My students have four major needs that I’ve realized: attention, stability, accountability, and understanding. If a perfect balance of this is met in each class, the whole ninety minutes can be smooth and enjoyable. If one of these is not addressed within the first five minutes of class, things can get ugly. Luckily, each class period is a reset button, and if I can strike the balance at the beginning of the next class, things go back to normal. Attention is the first thing that my students need. They need to know they’ve been noticed, that I know that they’re there and that I care that they’re there. My role is to immediately let each student know as quickly and efficiently as possible. The best way to do this is to stand at the door and address each student by name as they walk in the door. This way, they know I know who they are and expect them to do their part in my room. They know that I care enough about them and that I’ll be making sure they get what they need as well as that they do what they need to do. If I don’t give a student the attention that they need, two things will happen: either they will yell out my name after they complete any task so I will acknowledge it, or they will act out in order to get that attention. The second thing that my kids need is stability. The routines in my class are monumentally important. This does not necessarily mean that things need to be identical every day – that gets boring, and boring means the kids get restless. However, the simple routines, like bell work, student helper passing back graded sheets, and exit slips, give my kids that sense of stability that they may lack at home or that they may have but rely on for comfort. I need the stability too. It keeps me on a pace and in a good rhythm. If I ever don’t have a bell work (I’ve only made that mistake once) or something is out of whack (even something as simple as, I don’t know, IT’S RAINING), things get chaotic, and restoring order is either extremely difficult or impossible. The third thing that my kids need is accountability. They need to know that for sure I’m watching them, I’m counting on them to do their work, and I have high expectations for them. If any activity does not get graded or returned, they start to doubt their expectations and they start to doubt ME. I was bad about that. I never checked notes and several things didn’t get graded or returned in all the chaos. This semester I’ve put a system in place for notes to be graded and for student helpers to pass back graded work, and I’ve seen the kids’ efforts and grades improve. The last thing my students need is understanding. This need is vague and could mean a variety of things. They need to me understand them – what they like, what they hate, what scares them, and what they want to achieve. They also need me to understand that mistakes are made and they’re just kids. While I always hold them accountable, sometimes you really do just grab the wrong binder on the way out of the door. I’ve done it, you’ve done it – it happens. There’s nothing wrong with accepting a late assignment the next day with a small percentage reduced. They’re still accountable, but they know you understand them and you don’t hold a grudge against them for it. Their work still counts. You also have to try your very best to understand why they act they way they do. They could do something that really hurts your feelings, but they may be sad, mad, hungry – you never know. This is the biggest need my kids have, but it can often be the hardest one to give them. |