Week 14 Reflection

Building rapport with your students is one of the most important things that a teacher can do with their students in my opinion. Throughout the first three weeks I feel as though I've put myself out there to show to my students that I'm interested in building trust and a relationship with all of them. I feel confident in my methods and behavior towards them, however, I'm still figuring out where the relationship ends and the role of the teacher begins. I value the relationships that I've begun to build with my students and I hope they see that, but I know that it would be a disservice to them to just end there with it. It is my responsibility and desire to be a teacher to them as well. In the first three weeks, I've been able to teach, discipline, handle situations fairly well but I wonder how much more effective could I've handled them and with how much more professionalism. There are times when my students will walk by me in the hall and kid around with me which I think is fine, but there are also times when they come and give a nudge or a shoulder as a joke. This is the point that I'm uneasy. It's not because I'm upset or afraid of what just happened, but I view this as them feeling comfortable with me as more of a "friend" role than a teacher role. I don't know exactly what to do. Do I let it go and continue to be chummy with my students or do I shrink back from that role and become more stern and serious with them? I personally think a little bit of both with more in the chummy end of it but I'm not certain as of yet. I guess it'll come with more time with them, discussions with teachers about their feelings as well as my own comfortability with it all.