Teaching to Change Lives Part 3: Get To Know Your Students

There are certain "laws" that I think are indispensable to teach effectively and impact students' lives. The first law is quite simple: get to know your students. Most of us teachers do fairly well in getting to know our students' academic status but very few of us get know them as individuals. To impact students lives there needs to be conversations with students on a daily basis. My best conversations and even teaching moments have been when I am conversing with students one on one about their lives. For some teachers this is a forbidden area. They think that their professional line is crossed if they get to know their students. They want to make sure that students see them as teachers and not as friends. For me, it is not either/or but a both/and issue. We need to get to know our student yet always keep our roles as teachers. The purpose of getting to know my students is to learn how they think, what they do, what they like or don't like, what kind of environment they have at home so that I can be more strategic in helping them be successful students. I often also do home visits. I want to know how my students live. It gives me a clear visual picture of how it affects their learning. For many teachers, home visits may not be an option. Depending on the students culture, one must determine if is something that can be done. As a Hispanic working with Hispanics I am able to do this quite easily. I've also been able to do this with Vietnamese students. I will discuss the topic of culture later, but for now suffice to say that home visits are important and will impact students lives. I have had parents thanfully tell me, "You are the first teacher who visits my home." They feel so privileged to have a teacher in their home. If we want to change students' lives we are going to have to get to know our students quite well. This may mean that we have to get out of our comfort zone. It may mean visiting their homes. It may mean going to their social functions even if they are not part of our own culture. Law 1: Get to know your students.

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