideas from the comments was the telephone game. I think it would be cool to have everyone in a circle and all students have to try to list off all students name.

Red Light Green Light Behaviors
I have a feeling I will be reading this document A LOT! One of my biggest concerns is ensuring I do not cross the link on interacting with my students. This is a great reference by Utah State Office of Education.

Tee up the New School Year with Tips from Connected Educators
The place is a really cool idea. I really liked that the teacher had the students set up the format of the classroom which encourages collaboration and getting to know each other.
In the purpose section I liked the advice: "Listen more, talk less." I do have this tendency to keep talking and interrupting. I need to shut-up and listen more.

Lighter Classroom Atmosphere, Tighter Classroom Management
I really like the idea of using a train whistle to get students attention during group activities. I'm still learning about procedures but maybe there is a way I can mix this up with another procedure.


In one of my other classes I really liked the "get to know you" stuff she did. What she did on the first day is bring in 5 random objects around her house. After introductions and syllabus/class talk she moved to this. We each had to look at the objects and then write down our "analyze" of her and how we thought each of the items described her. The next class period every student was suppose to bring in 5 items from their house and in groups we each analyzed that person. Then we got up and introduced that person to the whole class. It was a great way to interact with each other and learn personal/random things about the students.

Last semester I observed this one classroom where the teacher got up at the beginning of the class and ask students to name off three positive things for that day. It could be personal or school related. Some students mentioned that it was Friday, another mentioned that they have a dance that night, etc. Afterwards I talked to her about this procedure. She told me that she noticed on days she didn't do this the class was just off and very negative. She said starting the class off on a good note put the students into a better mood to learn and be engaging.