Building Relationships With Students

Building long-lasting bonds with my students through our mutual respect requires giving them consistent expectations and boundaries, so they know what the outcomes will be for each of their actions.  I work hard to help students understand our well defined roles as teacher and learner. I use language like: This is my job as your teacher, and this is your job as a student.  I reinforce our roles constantly and consistently through rewarding wanted actions and creating natural consequences for unwanted actions. My goal is to construct mutual respect, which leads to interdependence. This interdependence has proven to build trust.

Image Credit: www.childrensministryleader.com

Building a strong and life lasting relationship between teacher and student is as simple as creating trust, providing you take the steps to grow the trust.  Primarily, through trust, mutual respect is developed, fostering an interdependent relationship.  That relationship allows students to trust you, not only as a professional, but also as a real person who shows love and safety.  As a result of building this relationship, students will continue to return to you for guidance, leadership, and nurturing.  

Finally, students in my class have visual and oral signals as we end our day reminding them of my deep concern for their well-being.  As they fill out their planner, the last thing they see on my board is, “Love you”, “Love ya”, or “Heart you” followed by my cell phone number.  Our day concludes as my students walk out the door with me saying,  “Call me if you need me.”  My students know that they can call me for homework questions or how to survive the night when things aren’t going well at home.  Sometimes they remember that statement later in life, even in their 20s and 30s, and they call to let me know they are graduating from physical therapy school, or that they are in active duty with the military and just need to touch base, or they are getting married, or they had their first baby. Not only am I connecting with these students to ensure their happiness and well-being (after all, we all want to be loved and needed), but I love having an impact on their future and making a difference in their life. Creating these relationships fulfills me as both personally and professionally, and I feel a sense of accomplishment in helping students to develop motivation to succeed in everything they do. Developing relationships in the classroom is critical to community and bonds that ensures learning for all.

Bill Buyarski

5th Grade Teacher