5 Simple Ways to Connect with Students Every Day
I’ve been teaching for much longer than I’m willing to admit and I’m still amazed at how quickly the days fly by. It seems like my littles always find ways to keep things interesting, so the days are over before I know it! That’s exactly why I try to be mindful of how I use those precious moments. This isn’t something I do on a whim. Instead, I make a plan for how to make every minute count.
Yes, I mean academically of course. But it’s also important to steal away a few minutes to also find ways to connect with students throughout the day. I’ve found that as I’ve become more consistent with this, my classroom management concerns have almost disappeared! I think this is because when kids feel like an adult actually sees them and cares about them, it makes them happier. In return, they want to make the adult feel the same.
Each year, my second grade classes typically have around 26-28 kids. There’s really no easy way to manage keeping track of who I’ve connected with and who I haven’t. So instead, I came up with daily routines that ENSURE I’m connecting with every single students at least once a day.
In this post, I’ll share my classroom routines and procedures for connecting with students.
5 Simple Ways to Connect with Students Every Day:
- Greet your students at the door
- Create opportunities for classroom sharing
- Make a space for students to share privately
- Get on your students’ level
- Acknowledge student achievements
Greet Your Students at the Door
When you go to visit at a friends house, they typically meet you at the door to greet you. You would never just walk into the house and join in on whatever routine they have going on. If they choose not to meet you at the door, you would probably feel unwelcome.
This is exactly why it’s important that we meet our students at the door with a smile and greeting every single morning. We want them to know that they’re valued and that we are glad they came to school that day.
I know this is tough because there’s always so much to prepare in the morning. Our school has quite a few morning staff meetings that can leave me zipping around my classroom trying to prepare everything before the kids arrive. I changed my routine up a bit to compensate for the time it takes to greet my students.
Now, I give myself extra time by having them begin their reading-to-self minutes for the day after they finish their morning activity. This give me an extra padding of time to make sure everything is prepared. Plus, it sets the stage of a calm, quiet classroom for the day. Win/Win!
One ideas that I think it so cute is creating a more personalized connection by allowing them to choose how they want to greet you. I love these charts you can hang by the door that allow the students to point to how they would like to greet you that day.
Whether it’s a high five, a fist bump or a hug… We want students to know they are welcome and valued in our classroom. You can grab this poster in our TPT store HERE! (Members: You already have access in the classroom management library.)
Create Opportunities for Classroom Sharing
The best way to form a connection with another person is to get to know them – their interests, their experiences, their family and their dislikes. You can do this with each and every one of your students by creating an opportunity for sharing in your classroom every day.
I think the easiest way to incorporate this is by starting each day with a “Morning Meeting”. This is a time for each student to be greeted by the other students (and you again) and to share one thing. Sometimes it’s an open share and sometimes it’s a targeted question.
Ideas for Morning Meeting Shares:
- What did you do last weekend? over break? etc
- How do you celebrate ….?
- What’s your favorite ….?
- Would you rather … or …?
- Give one word that describes how you feel about …?
- If you could … what would you choose/do?
- On a scale of 1-10, rank …
Make a Space for Students to Share Privately
It’s always great to get to know your students as a class, but sometimes students would like to share things with you that are a little more personal. Or there’s also always the students who love sharing with you so much that there just isn’t enough time in the day to tell you everything. 🙂
In this case, it’s important that you give them the opportunity to share in a more private way. My favorite way to do this is to incorporate a special teachers’ mailbox. This one is not for the morning mail like notes for the office or lunch money. Instead, it’s for students to write personal notes directly to you.
Some examples of things students might share are things they’re worried about, something really cool that happened to them (like winning a soccer game) or even ask questions/concerns about things that will be doing in class.
Get on Your Students’ Level
Being an elementary teacher almost definitely means you’ll have to deal with a sore back from all of the looking down. We looked down as we are taking notes while we listen to students reading, when we grade papers and as we look down at desks while we walk around the classroom. Having pains in your neck is evitable.
There is a definite time that you should not be looking down. When you’re talking with a child, one on one, you should always do your best to get down to their level. This could be squatting down so that you’re looking them eye to eye or pulling up a nearby chair to sit side-by-side.
I’m telling you right now, this one is a game changer! If you don’t believe me, do this little experiment. Try interacting with your family from a low squatted position. The first thing you’ll notice is that other peoples faces look less pleasant from below. It’s really hard to read their facial expressions unless you’re at their level. Plus, it’s intimidating to be looked down on like that.
This is exactly how your students feel when you stand over them as you interact. In order to form a connection, you want them to feel SEEN NOT SCARED!
Acknowledge Student Achievements
Elementary students often need help with motivation. They haven’t matured yet, and haven’t quite formed skills in self motivation.
You can form a connection with students by validating their achievements, whether big or small. When a student feels seen by his or her teacher, it’s such a great positive reinforcer! You’d be surprised how much the smallest acknowledgement can mean to a student!
Quick Positive Reinforcement Ideas for Your Classroom:
- notes home
- smiles
- student certificates
- punch cards
- emails home
- stickers
- words of praise
- gestures such as thumbs up or head nods
Hopefully you can implement at least one of these ideas to connect with your students every day! If you try something, send me an email at nikki@graceovergrades.com and let me know how it went!
Did you know the Grace Over Grades Membership includes an entire year’s worth of classroom management lessons and behavior interventions for just $12.99?
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