PS3 TQS Reflection 2 Cody Chipman

Fostering Effective Relationships:

- A teacher builds positive and productive relationships with students,
parents/guardians, peers, and others in the school and local community to
support student learning.

Last Thursday our school hosted a “Meet the Teacher” night. This is a time for
parents to schedule a meeting with their child’s teachers to discuss how to
positively affect the child’s school experience. Since this meeting is so early in the
school year it is a great opportunity for parents to explain to teachers how the
teacher can best serve the student and to let them know of any difficulties, or
obstacles they may have that impede on their academics. Some of the parent
meetings were an eye-opening experience as they provided a window into what a
couple of the more “difficult” students are going through and shed some light on
why they may be behaving the way they have been.
For instance, I have a student that will fight tooth and nail not to be productive
during class time, try to pull others off task to entertain herself, and sometimes be
upright disrespectful when asked to do anything. Without going into intimate
detail, I learned that she is going through some medical tests and that her mother
has been dealing with courts and addictions and on the day, she had been her
worst it turns out her mother was in court. By hearing about these difficulties, it
gave me some grace towards her so the next time I saw her we had a
conversation. Not about the things I had learned but just a normal conversation
and at the end I told her, “I have treated you with respect right; and for the most
part you’ve treated me with respect. Being a student teacher is hard and you have
a big influence on this class. Do you think you could help me out by not distracting
others when you don’t want to work? I get we all have off days; I just would love it
if you wouldn’t pull others away from being productive on those days.” She liked
that I treated her as a grown up and wasn’t bossy and since then she has been less
of a distraction and has put in a little more effort. I’ve also noticed that on days I
don’t have a check-in conversation, she’s a little more defiant so it is important
that I have daily check-ins, so she respects me enough to not derail the class. No
kid is a bad kid; they are likely going through things that people are unaware of
and it is up to us to find ways to cultivate a safe learning environment for them to
be a part of and feel seen.