Meredith Cox September Blog Post #2 Routman Chapter 2 Bond With Your Students

The statement "Unless we reach into our students’ hearts, we have no entry into their minds" really jumped out at me in this chapter. It is so true that we have to first develop a relationship with our students so that they feel safe, cared about, loved and valued in the classroom. The paragraph that talks about looking for ways for students to shine is so important to me as well. I feel students need to be encouraged and built up in the classroom in order for them to gain confidence in their learning abilities. In Chapter 2 it states that "success breeds more success; repeated failure leads to the feeling I can’t do this. Often students give up." This really hits home with me. My kids often tend to continue on the path of being successful after they have accomplished a task for the first time. I like the idea of the "I Can" book. Every child has their own strengths and weaknesses and it is up to us to build upon and recognize the child’s individual strengths.

We as teachers set the tone for our classrooms. I agree with the statement "you modeled respect by the way you treated each student and teacher." We are our student’s role models. It is our job to give our students the understanding and language of how to treat each other in our classroom. I like the idea in this chapter about encouraging shared decision making. I would like to involve my students in establishing classroom rules and processes and organization of the classroom. This shows our students that we value their input and have respect for their ideas and thinking.

We have a real advantage as four year old kindergarten teachers. Having the opportunity to go on home visits twice a year is such a great time to really get to know where our students are coming from. We can sympathize with our student’s home life situations because we have the opportunity to see it first-hand. Home visits give us the chance to sit down with our students and their families and build a relationship with them. For most of our students, 4K is their first time away from home. Being in a structured environment is very overwhelming for many students in the beginning. Home visits allow us a time to discuss any concerns our parents may have and bond with our students and their families.