I became a teacher because I wanted to help students who otherwise would not reach their full potential. I worked in an under-served community for four years and I used humor, pop culture, and created a feeling of familiarity and informality usually frowned upon in traditional schools. Essentially, I mixed my professional responsibilities, personality, and my students’ personal needs to create a classroom environment that showed them that I cared about them as people. In the past, my efforts to build a rapport with my students made them much more receptive to what I wanted to teach them.
I joked with them before and after class. We shared stories about our lives and I had a habit of giving my students nicknames. Up until today I felt that those were all positive aspects of my particular pedagogical style.
Without going into too much detail, lets just say that my particular approach to building a rapport with my students is not appreciated by everyone. That being said, I’ve decided to separate the personal and the professional. I just don’t want to have to deal with the potential fall-out.
However, I somehow feel that by doing this I will be harming more than I help. I hope I’m wrong.
1 response so far ↓
I don’t think there is anything wrong with building a rapport with kids. That’s how you get them to buy into what you are trying to instill in them. Those who usually have a problem are usually the ones who don’t have a strong understanding of how teachers have to have that type of relationship. Knowing you, I know everything was above ground. But there are always those who want to “hate”; for lack of a better word.
I hope and pray that you don’t that “rapport” you have with your students. They need that to know that you care and only want the best from them.