• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts

The Educators Room logo

  • Start Here
    • Impact Statements: Teacher Expertise
    • Newsletter
  • Browse Topics
    • Content Strategies
      • Literacy
      • Mathematics
      • Social Studies
      • Educational Technology
      • ELL & ESOL
      • Fine Arts
      • Special Education
      • Popular Topics
        • Teacher Self-Care
        • Instructional Coach Files
        • Common Core
        • The Traveling Teacher
        • The Unemployed Teacher
        • The New Teacher Chronicles
        • Book Review
        • Grade Levels
          • Elementary (K-5)
          • Middle (6-8)
          • Adult
          • New Teacher Bootcamp
          • Hot Button Topics
            • Menu Item
              • Principals' Corner
              • Charter Schools
              • Confessions of a Teacher
              • Interviews
              • The State of Education
              • Stellar Educator of the Week
            • Menu
              • How to Fix Education
              • Featured
              • Ask a Teacher
              • Teacher Branding
              • Current Events
  • Podcasts
  • Courses
    • Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout- An 8 Week Course
    • Becoming An Educational Consultant
    • Teacher Branding 101:Teachers are The Experts
    • The Learning Academy
    • Books
    • Shirts
  • Education in Atlanta
  • Teacher Self-Care
  • The Coach's Academy
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts
×

August 18, 2021 Instruction & Curriculum

Want Happy Teachers and Students? Start with Relationship Building in the Classroom

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About Maria Ntumba

Maria Ntumba is a licensed French and English Language Learner teacher based in the state of Minnesota. Her passion is to teach students to be critical thinkers, leaders, and most importantly, lifelong learners. She believes that education is the key to open doors of opportunity for the learner.
  • The Sad Truth about the Teacher Salary - November 12, 2021
  • Three Tips on How to Create an Engaging Lesson Plan - November 10, 2021
  • Want Happy Teachers and Students? Start with Relationship Building in the Classroom - August 18, 2021
  • Words Can Stick With Students for a Lifetime: Part One - June 28, 2021
  • The Power of Words in the Classroom: Part Two - June 25, 2021
  • Teachers are the Real Superheroes - June 14, 2021
  • English in America: Is English Really our "Official" Language in Schools? - May 26, 2021
  • Elective Teachers Are Not Treated The Same...That Must Change - April 18, 2021

What is the key to success in the classroom? Relationship building. Creating positive teacher-student connections may be the most important thing you can do to build a solid foundation in your classroom. Let’s dive into why. 

Why Relationship Building in Classrooms is Essential 

According to Edutopia, building strong relationships might be the first and most important step to set up learning success in your classroom. Edutopia states that “strong relationships increase student motivation and reduce behavioral issues, and they improve student achievement and classroom climate. "

Work on Classroom Relationships Continuously 

Start Building Relationships on Day One

All teachers are familiar with the get to know you icebreakers commonly used at the start of the school year. They are fun and help create a classroom community, but we as teachers shouldn't stop there. Relationship building should be continuous.

I am no stranger to icebreakers, as I have started every school year by using them in some form. I always had the intention to use them for relationship building. One year I set up the games every day for three weeks straight.  By week two or three, I had burned myself out. These three weeks were packed with activities, so I had to get caught up with the curriculum fast. I got lost in the day-to-day routine of the class curriculum.

Eventually, I noticed that although the year started on a good note, as the year went on, the class community started to feel in disarray as I hadn’t gotten to know students as well as I would have liked. Spending only a couple of weeks going through the motions of the get- to- know you activities is never enough to foster connections with students.

Be Intentional in Your Interactions 

In my first year teaching, I intentionally built relationships with my students and really got to know them as individuals. First, I allowed more time to have fun in the classroom and gave students (and myself) more grace when mistakes were made. Second, I created more student-led learning opportunities. Not until I left the school did I learn the impact that my intentional relationship building had on my students.  

When I was finished with the school year and had left, several teachers reached out to me saying that my students missed me and kept asking for me even after my replacement had taken my place. They had missed me (and I missed them too) because we had formed real connections. So that year, I was intentional in getting to know my students, and I allowed them to know me.

 There are many ways to create positive relationships in the classroom; I would like to share my top four:

  1. Learn every student’s name as fast as you can. 

Calling a student by their name is a quick way to show them that you see them as individuals, not just another name on your roll call. Students also appreciate it if you call them by their nickname if they have one. Also, make sure to pronounce their name correctly. If you follow these tips regarding names, you will be on the first step to creating a relationship with them. You should also have students learn each other's names just as you are learning their names. Peers need to build relationships together as well. 

  1. Get to know your students. 

Knowing a student’s first and last name does not mean you have formed a relationship with them. Please get to know your students beyond their names. Ask their parents, previous teachers, and the students themselves questions to get to know them. Find out what their interests are, their strengths, and their weaknesses. Please pay attention to how students interact with you and with their peers. You can learn a lot about someone just through observation. Attend school events and participate in your school community. Share things about you and your life with your students. 

  1. Teach active listening skills in the classroom. 

Active listening is the highest level of thinking. Active listening is listening without judgment or interruption, intending to understand what the speaker is saying. A fast way to build trust would be to teach and practice active listening skills in your classroom. When students feel heard and understood, they are more likely to trust their peers, you (their teacher), and healthy relationships will form naturally. 

  1. Give students a voice in the classroom setup. 

Students appreciate partnering with you to set up their classroom environment. Allow students to have a voice in the classroom with how the environment is set up as the teacher decides how much of a say students have. For example, you could make it as simple as asking students to share what posters they would like on the walls or as involved as having students brainstorm what they feel the classroom expectations should be. As the teacher, you can empower students by giving them a say in the classroom environment.

In summary, four helpful ways to build relationships in the classroom are: 

  1. Learn names. You as the teacher should know every student’s name and students should know each other's name. 
  2. Get to know your students beyond their name.
  3. Practice and teach active listening.
  4. Give students a voice in the classroom setup. 

If you start using these 4 relationship-building strategies in your classroom, you will see success!  

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Related posts:

Differentiation Isn't Dead Teacher Resignation Accepted Educational Consultants..The Case for More Teachers Adventures in Real World English/Language Arts: The Planning Stages
« Visualize: How Seeing What's Coming Changed My Teaching
A Year Later After I Resigned From Teaching in a Pandemic »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

The Educator's Room was launched in 2012 to amplify the voice of educators. To date, we have over 45+ writers from around the world and boast over twelve million page views. Through articles, events, and social media we will advocate for honest dialogue with teachers about how to improve public education. This mission is especially important when reporting on education in our community; therefore, we commit our readers to integrity, accuracy, and independence in education reporting. To join our mailing list, click here.

What we do

At The Educator's Room, we focus on amplifying and honoring the voice of educators as experts in education. To date, we have over 40 staff writers/teachers from around the world.

Popular Posts

  • "Let's Make This Happen": Following Student Interests to Interest-Based Mentorships
  • Want to Keep Special Education Teachers? Try Mentorship
  • An Idaho teen who won his school board election has a message for educators
  • Moving Beyond Diversity to Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging: Lessons from a Sunday Sermon

Featured On

Buy Our Books/Courses

How to Leave Your Job in Education

Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout

Using Your Teacher Expertise to Become an Educational Consultant

Check out our books on teaching and learning!

The Learning Academy

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Accessibility Policy

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact
  • Services
  • Media Kit
  • FAQ

 

Copyright © 2021 The Educator's Room.