Supporting Healthy Relationships and Communication
As you wrap up this section on Supporting Healthy Relationships and Communication, tap into the expertise of your colleagues, and share your own. Post to the discussion board answering the following questions:
- In what ways do you currently support healthy relationships and interactions between you and your students and among students?
- How do underlying personal and institutional beliefs, norms, practices, and assumptions influence the communication strategies you use with your students?
- In what ways do you currently support healthy and effective communication between you and your students and among students?
- What questions do you have and/or challenges are you facing in supporting healthy relationship in your classroom? Be specific so that others can respond with detailed and productive ideas.
- What questions do you have and/or challenges are you facing in supporting effective communication in your classroom? Be specific so that others can respond with detailed and productive ideas.
- Respond to at least one of your colleagues by offering advice, ideas, or strategies to the question(s) they posted, or by asking them a question regarding the strategies they shared. (Your response should be meaningful, with a goal to push each other’s thinking rather than offering a superficial exchange. Please see rubric)
Building and maintaining healthy relationships and interactions with students is essential for their academic and social-emotional growth. Some ways that I personally build and maintain relationships with my students is by cultivating a sense of belonging, fostering positive communication, showing genuine interest in my students’ lives, practicing responsive teaching, and establishing trust, rapport, and respect. I try my best to create a supportive and inclusive classroom environment where students feel valued, respected, and trusted. I treat each student as an individual, listen actively to their thoughts and opinions, and validate their experiences. Additionally, I show empathy, consistency, and understanding.
It is also imperative that I, as well as other educators, support healthy and effective communication strategies. Personally, I always acknowledge and celebrate the progress and achievements of your students. I provide specific and meaningful feedback that highlights my students’ strengths and areas for growth. Additionally, I do my best to encourage a growth mindset, emphasizing effort and resilience rather than focusing solely on outcomes.
The aspect that I find the most important is helping my students develop a positive self-image and belief in their abilities. The one thing that I find to be challenging is sometimes relating to individual students. For example, a student of mine loves anime. I personally can’t relate to anime because I have never read or watched anything about it. I struggle to find something to talk about with that student, but I still try my best to create a positive relationship with the student outside of academics.
Question: We are all human and we all have bad days. What do you do on the days that you don’t want to be bothered?
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