First of all, Happy New Year to all of you reading this. A new year is such an exciting time. We all hit the internal reset button, having reflected on the past year and making goals for the next. Looking back at my last post of 2022, you will find that the first step in fixing Tier 1 instruction depends on a very important perspective in relation to the kids coming to us at school. We call them students, but in reality they are learners. This shift in mindset is the first domino that must fall in order to make the other necessary decisions to create a thriving and viable Tier 1. The next step though has more to do with the heart than with the head.
The next thing we must do after deciding that the kids showing up at the schoolhouse door are learners, not students is to decide that we must love these learners. As the iconic Beatles song states, “There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done […] All you need is love.” If we want to do the work involved in making Tier 1 everything it can be, loving learners is required. That is a choice. Love is a choice. We have to enter our rooms having decided that no matter a kid’s background, address, family income, attitude, behaviors or anything else coming through the door that we will love this kid enough to do what is best for learning.
That can be hard, I know. Now, know this. I didn’t say “liking learners is required.” I have 3 sons. I love them. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for any one of them because I love them. But, have they been hard to like at times. You bet! They catch attitudes, pop off at the mouth, roll eyes, huff and the like. They disappoint, and I communicate that with them. But at the end of the day, no matter what happens, they know I love them and have their backs. Our academic kids need the same commitment from us as our genetic ones. Why? There’s many reasons.
I’ll start with a self-serving one first, kids who don’t feel cared about by you in your classroom will not produce learning for you. They may work here and there. They may comply from time to time, but if you want deep, meaningful learning in a Tier 1 environment, kids need to feel cared for, protected and safe. They need to feel safe to take risks, to make mistakes, to ask questions. If kids know, I mean KNOW, you have their backs no matter what, they will move mental mountains for you in the classrooms. On the other hand, if a kid doesn’t feel that you like him, if a learner feels like you are ignoring her or are rude, then you are only making the job of producing learning in your room harder on yourself. Love your learners so they will learn for and with you.
Another reason why we need to make sure the learners coming to us know they are loved is a sad truth. Your room may be the only place they feel cared for, safe and valued. Your room may be the only place they aren’t yelled at by an adult, or worse. Your room may be the only place they laugh. Your room may be the only peace they feel all day. The school may be the only place they are fed. When we choose to love the kids coming to us, we have to love them as they come to us. We have to realize that how they come to us is beyond our control, beyond our influence. But what we can control is our response.
Am I saying kids who act out should just be loved and patted on the head and all is well? Of course not. Accountability is necessary for a positive learning environment just as much as praise is. What I am saying is that kids come to us and we expect them “to know how to act” at school, when in reality, they haven’t been taught the expectations at times. When kids come to us and don’t know how to read. We teach. When they can’t add or subtract. We teach. When they can’t write an essay. We teach. When they misbehave, we yell or punish them. Maybe love allows these moments to become another lesson to learn when misbehaviors occur instead of a “Now I got you!” Kids need more, “Don’t worry, I got you” relationships with adults than the “Now I got you!” reactions from adults.
So what do you do to build those positive student relationships with students in order to make your Tier 1 all it can be and more? What does loving a kid in your class look like?
Well, you can:
- Know and pronounce their names correctly.
- Don’t yell at kids (unless imminent physical danger is present)
- Smile at them.
- Get to know things about them that have nothing to do with school.
- Find out one or more of their goals or dreams and try to contribute.
- Laugh with them.
- Be firm, fair and consistent with all kids at all times.
- Be a dedicated teammate in their learning.
- Check in to make sure your positive actions are transferring into realized perception.
- Praise them consistently and constantly.
Like I said, love is a choice. Our actions, reactions and responses are choices as well. Making the choice to love through how we act, react and respond can make a world of difference to a kid’s whole world. It also makes your job in the classroom a lot easier as well. Love your learners. Act in love during their learning time with you. Watch where love and learning take your Tier 1 instruction this year.
