What can we do to support our students?

As a teacher, we need to strike a balance. We need to balance our dedication to our students, and our personal family lives. If we dedicate our time 100% to our career in an effort to build up our students as much as we can, we will be helping our students very much that's for sure, but we will cause our own families to suffer. On the other hand, if we just treat teaching as a trade and a job we clock in from 8:30 to 3:30, we will be letting down our students, and not doing the best we can to help them. This is where the balance comes in. How can we help our students, to the best of our abilities?

There are many courses in teachers college that go through this topic in length, and those would be a much better resource than this blog post. However, there are some things that I can mention that can help refresh the memory of those who might not remember, or have taken those courses.

We can create a safe space in our classrooms, free of judgement and bias. If our class is a safe space, the students can feel free and open to fully dedicate their mental resources to studying. When they aren't worried about being judged and put into a predesigned category to fit in, they don't worry and stress about outside factors, and focus more on the material and information we are trying to teach them.

We can cater to their teaching styles, and engage in differentiated instruction. We don't want to try and force one particular style of learning on a student when they aren't receptive to that style. We, as educators, need to adapt our own teaching methods to fully help the students engage and intake the material and lessons we are providing them.

We need to pay attention to our students and offer them support when they need it. If we see them struggling in one area, we need to help them and adapt ourselves to help them better understand. If we ourselves are willing to open ourselves up in our practice to adapt and learn from and with the students, we can help them in their educational journey and help make their time in school one that is educational,  safe, and positive.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My response to "Invisible City"

Invisible City is a documentary about the lives of two young men living in Regent Park, Kendell and Mikey. It follows them throughout their high school lives, their education, and their lives outside of school. The documentary talks a lot about the massive effect a  community  and the child's surroundings can affect them in their daily lives, and their education. They discuss the social and economic issues that plague these young men, as well as others living in a situation like theirs. This documentary struck a chord with me, and it surprised me as well when we got assigned to watch it one week because it is a story I knew oh so well, because I grew up in Regent Park, and knew many stories just like Kendells and Mikeys. I grew up in Regent Park, attended school there, and had many friends from that area. I personally knew both social workers that helped Kendell and Mikey, Ainsworth and Jason. They were my workers when I attended and was helped by Pathways to Education. I fel...
Read more

How one good teacher can change a life

The classic story of high school is a student goes to school, does their homework, works hard, and graduates. The idea is that if the students actually tries,  they will have a positive time and pass high school easily. However, that is a rare and very niche story, especially nowadays. There are so many stories and examples of students who, because of other factors and variables in their lives, either drop out, struggle immensely, or barely scrape by. These are becoming more and more common now, as the educational system falls behind and doesn't support fully its students and their needs. It is heartbreaking to think about as well, considering that the thing that could make a difference, is one teacher that truly cares. A student needs support in their education. We can't expect them to handle everything on their own. The paperwork, the help, the instruction, all of the things that well-off students have easy access to are not available to those students in need. We as teachers...
Read more