How to build rapport with students?

One of the biggest challenges that you face as a teacher is creating that rapport or safe space with your students. If you are a new teacher for a bunch of really naughty kids, chances that they listen to you are narrower than a pin hole. Why is it necessary to have a rapport with your students? The very reason for you to click on this title is the reason.

Every new teacher struggle on building healthy strong relationships with students for various reasons. A few of them maybe, lack of common ground, frustrations in fulfilling their roles as student and a teacher, change in environment, and lack of individual attention.

Being a teacher, it was a herculean task for me to build rapport with my students. I failed miserably in my attempts to talk and and understand them.

Teaching like every other teacher does not make you stand out or create a lasting impression of you on the students. You succeed as a good teacher not when they score good marks, but when they call you up and wish you on teachers day. It just means that you have made an impact in the child and that is what teaching is really about. Any fool could come up and take book and teach but it takes a teacher to impact their life.

1.Creating efficient lesson plans

This may sound simple and doable. Just as simple it seems, it is highly important. To create an efficient lesson plan, you should break down your class timing. If it is a one hour class, you should be able to make every minute of it useful but not the same. Categorising the time to ice breaker, introduction, activity, learning episode and reflection makes the whole one hour colourful and alive.

2. Finding the common ground

To find a common ground with your students is not very easy because you two are in two different generations. This gap cannot be mended but there are links which you can use to find the common ground. Talk to your nephews and find what they are interested in and then research on it. Trust me, the hard work really pays off.

3. Gestures in class

Simple gestures like high 5 and giving thumbs up boosts the kids self confidence and your rapport with the students. Another simple and most effective gesture that you could do is to smile. A smile is a curve that sets everything straight,right? These gestures put the students in a comfort zone with you. They will see you as one of them and will eventually open up once they know that you are the same as them.

Once you have built the rapport, use it for the best. Do not exploit it. A child will trust you easily but can easily hate you if you risk it. Never push the limits with your commands in class and do not show favouritism among kids. Yes, we all have that one or two favourite kids but they needn’t know that.

Showing favouritism in class can have a drastic effect on your class. It is very dangerous to fiddle on those lines.