TL;DR:

• We can’t reach the mind before we touch the heart. 
• Focus on relationship building while still holding high expectations for students.
• It’s important to make each student feel special.

The Favorite

My grandma is 98 years old. She has 6 children, 7 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren. Of her grandchildren, I am her only granddaughter, automatically making me the favorite.

All kidding aside, I credit my Gram for teaching me the most valuable lesson I needed to learn before becoming a teacher. 

I started to focus on relationship building while setting and maintaining high expectations for my students. The two worked in tandem. My students established trust in me and in return, learning was able to take place effectively. Click To Tweet

The One and Only

Growing up, we went to Gram’s house for everything. There were many of us crammed into her tiny kitchen and we created some of the most special memories I have from my childhood sitting around the table laughing and sharing our time with each other.

With a house full of up to 30 people at times, Gram had a way of making each of us feel special, noticed, and loved. She didn’t have a favorite child or grandchild. Her love for us made each of us feel like we were her one and only favorite.

The Special Ones

Years later, when I entered the classroom, my focus was on instruction. And while I think many will feel that instruction should be the primary focus, my experiences have taught me that we can’t reach the mind before we touch the heart. 

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I realized quickly that I needed to shift my original mindset. So, I started to focus on relationship building while setting and maintaining high expectations for my students. The two worked in tandem. My students established trust in me and in return, learning was able to take place effectively.

The current school year has been challenging in many ways. I’ve had to work much harder to establish relationships with my students. While there could be a number of factors that cause this, I remind myself daily of the classroom environment that I want to create. I want each of my students to feel special when they are with me, just like I feel when I’m with my Gram. It’s a non-negotiable for me, so I do the work. I do the work because I care about the experiences my students have when they’re with me. The work isn’t glamorous or easy, but it’s worth it because it’s our students who are our special ones.

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About Nicole Kelly

Nicole Kelly is an educator from southwestern Pennsylvania. She has eight years of teaching experience in public and private educational settings. Nicole earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. Currently, she teaches full time and is the Content Curator for Education Blueprint.