Building (establishing)Rapport

A Good Rapport - What Does it Mean?

We are often reminded of the importance of good relationships. It is true of any
connection we have, be it at work, with friends or teammates. For teaching staff
though, the benefit of a good rapport is huge. If children see adults in school as
people to connect with, people to trust, then the safety and security the classroom
provides can be a real sanctuary.

On a practical level, this can mean enhanced reciprocity to what is being taught but
on an emotional level, it can really boost children’s wellbeing. This means they can
connect with you. If they have difficulty, inside or outside the classroom, they can
come to you. It secures you as one of their trusted adults.

Why is Rapport Important?

A good rapport helps build psychological safety and encourages risk-taking. Surely
as teachers, we want all inhibitions to be down. We want to create that ‘go for it’,
‘ask the question’ and ‘try the outcome’ mentality. Only when children are truly
relaxed and confident in the setting will this be the case. Although there may be
many reasons why children feel stressed in other parts of their lives, our
classrooms should be welcoming places where those stresses do not provide
obstacles.
So, why put effort into building a good rapport? Well, maybe the question should
actually be ‘why not?’ When working with children, our main drive is to help them
be the best they can be. Although we can all do well in our own right, our best is
certainly enhanced by good relationships. That counts for teachers as well as their
pupils! Here’s a list of some of our favourite ways to enhance rapport in your
classroom.

1.
Remember their names. Sometimes we think the most magical words a student
can ever hear are ‘that’s all for today’, but actually the most magical thing they can
hear is their name. Since the day they were born, students have heard their name
whispered softly into their ears, sang to them as a bedtime lullaby and,
occasionally, screamed with the full force intensity of a Gordon Ramsay
meltdown. Their name is everything to them. Their name is their identity.
 Remembering a student’s name is personal, it builds rapport and it is not that
difficult.

2. Make small talk. Busy teachers don’t want to be wasting precious learning
time. But what happens when you ask a student ‘how was your weekend?’ or ‘did
you see the game last night?’ Magic is what happens. Spending just a few minutes
chatting with students creates connections and builds rapport.

3. Speak with your body. You can have all the good intentions in the world, but if
your body language says: ‘I’m a teacher, get me outta’ here!’ then guess what. All
those nice words coming out of your mouth about a ‘good job!’ this and a ‘good
job that!’ mean nothing. Students won’t believe it is genuine and they will not
believe in you. If a picture paints a thousand words, imagine your body is a self-
portrait. It tells your students everything they need to know. Show them a Mona
Lisa, not a moaner teacher!

4. Show your personality. Who was your favorite teacher in school? Was it the
teacher who talked about how easily they beat Sonic the Hedgehog or told fun
stories? Then, when it actually was time to learn things, you did it because you
knew the teacher had a soul. They were real. They weren’t another robot in a suit
making you memorize pages in textbooks just to pass exams.

5. Bring in their interests. The average student has to sift through more garbage
than a refuse collector working 7 days a week. Most of what they’re tasked with
learning is not relevant to them. The Periodic Table? When does this period
end? Romeo & Juliet? Can’t we just watch the Leonardo DiCaprio movie and go
home? Their interests are as far from the classroom as the Moon is from Alpha
Centauri. Bring in their interests: video games, pop music, Marvel movies, and
their ears will prick up like their student spider senses are tingling. If you routinely
bring in things they care about, they will care about the class and they will care
about you. It’s not rocket science… unless they are interested in that too!

6. Be fair. Remember John McEnroe and how he felt about tennis umpires?
All that love he had for them when a line call didn’t go his way? You cannot
be serious! Of course, you don’t. John exploded with rage and fury every
time he felt like he was treated unfairly. Most of our students won’t call us
out for it, but if we don’t treat all of them in exactly the same way, then
we’re done for. Any perceived injustice will launch a nuclear detonation on
any rapport you had with them. To build rapport, and keep it, set the rules
and apply them evenly across the board. One standard to rule them all.
7. Give them a platform. Do you have relationships with people who don’t care
what you have to say? We value our voice. We want to be heard. The people we
like to be around listen closely. They don’t pretend to listen. They really listen.
Give your students a chance to be heard. Ask for their opinions. Hand out surveys.
Hold class votes. Make sure they know their input is important.

8. Create a nice atmosphere. What happens when you have a toxic classroom
atmosphere? Or just a classroom with no atmosphere at all? When students enter
your class, it should feel like a home away from home. Not a retirement home, or a
vacation home, but a proper home. A home where you can teach them in the living
room, and they love it so much they invite their friends over to study, too. Build a
nice house and you’ll build an even nicer bond with your students.

9. Give positive feedback. Sometimes we just can’t wait to give feedback, especially
to those students who have made our classes a living hell. After mountains and
mountains of grading over the years, we forget the art of feedback. We forget
about the sandwich. We forget that the meat of the sandwich shouldn’t be
completely tasteless. To build rapport, and feedback that students listen to, be
liberal with the sweet sauce. Don’t shower students with undeserved praise, but
when they do something good, even if it’s just writing their name at the top of the
paper, let them know how much you appreciate it.

10.Respect begets respect. R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me…. You
don’t need to be the Queen of Soul to know that a little respect goes a long
way! Show your students that you respect them, and they will mirror it. Arrive
early for class, say please, and thank you, use indirect questions instead of direct
instructions. Can you open your books to page 12? Could you please put away
your cell phone? Can you stop using Wikipedia as your only reference for all
human knowledge? Treat your students like you want to be treated. If one of them
steps out of line, address the behavior and not the student. It’s the rule breaking
that was the problem, not the student as a person.

Tips for Rapport-Building

How might we build rapport with our students? Try any or all of the following
suggestions for developing rapport with your students:

 Learn to call your students by name.

 Learn something about your students' interests, hobbies, and aspirations.
 Create and use personally relevant class examples.
 Arrive to class early and stay late -- and chat with your students.
  Explain your course policies -- and why they are what they are.
 Post and keep office hours.
 Get online -- use e-mail to increase accessibility to your students.
 Interact more, lecture less -- emphasize active learning.
 Reward student comments and questions with verbal praise;
 Be enthusiastic about teaching and passionate about your subject matter.
 Lighten up -- crack a joke now and then.
 Be humble and, when appropriate, self-deprecating.
 Make eye contact with each student -- without staring, glaring, or flaring.
 Be respectful.
 Don't forget to smile!

Ice breakers

10 great activities to break the ice with your students

Starting the school year or walking into a new room every day as a substitute
can become pretty draining and confronting for both teachers and
students.Luckily, there are things you can do to break the ice and make the
kids feel a lot more enthused and comfortable about learning. Simply spend
10 to 15 minutes trying a couple of these activities listed below to help break
that awkward tension.

Pass around a sheet of paper and some pens. Ask the students to write their
name and their favorite TV shows (you can come up with your own topic for
favorite things). Collect the papers and pens. Begin reading the answers, but
have the class guess who wrote the response.

Birthday Lineup.

Call out any month of the year and have all students born in that month come up to
the front of the room. It is up to the students to decide who stands first, second,
etc., so they are standing from the first day of the month to the last day of the
month. Now call out another month (don't call the months in order), and have those
students try to position themselves correctly by day and by where they should
stand as an entire month. This is a great way to get kids working together and
knowing each other. Once all of the kids have lined up, test them to see if they are
correct.
 The Snowball Activity.

Have students write three things about themselves on a piece of paper. Then
have them crumble up the paper to resemble a snowball. Let the students
have a snowball fight for about one minute. Now everyone grabs one of the
snowballs and has to try and find the person who wrote on it. Once they find
their partner, they have to bring that person up in front of the class and
explain what they learned about their new friend with the three facts written
on the piece of paper.

The Observation Game.

Line up the students in two lines facing each other. If there is an odd number
of students, you can play the game, too. Give students 30 seconds to look
each other over really good, paying attention to all details about their
partner. The students in one line now turn facing the other way while the
other line of students changes something about themselves. For example, a
girl might take off a hair bow, or a boy might un-tuck his shirt. When the
kids in the first line turn back around, they have to guess what their partner
changed. Now switch and let the first line make the change and the second
line guess the difference.

Icebreaker Pictionary.

Have the students draw pictures about what they like to do, what their favorite
foods are, and what is their favorite subject in school. Have each student come up
and show their pictures to the class. See if the students can guess what each student
drew that tells a little bit about themselves. For instance, if a student draws a
yellow M, can anyone guess that she likes McDonalds?

Show and Tell.

Don't forget about this old time favorite part of class. Instruct students to bring in
something that they cherish, or just want to share with the class. Give each student
a turn to come up and tell about the item that they brought in. This way the class
will get to know each other and something that makes each student happy.

Self-Portrait.
Have your students draw themselves. After they have done this, collect the
papers and hang them up for the whole class to see. Now have students try to
guess who the artists was for each picture.

Letter Writing.

At the beginning of the year, write a short letter about yourself as the
teacher. Tell the students where you live, what your hobbies are, and if you
have any children, pets, etc. Hand out your letter to each student in your
class and ask them to write you back with similar information about
themselves. View this excellent guide to letter writing here.

The Mingle Game.

Give each student an index card. Have them write a question that they would
like to ask the other students in the class. Examples might include, "What is
your favorite song?" or "What is your favorite sport?" Next, have the
students get up and walk around the room. When you say, "stop," students
have to stand beside the person closest to them and ask the question that is
on their own card. Both students have to answer the questions. Now have
them mingle again and meet a new person.

The "What Am I?" Game.

Have the students get into a circle. Give each student a post-it note. Have
each person write a noun on the post-it note. Then stick the post-it on the
forehead of the person standing to right of them with the noun showing.
Now have student take a turn to ask the group a "yes/no" question that will
help them guess the noun on their forehead. If they do not guess correctly,
the person on their right gets to ask a question. Keep going until all of the
noun have been guessed, or your time limit has expired.