- Do lunch. Once or twice a week, invite a handful of students to bring their lunch to your classroom so that you can eat together. Enjoy each other’s company over casual conversation, or prepare some conversation starters ahead of time and take turns choosing a topic to discuss!
- Implement “Good Call Tuesday.” Choose a day of the week to make 3-4 good calls home for your students. Plan to call not only students who are frequently well behaved, but also a few students each week who typically struggle with behavior. Making these purely positive calls can have such a tremendous impact on your relationship not only with students but with families, as well!
- Break out those baby pictures (and hidden talents!). Take five minutes a week to allow your students to get to know you! If you use a rewards system in your classroom, show your baby pictures or one of your hidden talents as a reward. If you don’t use a rewards system, make this five minute “teacher share” part of your Friday routine. Allowing students to see a different (and goofy!) side of you can foster deeper relationships and humanize you in their eyes.
What are your favorite ways to cultivate a strong culture with your students? Comment below!
These tips were originally published in the September 2016 edition of OneTeacher’s newsletter. Sign up to receive OneTeacher’s newsletter here.
