S2-Ep2 - Importance Of Relationships

Angela:

Hello, welcome back to I've Tried Everything, a podcast focusing on behavior supports in schools. I'm your host, Angela Eisenberg, project coordinator at Region 13. Every week I talk with educators just like you. We cover some tough topics, share stories, and explore what works and what doesn't. Let's go. I'm joined today by William from Deer Park Middle School in Round Rock ISD. William, I'm so glad that you're here with me today. He's a part of our education certification program here at Region 13. You're a new to the profession.

William:

Yes, I am. Thank you, Angela.

Angela:

If you had to choose a song to sum up your first month, six weeks of school, what would that song be?

William:

I would say it probably has to be I'm Still Standing by Elton John.

Angela:

I love that, I love that. I've heard everything from I Will Survive to Rise Up, so that's awesome. That's awesome. Thinking about your classroom and the importance of building relationships with students, what is a strategy or something that you've done, that you've put into place in your classroom that you feel like that has started that really strong relationship building?

William:

I would say that my first worry when entering the classroom was, do I know everybody's name? I feel like knowing the name has the power, and that was something I really tried to drive in the first week of school. My mentor on campus is the ECT, the early career teacher instructional coach, and she gave me some advice where she would always do her attendance with a photo of the student-

Angela:

Oh, that's a great idea.

William:

And their name. The teacher access center that Round Rock uses has a photo version of the attendance, and so I use that every single day so that I can recognize that student even when they're outside of my classroom, because I feel like it's much easier to redirect unwanted behavior or inappropriate behavior if you know the student's name.

Angela:

That is an excellent way to look at it. When you think about a student's name, or even our names, our names are very personal to us.

William:

Yes.

Angela:

It's so important that not only do we know their name, but we know how to pronounce their name and make them feel that welcome in that sense. I always did, in my classroom, the name game where we went through everybody like, "Hi, my name's Angela," and then the next person would say, "Hi, my name's William and that's Angela." Because for me, it's a huge repetition kind of thing. But, having those pictures and having that correlation so that when you see them in the hallway and you can build those connections with them outside of your classroom is a great way to put that foundation of relationships in your classroom. When you think about professional development, in our education certification program, you get tons of professional development that you get on nights and weekends and that sort of thing. Then, I know schools do professional development. Of all the situations that you've been in for learning, what would you say is one of the best strategies or tips that has been impactful for you in your classroom?

William:

I would say really just making sure that you take the time to teach the behavior expectations that you want your students to follow. The ones that we were provided with, the ones that we were having examples of from Region 13 were super important to me, but I use the five P's: polite, prepared, patient, responsible. I cannot remember them all because I'm on a podcast for the first time.

Angela:

That's okay.

William:

But, I do stand by them and I introduce them and I reintroduce them and I reteach as necessary. I really do hold the students accountable by taking the time to share what kind of behavior expectations I have in the classroom.

Angela:

Do you consider those your g