Building a Relationship

Building a relationship with the struggling students is the foundation of helping them learn. There are actually two interrelated types of relationships that teacher have with their students: a personal relationship and a learning relationship. Building a learning relationship means transferring that connection into a productive partnership aimed at improving the students' skills, both academic and social-emotional ones. It is important to have that personal relationship, but it must transfer to learning. There are five characteristics of teachers who have good personal and learning relationships with their students such as caring, positive attitude, good communicator, effective powerpoint slides or Prezi presentations. Teacher actions are grouped into two categories: environmental factors and a focus on learning. The overall environment in the classroom impacts teachers's relationship with students, their motivation, and ultimately their learning. There are three specific ways that teacher can improve the climate of the classroom: provide safety and security, encourage ownership of learning, and create a positive atmosphere.