Saturday, October 1, 2016

What Kids Wish Their Teachers Knew

What Kids Wish Their Teachers Knew

by: Donna De La Cruz
NYTimes.com


Key Points: A Denver teacher decided she needed to get to know her students more and decided to have them share something with her but in writing. She gave them the beginning and they had to complete the sentence ("I wish my teacher knew.."). What she received was incredible and eye-opening so she decided to share. Other teachers have taken this idea and used it in the classroom. She now has a published book from this lesson. 

Relevance: Considering we are teacher candidates, knowing the importance of relationships and how asking a simple question can let us into our students' lives is great. Having this little insight to their current situation will allow us to understand certain behaviors or attitudes in the classroom. 

Audience: Any new teacher or experienced teacher that would like a simple way to find out more about their students. Or anyone that likes great ideas. 

2 comments:

  1. This article and lesson really reinforced with me the importance of building relationships with my students. Ten minutes out of a day's lesson is all one would need in order to find out more about their students. And a simple smile and good morning could drastically change the student's day.
    I really like this and will look at implementing this throughout the year. Mainly because my kids may want me to know different things, as their lives are constantly changing.
    And I would let them know that I would be there to help them with anything that they may need if they would want it.

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  2. This is an awesome article because I personally have a lot belief that building strong relationships is super important for teachers. It lets the students know you care more than they believe or what is popular belief in our society. This activity the teacher did is a really cool idea and very simple. We all can learn a lot from getting to know our students, such as their strengths and barriers.

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