Everything in the classroom revolves around relationships

Everything in the classroom revolves around relationships

Post your reflection on the quote “Everything in the classroom revolves around .” Take the

time to understand all of the relationships that can occur in a classroom. And,answer the the question

How can you meet the needs of culturally diverse students and parents during an ?

comment on two of peers’ postings.(I will post their responces).

Each dq is 200 words or more

Each response is 100 words

I sincerely believe in the quote “Everything in the classroom revolves around relationships.” It has always been one my firmest beliefs that building relationships with students is the most important thing that a teacher can do. Especially concerning students with special needs or diverse learners, all students must feel valued, cared for, and important. Once they start to feel this, they will take bigger risks with their learning and try new things. Once this level of trust is reached, struggling students will make the biggest academic, social, and emotional gains. Furthermore, building relationships is also important for teachers. When we as teachers feel personally invested in our students, we put everything we have into our work. This passion drives quality instruction and it is infectious with colleagues. When teachers have positive relationships with each other and students, this makes a huge impact on the students, school as a whole, and even the community.

When working with culturally diverse families throughout the IEP process, it is very important to educate them on the process and make them feel comfortable. I would first start by making sure there is not a language barrier between us, and if so, I would make sure I had a bilingual teacher or translator at every meeting. Before any formal meetings, I would meet with the parents to discuss the process and explain the following: what the process looks like, the rationale behind the process, what types of decisions we would be looking at making, and who would be at each meeting. IEP meetings are extremely intimidating for parents because of the large group of staff members at the table. I feel that a preview conversation would go a long way, and I would want to educate the parent as much as possible before sitting at the “big table.” I would also invite the student to these meetings (depending on age and district philosophy with this) because parents are usually more comfortable with their son or daughter present. Lastly, I would work with our social worker or bilingual teachers, to educate myself and make sure that we are honoring any cultural values that the family may have or understanding any conflicts that they may have throughout the process. The important thing is to try to make the family feel that they are truly part of the IEP team and they have a say in decisions about their child; to do this, it is necessary to make them feel comfortable and make sure they understand.

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Relationships are everything in the classroom. This is a powerful and truthful quotation, and there are many relationships within a classroom that must be in place, in order to have a successful classroom; more specifically respect must exist between the various members. At the forefront of the the relationships is between the teacher and the individual students. Now this is not to say that the teacher needs to be friends with students, and I often say to my students, “I am not your friend, as I have friends my own age,” because having healthy student/teacher rapport is vital in reaching the students. Students will want to perform better for teachers whom they feel respect them. I have seen the most difficult students for some teachers turn into angels for others, based solely on the relationship they have with the teachers. Another relationship that must be put into place and worked on is between the students. This does not mean that everybody needs to be best friends, but that respect for all members need to be demonstrated in order to complete the task at hand. Students need to be good listeners and members of the educational community whether completing discussions, large group or small group activities, partner work, etc.