blog post #3

1. "Students whose interests are tapped and deepened in school are more likely to be engaged and to persist in learning." p. 3  I have always been a firm believer in this!  If I can do things in the classroom my students are actually interested in they will love school.  It doesn't even need to be the actual content, it can just be how they learn it or how they are assessed!  Give them choices.
2. "I can't give myself to this place, to this work, to you until I believe in you.  I can't believe in you until I know you believe in me." p. 9  This says EVERYTHING.  My students will not begin to learn until there is mutual trust between us!  I witnessed this very thing with my deaf-blind student.  until he knew he could trust me and I showed him I believed in him he did not work for me!  I must tell them what high expectations I have for them daily.  I will tell them how intelligent they are and how impressed I am with them and guess what!  they will be intelligent and impress me daily!
3. "Emotions trump learning." p. 15 My students will not begin to learn until they can connect emotionally with me or what they are learning!  If the environment I have created is not safe and secure they will be too guarded to open up and try.  They will be so focused on not standing out or being heard that they will hear nothing and learn nothing.
4. "Can you help me understand why I should care about this?"  p. 18  This is so important!  Every student wants to know WHY!  not only does it verify for a student that there is a point to learning it, but if I can connect it to their own life they might actually have a chance at remembering it.
5. "I try to see things through your eyes."  I know this sort of goes along with trust.  But having compassion and understanding with your students is so important!  One size does not fit all.  If I can actually take the time to get to know my students on a personal level so I know what they are going through and have already been through it will be easy to see things from their side.  Sometimes students need compassion and they are disciplined!  I want to know them well enough to help them when they are literally crying out for someone.