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Building School Relationships

Kiah Green
Department of Teaching and Learning, Old Dominion University
TLED 360: Classroom Management and Discipline
Dr. Jori Beck
March 7, 2021
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Building School Relationships

School classrooms, in any grade, function best when students have relationships with

their teachers and peers. I believe the basis and style of a teacher-student relationship starts with

the teachers leading by example in the relationship first, then children taking that example to put

towards student-student relationships. I want my future students to know they can trust me; I

have their best interests at heart, including goals, learning, and emotions. When my students see

the healthy bond created with every student, they can then exude the same genuine relationship

actions amongst their peer friendships. There are three main relationship building activities that

can help spark the bonds between my students that will last: the “Speedy-Friend” activity,

teacher-student morning check ins, and “Dance, Dance, Dance it out” activities. I created each of

these activities. I even created an activity where students get to ask me questions to further their

understanding of me, their teacher. Each of these events will improve the level of genuineness in

my relationship with my students and within their peer groups.

My first relationship building activity includes the game “Speedy-Friend”. When I was in

elementary and middle school, bonding with my peers was important to me. All students like to

connect with other students to build friendships and a genuine connection; no one likes to be

excluded (Salend, 2016). With the help of the activity “Speedy-Friend,” students will be able to

grow in understanding their classmates and interests as well as their dislikes and least preferred

topics. The game will start with my students having a partner. They will choose any one they

want. I will put a topic on the board for the class to see and they will talk about it for 30 seconds

with a partner. After the 30 seconds are up, students will then switch partners and choose a

different peer. When the peer changes, the topic changes. For example, the first round will

contain the topic about videogames. Every pair will discuss their interests or non-interest in
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video games and share their other thoughts centered around this topic with their peers. The

second round can have the topic on food. The same actions are demonstrated in their new pairs,

but the topic has changed, so their conversations will vary each time. I chose this activity

because students will have time practicing their communication skills, as well as learn their

classmates’ interests, likes, and dislikes. I will incorporate this activity every first of the month

so all students will have a chance to talk to each peer. In addition, each child will have a role (list

of names) that they check off after every round so repeats are avoided. If there is an odd number

of kids, one group can have three students. During the “Speedy-Friend” activity, I will listen in

to each group to acquire knowledge on their likes and dislikes to understand them more. With

this fun, interactive group activity, students can bond with every classmate as well as build

connections through similarities and differences they discover throughout the activity.

My second relationship building activity involves individual teacher-student check-ins

each morning (Edutopia, 2019). In our Tuesday class every week, we make it a habit to check on

each other and share our thoughts and news we have had from the week just passed. I love this

approach and believe this should be used in any classroom. One example I saw involved a

kindergarten teacher greeting each of her students one on one; she gave them real hugs and asked

them a few questions about their morning, mood, and mindset for the new day (Edutopia, 2019).

I loved this scenario so much, I decided to use it for my classroom to come. I will always start

with a hug, if Covid permits, as well as a few simple questions to get their emotions and thoughts

out there. Questions may include their breakfast for that morning, how they feel coming into

class that day, and any thoughts they feel comfortable sharing. I want my students to know I am

here for them and I care about their emotions and thoughts. I hope I can cheer up any sad

students and help prepare them for our days ahead. I chose this specific activity because this
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gives me a small, one-on-one time with my students. They will be able to connect with me each

morning which builds trust and communication between us. It is important for every child to feel

heard and understood (Salend, 2019). I believe this activity will help every student see what it is

like to be heard and cared for by their teacher every day.

My last relationship building activity provides genuine fun and relaxation to my students

and their minds. This activity is called “Dance, Dance, Dance It Out”. This specific activity

involves the whole class letting loose and dancing their cares away. When students must sit and

listen all day, they deserve an outlet during class; Therefore, I created this specific activity.

When we play “Dance, Dance, Dance It Out”, we have two options. We can do a freeze dance

style, or a dance and rest style. With freeze dance, I will play kid friendly dance music for a

consecutive number of seconds and then pause the music for about seven seconds. The kids will

then freeze in their dance steps for the seven seconds and start dancing again when the music

plays. If they want to do a dance and rest style, they can dance to a song, rest two to three

minutes, then dance to another song. Each “Dance, Dance, Dance It Out” activity will last to

about 20 to 30 minutes, which will allow students to switch up the styles. We will do this activity

as a class, myself included, on every Friday afternoon; I will call this day “Fun Friday” with our

“Dance, Dance, Dance It Out” event. I chose this activity because this genuinely is a fun activity

to do. I want my students to know I care about having breaks from consecutive times of learning.

In addition, when students see each other dancing, they will not feel left out or singled out

because everyone is doing the same thing. Students have the option to dance in groups or in

partners. This will also give them the chance to socialize a bit with each other and reminisce on

each Friday after the event. This activity can help break any judgmental walls or excluding

behavior students might have. When my kids can see the whole class participating, there will be
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no need to make fun or exclude anyone because everyone will be doing the same thing, which is

dancing. I believe this activity will be a success in many classrooms to come.

Although student-student relationship building is extremely important, teacher-student

relationships are just as important. When a student can connect with and understand their

teacher, they learn and absorb the material better (Edutopia, 2019). My specific teacher-student

building relationship activity is called “Question Quest”. This activity I also created. With this

specific game, I will give my students time throughout the week to come up with question on

what they would like to know about me. Examples include favorite book questions or family

questions. Anything appropriate will be acceptable. This way, they will get to know a little bit

more about me as their teacher. This activity will happen about once every two weeks for about

15 minutes. I chose this event because I want my students to understand they can ask me

anything. Although I am their teacher, I am their friend as well; however, I am their teacher first,

then their friend. With this activity, my students and I can let loose, laugh, and connect through

communicating with questions and answers to build our relationship.

Each of these activities provides ways to keep me and my students bonded together

effectively. Content is important, but the closer and better we understand each other, the more we

can accomplish relationally. As we see each other weekly and monthly, we can build a greater

relationship to understand and accept each other for who we are and the goals for our lives.
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References

Edutopia. (2019, January 14). The power of relationships in schools [Video]. Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzvm1m8zq5g

Salend, S. J. (2016). Creating inclusive classrooms: Effective, differentiated, and reflective

practices (8th ed.). Pearson.