The Relationship Business
Three high schools in our district were given a few extra teacher allocations this year under a Federal Graduation Initiative Grant to create a plan to help support student achievement and graduation. All three school created three very different plans. When each of the leaders of the three pilot schools recently facilitated a student focus group session at one of the other schools, one theme stood out clearly—It is about the relationships the adults make with their students that count!
Question after question—throughout the focus group session, students told me about their teachers not giving up on them. “The teacher does not allow me to fail,” one senior student told me. “Before, I could miss class or put my head down and they would not care.”
“If I am absent, they call looking for me,” another student mentioned.
I saw smiles from students who explained they are now passing all their classes. They told me they would previously cut school to avoid classes they struggled in. Sometimes they would misbehave to avoid the work.
When I pressed the group on why things are better it really came down to the teachers caring about them. “The teachers really get to know me and what is going on with me.”
One student told me, “I am never tardy or absent now because I respect my teacher too much and they want me to be successful.” A combination of persistence and caring from the teacher really helped build confidence with students who previously struggled in school. Some of the students failed all their classes last year and some chose just to not come at all.
“Before, when I missed a day the teacher would tell me to go to their website for the missing work…I never did that. Now they hand it to me and insist I get caught up.”
When I chatted with my colleagues from the other pilot schools, they shared the same themes from their focus groups. We discussed how our programs differed but they were all successful-- so far due to the amount of dedication, caring and persistence from the teachers. It was wonderful to see those genuine smiles.
In retrospect, taking the time to hear how students feel is very powerful good or bad. I think we need to do it more and hear what they have to say. They have wonderful ideas we can implement with a little creativity. But what students really want is to know you care. Once they know you care and trust is present—their potential is endless. We work in the Relationship Business.
“Students do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.”-Unknown
