Getting to Know Your Students' Stories

Over the years; I have always felt that if students knew that I cared about them, they would do their best to learn and put forth their best effort in their effort and attitude.?And; almost without exception, I would watch students make progress and bask in my specific praise of their growth and progress.?And for the students that I did not see the progress I had hoped for, I know that just caring about them and having a positive relationship with them, was what they needed, and when the time was right they would blossom. I have seen this time and again when students came back many years later and have been transformed into something quite remarkable! It’s almost like a tree; you plant it, you water it, fertilize it, and you may not be able to enjoy its fruit or shade immediately, but you are providing the foundation for something big and beautiful in the future.?

To make connections with students, I would find myself doing all kinds of things to show students that they mattered:?Purchasing a book on something they were interested in, writing hand-written notes and stealthily delivering it to them in class, playing Connect Four, Chess, Checkers, Mini Pop-a-Shot (and often losing at all of these games), meeting with students on a weekly basis and giving them some of my favorite motivational quotes and poems, going lizard catching (this particular 3rd grader was fascinated by lizards), putting Mentos in a 2-liter bottle of coke and watching it spray like a geyser, dressing up in our school's mascot costume "The Hawk," calling parents for positive reasons, playing music every morning and high-fiving students as they entered school and playing sports with students at recess and pretending that I was Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, LeBron James or Luca Doncic.

Students would often ask me how I knew all of the kids names, and I would say, "I remember because I care about you,"…If I could find a way to connect with students, help them feel important, valued and loved, I would do it.?

Turns out, what most of us know intuitively, and see anecdotally, with students when we make connections with them is supported by research; and lots of it.?The brain is a social organ and close relationships, such as a positive student-teacher relationship, encourage learning, in part, because they promote a positive learning environment (Nine Things Educators Need to Know About the Brain).

For example, in a study done in Germany, kindergartners were shown a picture of different teachers before solving a problem. Students performed faster when they were shown a picture of a teacher they had a close relationship with before solving the problem versus a teacher they didn’t have a relationship with (The impact of teacher-child relationships on child cognitive performance as explored by a priming paradigm).

Students who have these kind of relationships have more positive feelings about school, are more engaged, and in turn, are often higher achievers. Talk about win-win! And,

“Positive student-teacher relationships also have the power to positively improve school climate, something that can affect everyone involved in a school…Students who have positive relationships with their teachers tend to be more engaged. Students who are more engaged typically are more likely to succeed. Being successful in school leads to positive educational experiences which in turn, creates a positive perception of school.” "Yes, It's Important That Your Students Like You"

A short time ago, BrainPOP put on an event called BrainPOP Connect: Beat the Heat that featured talented educator, Patricia Boguslaw, Ed. Tech consultant and expert, Monica Burns, Ed.D , and talented individuals from BrainPOP, Priya Mathur , Rachel Eisenman , Mike Watanabe , Robert Miller , Marley Zeno and Karina Linch , Annie Choi that presented new ideas, strategies for teaching and assessing student learning, vocabulary development with word play, latest product updates and ideas to address essential skills. It was an amazing three days. If you weren't able to join all the sessions, you can see the recordings found on our?event agenda page.

One of the sessions presented by Patricia Boguslaw, an Educational Technology Specialist from Komarek Schools, entitled “Get to Know Your Students”?- see link below. In her session, Patricia demonstrated how she uses BrainPOP’s Concept Mapping to learn about students and their individual story, connect with and get to know students in a really deep way.?

This session was of particular interest for me because, as Steve Barkley wrote in "The Impact of Knowing and Being Known," “Teachers cannot create personalized instruction or motivational environments without knowing their students. Highly effective teachers create purposeful opportunities to learn about their students and find ways to let students know they are known.” And what’s great, as students utilize concept mapping (Effect Size 0.64) they will be able to transfer this skill to compile knowledge across subject areas throughout the year.?

In this activity, students can choose to share about their family, their favorite hobbies or passions, what they are most proud of, most enjoyable memory, favorite subject in school, their hopes and dreams, qualities that make them unique. See Patricia's sample rubric that she uses with her students.

This activity is also motivating in that it gives students voice.?Students want to be able to create projects that allow them to showcase who they are and give them a real audience; their classmates, and this can also easily be expanded to Buddy Classes and or shared with parents.?Research indicates that?"students who believe they have a voice in school are seven times more likely to be academically motivated than students who do not believe they have a voice"?(Quaglia Institute for School Voice and Aspirations, 2016).

And, I am a big believer in giving students choice.?Just as giving students a voice in their assignments is motivating, the more that teachers can give choices to students to demonstrate learning, the more motivated they will be. It makes sense right? Think about yourself and the things that you are interested in. When you choose to do something that you are passionate about, you are excited and motivated to do it. Students are the same way, if we can allow them to choose how they want to share their knowledge based on their interests and strengths, they will blow us away with what they produce. Teachers can adapt this project to BrainPOP’s Make a Movie or Creative Coding to give students multiple options in how they would like to present their unique stories.

At BrainPOP out mission is to "Empower kids to shape the world around them and within them." To empower kids, we first have to connect with them, learn their stories and show that we care. As we go about this school year, let's get to know our students, connect with them in ways that they know how much we genuinely care, let them share their stories and find activities that are motivating and exciting to them.

Other Suggestions for Knowing Your Students’ Stories

• 10 Creative Writing Activities That Help Students Tell Their Stories
• Project: Every Kid Has a Story to Tell
• 6 Exercises to Get to Know Your Students Better - and Increase Their Engagement
• 5 Fun All About Me Activities For The First Week
• ?Activities for the First Days of School
• I AM Poem