Regardless of a child’s age, children come to school knowing they have a job to do: they know they are supposed to learn something. But like us, they need to be inspired to learn, to listen, to pay attention. They come into the classroom with the attitude of “Let’s see what you got. Give me your best stuff.” Tell me why I should listen to you?” They are waiting to see who you are. Unless you gain the respect of a classroom of 7 year olds, they will never want to learn from you.
Ask yourself: How can I create an environment that inspires students so that they will want to learn from me? Understand that the onus of a student learning is on you, and not the student. You need to take responsibility for creating a classroom that inspires, motivates and challenges.
Here’s something you have going for you: Even if maybe you do mess up a bit at first, remember, the wonderful thing about children is their openness. In Sanskrit there is a word to describe the purity of a spirit coming into the world and it’s called “Tabla rasa”, which literally means blank slate.
The children you teach everyday have simply not been on this planet as long as you have. They don’t have a lot of nonsense in their heads. They haven’t concocted a bunch of excuses and rationalizations for why they don’t want to learn and what’s wrong with you. They’re pretty pure and very open and very present oriented. In other words, the moment you inspire them, they will want to learn from you.
Remember: your classroom is a reflection of you. If in the past you have found yourself complaining about your students, I would never do that again. Nothing makes us powerless fastest than feeling victimized by a class of 10 year olds. This is your classroom. Metaphorically, you are the king and this is your kingdom. If you don’t like what is happening in your kingdom, the place to look is to the King. This is the place to do the fine-tuning, turn inward, not out there.
Another way to create an environment that inspires learning is to set up a teacher-student relationship that is based on dignity and respect.
One of the ways you do that is by being accountable.
Remember children learn by modeling; that is, by watching you. Being accountable literally means you do what you say you are going to do.
My very good friend was a teacher for twenty-five years. She told me about the day she was teaching and the class was particularly routy and she knew that there were four boys in the classroom that were causing all the trouble. So she said, “OK, the next person who talks, without being called-on, will be sent to the principal’s office.” Well, the next person who talked was the best student in the class, a girl who never did anything wrong. My friend felt terrible, but she sent the girl to the principal’s office. After that, everyone paid attention.
Remember, what you set up in the beginning is what you have in the end. If you begin your relationship with your students, by saying you are going to do things and then not do them, you lose their respect. Children have an uncanny sense of justice and remember these things. They may not remember the times table but how often do you hear “You said….” If they don’t respect you, they will not learn from you.
Children test boundaries; that is their nature. That is how they learn about themselves and the world, what is possible, what is not possible?
They just automatically keep stretching until someone says stop. They are actually waiting for an adult to step in and give some direction. That stopping point keeps them safe lets them be children because they know someone else is in charge. The minute that they know you are in charge, you automatically get their respect.
Accountability, respect, boundaries: all of these help create a safe environment, and children learn when they feel safe. Creating a safe environment is the foundation of all learning. For children to learn they must be open to learning, and to be open, they must first feel safe.
What about mistakes? Do you celebrate failure in your classroom as well as success? Do your students know that failure is as much of part of life as success and that we learn by our mistakes?
It’s not just teaching students to accept failure and keep moving forward; that really misses the point. We need to change the paradigm of failure from being something bad to perhaps something that signals a new beginning. Every time we get up after a failure, we have increased self –esteem and self-respect, and the stronger we get.
How we feel about success and failure and how we treat our students is really a result of how we feel about ourselves.
If we are ashamed when we make mistakes or have trouble admitting when we are wrong, we will pass that same feeling along to our students, and our students will not feel safe in our classroom. Children need to be encouraged to stretch and grow and not be afraid of not being perfect. They need to feel supported in the journey of learning and know that making mistakes is part of the process.
Another way to create a safe environment is to motivate children from the inside rather than the outside. Pitting students against one another is never a good motivator. Grades motivate students from the outside and although they may be necessary to quantify a student’s ranking, they will never go the distance and they will never create a love of learning.
Instead of encouraging competition with one another, encourage competition with the Self. Encourage students to be the best that they can be and support them to keep stretching and growing. Teach them that:
- They have the ability to create their world by the choices that they make and that the only thing worse than making lots of mistakes is doing nothing at all.
- Only they know what makes them tick and to trust that inner voice. When you teach children to be self-referring, rather than other-referring, what this means is that, they determine their sense of self-worth rather than letting it be determined by others. This allows them to be self-accepting, that is, they accept their failures and successes as part of the process and just keep moving along. In a very organic way, they have a natural love of learning and are open to what you have to share with them.
Lastly, if you want your students to connect with you, you need to take the time to connect with them.
The connection that you make with your students is what will create your learning environment. I encourage you to take the time to connect to each and every one of your students. Sometimes it takes only three minutes to make that connection, but once you do, you have a friend for life.
Your classroom will be a cross section of the easiest to the most difficult. If I am honest, sometimes I get a client I don’t like that much. I actually use this client as a barometer for what I need to work on. I know my job is to teach and unless I can connect, to each and every one, I cannot do my work.
The student-teacher connection gives you feedback and it nourishes your soul. When we have a student who “gets it” something inside us comes alive, we get energized. When we know we have made a connection, something inside of us feels complete.
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