The Master Teacher Blog

We dedicate significant time and energy to preparation for the start of a new school year. Our attention is focused on arranging materials and equipment, learning everything we can about our students, setting the stage for the first several days, and hoping that all will go well. Predictably, not everything goes as planned. There are pleasant surprises, some unexpected challenges, and other “wrinkles” in our plans and expectations with which we need to deal.

As we move beyond the initial phase of structuring, expectation setting, and getting to know our students, our attention shifts to how well our early efforts are taking hold and our students are responding, and whether we are on track for sustainable success. Of course, we probably have a sense for how things are going, but it can also be helpful to have some signs and signals to monitor and assess our progress. Here are seven indicators we can consider.

Students greet us easily and positively as they enter the classroom. Eye contact, smiles, and verbal greetings are signs that students are comfortable with us, and positive relationships are forming. Of course, we need to be positioned to have them comfortably encounter us by standing at the door, greeting students by name, or otherwise positioning ourselves to welcome students.

Students are following established routines and transitions are smooth. It is a good sign if we are spending less time managing behavior and more time is available for instruction, discussion, reflection, and practice. Of course, behavior management will always be necessary. It is the gradual shift in balance that is important to monitor.

Students remind each other of classroom rules, expectations, and routines. Once students understand and are confident in what is expected of them and their behavior, they can be quick to notice when other students ignore or do not follow established norms. This behavior can be a sign that students are no longer relying entirely on us to enforce expectations and classroom culture is forming.

Students are active participants in class discussions and activities. As students become more comfortable and confident, they are more likely to ask questions and seek help when necessary. We can also monitor the levels of enthusiasm and engagement students show during activities.

Students are connecting with classmates. Obviously, some students will have existing friendships and students may be making new friends. Our attention needs to extend to whether we see obvious cliques forming, conflicts emerging, or efforts to exclude classmates.

Students generally submit assignments and complete tasks on time. Our monitoring might focus on whether students are giving adequate attention to detail and are striving to produce quality work. When students are demonstrating good work habits, time management, and organizational skills, the stage is set for a successful year.

Students seem willing to take learning risks, tolerate mistakes, and accept feedback. As the cadence of the school year settles in, we can begin to observe how students see themselves as learners. Confident learners are more likely to accept risks and mistakes as part of the learning process, while uncertain and reluctant learners are more likely to avoid risks and see mistakes as evidence of their lack of ability. How well students accept and use feedback can be a key indicator of how well students see themselves and are likely to grow as learners. 

A good start to the school year makes the remainder of the term or year better. Continuing to build and sustain momentum is much easier than trying to establish connections, create focus, and build culture once negative patterns are set.

A final thought: If you are part of a co-teaching or other type of instructional team, it is important to set consistent expectations and provide consistent responses when students need reminding and redirection. If adults are not on the same page, students will quickly notice, and some may choose to exploit the situation to our detriment.

We want students to be recognized and reinforced when they do a good job. We want them to feel good about what they have accomplished. We also want them to be motivated to replicate their success with future challenges and in other circumstances. Achieving this goal requires more than general praise and positive words. 

Students need to feel they own their successes. They must see their accomplishments as more than luck or good fortune. The more students understand how their actions led to their success, the better able they will be able to apply effective strategies and the more confidence they likely will have when approaching new challenges.

Consequently, the words and approaches we select must convey a multi-level message beyond, “Good job.” What we choose to say needs to reveal key elements that are within the student’s control and offer enough clarity and specificity for them to reflect, learn, and act on what they hear.

Here are eight ways we can send the message that what the student did was good, how they can own their behavior, and how they can use what they have done to do even better in the future:

• Choose a context that is comfortable for the student. Some students thrive when their efforts and accomplishments are shared in front of an audience. Other students will feel embarrassed to have others witness our feedback and prefer to receive praise privately. Tailoring our approach to the student can make a significant difference in how they will respond and use what we offer.
• Focus on the student, not your feelings. After the student talks about what they did, how they feel, and what it means, we can follow-up with expressions of pride and delight. However, the focus needs to be on the student, not on how it makes us feel.
• Highlight what the student did, not their ability or talent. Effort, persistence, flexibility, creativity, and other behaviors are within the control of the student. They can be replicated and built on. Talent, ability, and giftedness may be nice to have, but students are likely to see them as inherent qualities over which they have little control and may not be present when facing the next task or challenge.
• Be specific. Point out the behavior or behaviors that led to the achievement. Highlighting strategies, persistence, and good use of resources helps students to know what they can do next time to achieve similar results.
• Be timely. Praise and other forms of feedback that make a difference need to be shared as soon after a student engages in a behavior, completes a task, overcomes a challenge, or achieves success. The longer we wait to share our observations, the less students will recall about what they did and the less likely our message will lead to repetition of the behavior.
• Point out evidence of progress. Noting signs of emerging skills, improving habits, and better processes can give students information on areas they can reflect on and focus. Seeing evidence of progress also can be a powerful motivator to keep going.
• Link effort to outcome. Students do not always see how what they did led to the outcome they achieved. Our pointing out key connections and providing examples from their work can help students to see that they were responsible for what they achieved. The connection between effort and outcome can be a powerful motivator for future behavior.
• Connect performance to purpose. The connection might be to an established goal, benefit to the student or others, or the classroom environment. Understanding that their work matters and makes a difference can give students strong encouragement to do more.

Praise and other forms of positive feedback can be powerful motivators. However, students need to see how their behavior led to their improvement or success. They need to feel ownership for the outcomes they achieve. And they need to hear it from us.

We might think that changing the level of our satisfaction and success at work will require major shifts in our environment and our relationship to our role. While in some cases big changes might be necessary, there are many small things we can do that take minimal time and effort, and they can yield outsized positive results.

We might think of these activities as micro habits. Micro habits are small changes that, when practiced consistently, can lead to significant changes in how we feel and even increase our productivity. Micro habits can become part of our daily routines, so they are easy to sustain.

The right micro habits can help lower our stress, improve our cognitive processing, and lead us to feel more optimistic, satisfied, and efficient. Consider these six micro habits as places to start.

Thank or encourage at least one colleague each day. Not only will our gratitude and support brighten someone else’s day, we will feel better about ourselves. As a bonus, when we work with people who are having a good day, our own day brightens, and we feel better. Not unlike planting a garden, the seeds of care and encouragement we spread can grow into an array of good feelings, optimism and mutual support.

Praise or encourage at least one student each day. We may think that we offer support and encouragement to students, but without intention, we can form habits that focus our attention elsewhere. It can be easier to notice what students do wrong and how their behavior frustrates and distracts us. Yet, when we commit to noticing and commenting on what students are doing right, when they are working hard, and when they are persisting in the face of challenges, students feel better, their behavior improves, and they work harder. Consequently, we feel better and more successful.

Practice one-minute breaks. Admittedly, the lives of educators do not feature much time for extended breaks and relaxation. However, taking a minute to close our eyes, take a few deep breaths, and clear our minds can pay big dividends in energy, focus, and creativity. A moment of intentional break between classes or before entering the next meeting also can make a significant difference in our stress level and productivity.

Take two breaths and pause in tense situations. When we feel anxious, nervous, stressed, or angry we can react before we have time to think and decide the best thing to do or say. Consequently, we can find ourselves having to apologize, backtrack, or live with some unfortunate consequences. Simply taking a couple of breaths and pausing for a second or two can give us time to take in the situation and make a better decision about what to do next.  

Note and capture at least one win per day. Reflecting on our achievements keeps us focused on what went well, the progress we made, and what to be grateful for. Over time our list will grow, and we will be reminded of the goals we’ve achieved and the difference we make. Also, when we have a bad day or week, we can return to the list to reassure ourselves and bolster our confidence.

Implement an end-of-day routine. By taking a few minutes to put things away, review plans for tomorrow, and mentally close out the day, we can create a transition from work to personal time. The drive home can be an opportunity to think about the evening and leave work behind. Practiced regularly, shutdown routines can lower stress and improve satisfaction with our work-life balance.

While these micro habits can be helpful to our mental and emotional health, this is not an exhaustive list. What other habits have you discovered and practice that help you to feel and do better? Be sure to share them with a colleague.

What if, by investing a few minutes each day, you could significantly reduce disruptive behavior, increase student engagement, and reclaim up to an hour of instruction time? What if, by investing a few minutes each day, you could dramatically lengthen and strengthen the impact of the feedback and praise you give to students, and build exceptionally strong connections with them to best support their learning? Seems impossible, right? Maybe not.

The truth is that we can gain all these benefits and more by regularly engaging in five simple practices. These practices do not require an exceptional amount of time, but they can generate exceptional benefits. Let’s explore these student-focused behaviors and why they can be so powerful. 

Positive, personal greetings. Meeting students at the door, greeting them by name, and giving fist bumps or similar gestures may not seem like much. However, studies show that warm greetings and brief check-ins can have a significant impact on how the day will go. One study found that these simple acts can increase student engagement by as much as 20% and reduce disruptive behavior by 9%. The difference can add up to as much as a full hour of additional instruction time per day!

Positive, specific feedback, compliments, and praise. Noticing and talking with students about their excellent attitude, improved effort, and other positive behaviors lets them know that they are seen, valued, and belong. We can make our messages even more powerful and memorable if we extend our message for as little as 20 seconds. By telling students what we noticed, why it is important, and the difference it made, we dramatically increase the impact and memorability of what we say.

Personal connections. There is amazing power in sharing what we are passionate about, people we admire, challenges we’ve faced, embarrassing moments, and other personal information that helps students understand and connect with who we are. Having students see us as regular people who share some of their life experiences and have overcome what life has presented can be a powerful connector. Of course, we need to avoid oversharing or being too personal or intimate but having students feel as though the know us beyond our professional role opens the door to stronger relationships and can build greater credibility. Sharing a few facts, stories, or interests every week can go a long way in building the connections we need to influence the students we teach. 

Individual conversations. Brief one-one-one conversations with students about how they are doing inside and outside of school also can open communication and build connections. The information we gain can help us to better understand, support, and motivate students. Meanwhile, students will appreciate the attention and interest we show. Setting aside time for conversations with a few students each week and rotating among students can make the conversations manageable while generating rich information that can help us to relate to and teach students.  

Invite input and listen to students. Students feel our trust and respect when we take the time to ask their opinions, seek their ideas, and listen to their perspectives. We might ask for their suggestions regarding class routines and rules. We can occasionally pause and seek input regarding what is and isn’t working for students. Depending on the age and maturity of our students, we might inquire about their preferences for how to approach a learning task. We may not always be able to accommodate and implement what students suggest, but when we listen, consider, and explain why we can or cannot use their input we demonstrate our respect for them and their perspectives.

Obviously, time is a precious resource. We want to use every minute to our advantage. The good news about these five practices is that by investing a few minutes every day and week, we can recapture time and accrue benefits that far outweigh the effort they require.

One of the most important and challenging beginning-of-the-year tasks is forming strong, positive, influential relationships with students. Building relationships with some students comes easily. We may have past experiences with them, they may be confident and ready to form a relationship with us, or they may share characteristics and behave in ways that draw us to them.

However, our challenge is to form influential relationships with all students. Not every student is immediately open to forming a relationship. Some students may lack the confidence or skills to respond to or reach out to us. Other students may have a history that makes relationship building difficult.

Consequently, we need a strategy that is broad and encompassing enough to invite, interest, and accept students, despite their backgrounds, experiences, and skills. Here are seven relationship-building “hooks” we can employ to communicate our care, demonstrate our respect, and create new connections.

First, lead with your heart. Students want to know we care. Caring counts for all students, but for students who struggle, have or are experiencing trauma, lack confidence, or are not certain they belong, our caring can make a crucial difference in how they feel and learn. Our empathy and compassion reassure and invite connections with students.

Second, demonstrate and expect honesty. If we want students to trust us, we need to articulate and model its importance. Our willingness to prioritize fairness, consistency, and transparency can assure students of our trustworthiness. Further, when we assume the honesty of students, we communicate our trust in them. Obviously, trust is at the heart of strong relationships.    

Third, consistently communicate and encourage hope. Students want to feel our belief in them and their success. We can treat their mistakes and setbacks as nothing more that temporary conditions and opportunities to learn and try again. Of course, our hope and confidence are most important when students do not feel the same way about themselves.   

Fourth, show your humanity. Sometimes students are surprised that teachers are real people who have lives outside of school. By sharing appropriate information about ourselves and our families, we invite students to understand and relate to us. Knowing our interests, our passions, and even our dislikes can be interesting and appealing to students. When we use personal experiences and examples to explain a concept or reinforce a point, we also make it more meaningful and memorable.  

Fifth, demonstrate humility. We are not­­­­­—nor should we pretend to be—perfect. Students often assume that teachers “know everything.” Consequently, our openness and willingness to admit our mistakes and learn from them can be surprising and reassuring. Our humility also makes us human and can facilitate relationship building.

Sixth, enjoy and share humor. Humor is a strong connection builder. Humor can break tension, relieve stress, and make us accessible to students. Delighting in the unexpected, appreciating irony, and even telling a weak “dad joke” can help students see us as safe for relationship building. However, we need to be careful to avoid humor that is disrespectful or at the expense of another person.

Seventh, look for ways to honor students. When we notice and value the experiences and cultures of our students, we send a message of respect. Recognizing and reinforcing positive behavior not only reduces incidents of negative behavior, but it also reassures students that we are paying attention and appreciate their cooperation. Finding frequent, small ways to honor effort, progress, and achievements communicates our expectations and support. Students are drawn to people who notice, value, and respect them.

Relationship building is important, but it is not always easy. We need good strategies and patience. These seven “hooks” can support a good start. What else have you found to be effective relationship building actions? Consider sharing your go-to secrets with your colleagues.   

In the coming weeks we will be meeting new groups of students. They will be making assumptions about us that will influence their behavior. We, too, may make assumptions about the students we meet that will influence how we perceive and engage with them.

While impressions and assumptions can create short-cuts for our thinking and decisions, they also can undermine our efforts to engineer a good start to the year and derail our attempts to form productive relationships with students. While quick judgments can feel efficient, they can mislead us in ways that threaten our effectiveness and make the success we seek more difficult to achieve. Consider these five potential missteps that can make our work more challenging and our students less successful.

Misstep #1: Assuming students have the skills and background knowledge presumed by the curriculum. It may be that the students we face in the fall did not complete last year’s curriculum or develop the skills necessary to succeed with this year’s curriculum. Or, they may have lost some of last year’s learning over the summer and need review and reteaching. We gain little by plowing ahead as though students are ready for learning challenges based on faulty assumptions. By setting aside time in the first weeks for some low-stakes assessments and diagnostics, we can gauge background knowledge and skill readiness. Time spent now preparing students for the learning that lies ahead can generate lasting benefits as the year unfolds.

Misstep #2: Presuming language skills reflect intelligence. The poor grammar we hear may reflect an absence of exposure and support. A student’s dialect may be more reflective of how family and friends speak than the capability of the student. Accents are more reflective of culture and language acquisition than learning potential. Meanwhile, students who seem well spoken may struggle with some content and skills and need more time and support to find success. Our challenge is to look past how students speak and commit to helping them learn and succeed regardless of their background and current language skills.

Misstep #3: Overinterpreting the absence of active engagement. The absence of student contributions, questions, or other interactions can be the result of many factors. Culture, natural shyness, and fear of mistakes can influence the choices students make about visible learning engagement. Some students need to feel comfortable and safe with us before they choose to engage. Other students may need more time to think and may seek ways to avoid the risk of public exposure. Still other students may need to see more purpose and relevance in what they are asked to learn before they are willing to invest. Taking time to get to know students and explore the causes of their behavior can help us to understand and respond in supportive and effective ways.

Misstep #4: Confusing students with their behavior. It is important to distinguish between our perceptions of students and their behavior. Character and behavior are not the same. A student who misbehaves or is not meeting expectations is not a bad person. Rather, their behavior may not be serving them well. We can accept and support the student while rejecting their behavior. We also need to keep in mind that our assumptions, expectations, and support can have a powerful influence on how students behave and whether they achieve.

Misstep #5: Allowing the behavior of siblings or past reputations to influence our expectations. Many of us have had the unfortunate experience of being confused with or assumed to be the same as our siblings. It may be that older brothers or sisters were exceptionally strong students, or they may have not established a behavior record worthy of emulation. Regardless, such expectations are unfair and can lead to unrealistic or undeserved expectations. Similarly, students who have struggled in the past with other teachers may not necessarily struggle with us. They may find success if given an opportunity for a new start. Meanwhile, students who have excelled in the past may find learning in our classroom more of a challenge. We can avoid this danger by offering students a “clean slate” and building a relationship with them based on shared experiences.  

Without question, the first weeks of school will be filled with new experiences, new students, and new challenges. These are aspects of teaching that make it an exciting, self-renewing career. However, we need to guard against making assumptions that do not serve us and our students well, and that can derail our efforts to successfully launch the new year.

As human beings, we often internalize how we are treated, and our students are no exception. While the intensity with which students seek evidence and reassurance of our relationship with them may vary, all students want to know that they matter to us, that we are attentive to their needs, and that we want them to succeed. Even students who may seem to resist our influence and reject our guidance want to be connected and included. These students may be carrying negative past experiences that make it more difficult to make connections and gain trust with adults in their life. It is crucial to not give up on making these connections and continue attempting to forge a relationship with these students, even when it doesn’t seem possible.

It is also true that much of what we communicate to students about our feelings toward and perceptions of them are not scripted and often are not even consciously demonstrated. Yet, students watch, feel, analyze, and interpret our words and actions to discern where they can find reassurance, protection, and connectedness. Let’s examine eight ways that we communicate to students what they mean to us, what we think about them, and what our actions and intentions say to them:

• Noticing. A greeting at the school or classroom door, an authentic and personal smile, or fist bump can send an unmistakable message that students are noticed and they count. These seemingly small gestures can have an outsized impact on how students feel about us and about themselves.
• Respect. Regularly calling students by name, listening to what they have to say, sharing their victories and empathizing with their struggles tell students that they are worthy and have our respect. When students feel respected, they are more likely to show respect in return. 
• Safety. When we establish and consistently enforce reasonable rules, refuse to tolerate hurtful teasing and harassment, and otherwise attend to students’ physical and emotional safety, we free students to be themselves. We make it safe to participate and take learning risks. When we create an environment that students feel is safe, we set the stage for everything else we want to accomplish.
• Caring. While noticing is important, caring goes the next step to inquire, listen, and act.  A question or comment when students may not be feeling well or are having a bad day, offering to do something to help, and even stepping up to advocate for a student who needs adult support can create a significant, lifelong impression on a student who feels lost and helpless.
• Belonging. When we build a classroom community, encourage respect and inclusion, and step in when students are shunned and ignored. It is important to assure students that they are welcomed and belong. Students who may lack social skills, come from backgrounds from other students, and otherwise may struggle to fit in can be especially aware to whether they have a place and feel connected to the class. These students often appreciate our attention and actions more than we know.
• Confidence. “I know you can do it”, “I have seen you find your way through difficult challenges before”, and “I believe in you” are all powerful statements when students hear them from us. Feeling our confidence can make the difference between giving up and persisting in the face of difficult learning or life challenge for students. Students do not always believe in themselves. Our confidence may be exactly what they need to feel to find their way through.
• Positive presumptions. Assuming that students are well-intended, trying to do the right thing, or simply made a poor choice when they made a mistake or behave inappropriately can send a powerful message about what we think of them and the behavior we expect from them. Giving students “the benefit of the doubt” reassures students that we view them as more likely to act positively than engage in mischief. Assuming that students are trying to meet our expectations encourages positive behavior. Assuming that students are purposely misbehaving risks encouraging them to validate our negative assumptions.
• Forgiveness. When we give students a fresh start after a bad day and avoid rehashing yesterday’s conflict or reminding students of past disappointments, we signal to students that we are focused on what today will bring. They do not have to fear retribution or uncomfortable reminders from the past. We free students to face forward and do their best without being hampered by guilt and regret.

Taken together, these eight connecting and confidence building behaviors can have a powerful impact on how our students feel and behave. However, this is not necessarily an all-inclusive list. What behaviors would you add to reassure and connect with students?

Now can be a good time to pause and reflect on the current state and preferred direction of our lives and work. With distance from day-to-day professional pressures, problems, and other stressors, we can gain some perspective and consider the larger picture within which we live each day.

Of course, it can be helpful to have some structure to engage in this sort of reflection. Having a sense of where to look and what to consider can help us to be more efficient and gain greater clarity. Whether you are personally looking for self-reflection activities, an administrator looking to engage your teachers in professional development sessions, or a teacher looking for opportunities to have your students work on self-reflection, here are five reflection activities that can be good places to start.

Our Personal Mount Rushmore

A useful initial activity can be to reflect on who would have a place on our personal Mount Rushmore. Like the actual Mount Rushmore, we might identify the people who have helped us to become who we are. Selecting just four or so people might be a challenge, but the idea is to limit inclusion to those who have had an outsized influence. We might also consider what it is about these people that make them worthy of such a place of honor and influence.

Our Personal Board of Directors 

Another activity is to reflect on who is or should be on our personal “Board of Directors.” In this activity, we might identify people in our lives who have the greatest influence on our decisions, provide support, and give us guidance. This activity can help us to be more aware of who is having an impact on our lives in real time. Of course, our reflection might also reveal that we need more people on our board of directors and/or that there may be people on our board of directors who may not be giving us good advice or providing support and who should be removed and replaced.

Our “True North”

This reflection is to identify who in our lives helps us to find our way through uncertain times. They may be the person or persons to whom we turn when we face a moral dilemma. They may be a source of wisdom on which we depend. Or they may provide the emotional support we need to think clearly and decide where to focus. They may not be the person who tells what to do as much as help us to figure out what is best.

Our Life Movie Cast

In this reflection, we imagine that we were making a movie of our lives and need to “cast” it with people who have played various roles in our life story. Who might be the supporting actor or actors? Is there a hero or heroine other than you? Who would provide comic relief? Who fits the role of mentor or guide? Might you identify an antagonist? The idea behind this reflection is to consider the narrative of our life and who is influencing it in what ways and to surface “plot shifts” we might want to make.

Our Shield of Safety

We also have people in our lives who make us feel safe. In this reflection, we might consider who we deeply trust. Who makes us feel seen when we feel invisible? Who makes us feel valued when we doubt ourselves? Who is there for us when we feel vulnerable and need reassurance? These are special people in our lives, especially when we most need support and protection.

This series of reflections may help us to better appreciate those in our lives who have had or are having an outsized influence. They are people who make us who we are. We also may have identified some people we have taken for granted or who may not know what they mean to us. Now is a great time to reach out and let them know how important and special they are. Don’t delay!