Making Time for Meaningful Student Conversations

Tomorrow's @TeachThought #reflectiveteacher post centers on teacher/student conversations. 

What do you intentionally do to make sure you don't let too much time pass without having a caring conversation with all of your students?

I have had two "aha" moments regarding making time for meaningful student conversations in the past few years. The first one is the realization that the five minute walk I take each week with my Effective Teens to the Elementary School we volunteer in is a prime opportunity for me to have conversations with these students. (It is very similar to the meaningful "car talks" parents have while driving with their children)--it's a quiet time for me to ask students how things are going and what their plans are for the weekend. 

The second moment came last year when I made a commitment to change my classroom seating to student tables. These tables transformed my classroom into five "mini-classrooms". I was blown away by this mind shift. Having 30 students of varying levels in a general-ed classroom is a challenge that is made much more manageable when I view it as five mini-classrooms of six students each hour, as crazy as that sounds. This seating arrangement develops (and I encourage) a team mentality in my classes and I realize that I am even more cognizant of individual students and their needs, one of these needs being opportunities for meaningful conversations with the mentors in their lives. I do admit that my underdogs get more attention from me but all students have interactions with me that are meaningful.   


Image result for aha moment

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Industrial Revolution Haiku

Historical Perspective and Peel the Fruit Thinking Routine

This Week in NHD: 4Cs Theme Analysis