Connecting with Students

Connecting with students is a part of building relationships. According to Paula Denton, author of The Power of Our Words: Teacher Language that Helps Children Learn, “In schools, relationships are treated as luxuries. Relationship is a necessity for learning. We can't afford not to do it." It is truly wonderful to something that has seemed so obvious to me anecdotally supported by research and educational experts. Instructional strategies are useful and content expertise hugely important but both are of negligible effect if the students doesn’t like you and doesn't know that you care. Rita Pierson famously said in a TED talk, “kids don't learn from people they don't like.” She convinced her students of a saying: "I am somebody. I was somebody when I came. I'll be a better somebody when I leave. I am powerful, and I am strong. I deserve the education that I get here. I have things to do, people to impress, and places to go." To help students believe in themselves to that degree, a large amount of effort had to be taken on her part to make connections and build relationships. And it was worth it.

According to James Alan Sturtevant, author of You’ve Gotta Connect, students who connect with their teachers are happier, more productive, more creative, learn and retain more, have fewer behavioral issues, have their creativity unleasher, are less likely to drop out, feel better about themselves, get along better with other students, are more likely to be comfortable with themselves as students, and achieve at higher levels. Many of these externally observable results could be attributed to the internal anatomy and physiology of the brain LITERALLY CHANGING as new networks are formed and then lined with myelin to improve the connection speed of the network.

This critical age of adolescence (from 12-24 according to Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., author of Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain) is a time for pruning of neural networks in the brain and myelination of established (and newly established) neural networks in order to increase the speed of those networks. This wonderful time of opportunity to increase of the efficiency of the brain is lost without proper relationship building.

Works Cited

Pierson, R. (2013, May). Every kid needs a champion. (R. Pierson, Performer) Retrieved October 3, 2016, from http://www.ted.com/talks/rita_pierson_every_kid_needs_a_champion?language=en

Sears, N. (2015). Building Relationships with Students. Retrieved October 3, 2016, from NEA: http://www.nea.org/tools/29469.htm

Siegel M.D., D. J. (2013). Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain. New York, NY: Penguin Random House LLC.

Sturtevant, J. A. (2014). You've Gotta Connect: Building Relationships that Lead to Engaged Students, Productive Classrooms, and Higher Achievement. Chicago, IL: World Book, Inc.

Growing a Brain

As an instructor or anatomy & physiology, I am most intrigued by the physiology of the teenage brain and how it affects behavior.  I have witnessed students struggle with depression and seen the devastation it has on their ability to excel academically.  I have seen students unwilling to interact with peers and therefore miss out on beneficial collaborative learning activities.   And I have experienced the frustration of students seemingly rushing through assessments only to demonstrate little  understanding of concepts.  And the list goes on…….  It is frustrating to watch students in any of these situations, but I find that understanding the development of their brain and the behaviors that are related, is a positive way of appreciating the place that each of these student are currently in.  They are in a state of brain development that interferes with the ‘adult’ behavioral norm.  They simply do not have a brain that works like ours, the adults.  Arthur Allen does a nice job of summing up these differences in the article “Risky behavior by teens can be explained in part by how their brains change” https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/risky-behavior-by-teens-can-be-explained-in-part-by-how-their-brains-change/2014/08/29/28405df0-27d2-11e4-8593-da634b334390_story.html Reading it helps to understand how the changing brain can account for the teen behaviors previously mentioned.   

This image shows how the brain develops through early adulthood (the early 20’s).  While it may sometimes be easy dismiss erratic, disruptive or seemingly lazy behaviors as teenage personality flaws, this evidence scientifically suggests that we should not do so.  

https://www.google.com/search?q=teenage+brain+development+and+behavior&biw=1040&bih=626&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjIobXCwr_PAhXi24MKHcegCSIQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=17XUbnP2qEDZbM%3A

Knowing about physical changes and the effect it has on teenage behaviors, helps educators empathize with their students. How we react to these behaviors is important in constructing an environment in which all students can learn. The video, written for adolescents, gives some important ideas that can be shared with students as we struggle to understand adolescence along with them.  It is important to have conversations with students about their developmental level and guide them to navigate through what can be a frustrating or awkward period of life.  

Connecting with the Detached Student

Connecting with the Detached Student

According to Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., “the relationships we have with our parents and other people who care for us when we are very young most directly shape who we become.” But what happens when our primary caregivers did not tend to our need to be seen and soothed from a very young age? Children raised without those needs being met can develop an avoidant model of attachment, which leads to feeling disconnected from others as well as from their own emotions and needs. These students may have never had a healthy relationship with an adult and do not know how to make a connection.

Consider this girl’s experience.

ReMoved

Students who have non-secure attachment models can learn to transform them into secure attachment models when those models present themselves. Teachers who provide a safe environment and let the student know they will provide unconditional support can help to develop a secure attachment. Following the principle, every day is a fresh start, assures students who may have had a bad day that you will still be there for them the next day. Creating ways to connect with those students, who may not be involved in extracurricular activities, or interested in coming in early, or staying late for academic help could also provide a safe harbor in which they can develop a secure attachment.

In this blog, Mr. Provenzano describes three ways to be available for students, without putting a lot of pressure on them.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/make-meaningful-connections-with-students-nick-provenzano

Works Cited

Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. (2013). Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain. New York: Penguin.