The Learner-Teacher Relationship

"The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.  

Don't go back to sleep."

                                ~Rumi

As I drove into work nice and early this morning, I reflected on the many amazing things I saw in Stone Bank classrooms this first week of the 2018-19 school year.  John Hattie, an educational researcher who wrote a book called Visible Learning, has done much work around what kinds of behaviors produce a large effect size (a statistical concept that measures the strength of a relationship between two variables) in learning environments.  Evidence based research has show that "students who have constructive relationships with their teachers are more likely to do well at school, and teachers who actively build such relationships have a strong effect on the lives of their students" (Hattie).  The visual below shows that the learner-teacher relationship has a .72 effect size, on a 1.2 scale.

Why is this important for you to know?  Because the amount of thoughtful learning opportunities that Stone Bank teachers engaged in with students this week were deeply grounded in the evidence-based practice of building strong relationships with learners, right from the very beginning.  I sat in on a class that did an activity on Fixed v. Growth Mindsets, a math class where kids were working in pairs while the teacher zoomed from group to group coaching, inspiring, and naming the great things learners were doing.  I was in another class that did an activity where they brainstormed, shared, and honored different ways learners read, write, and think about reading and writing.  I sat in on the most fun and hilarious music class ever with a teacher who clearly understood the importance of Hattie's work on the learner-teacher relationship and I wished I could do music class all over again!  I got to be a part of class that was engaged in delegating classroom jobs to students, so that they could have ownership in their learning environments.  I heard a student say, "I can't".  His teacher walked over to him, knelt down to his level, put her arm around him and said, "Yes, buddy, you can.  I know you can." And you know what?  He did!  He took the book back to his spot and read that book!  I could go on and on, but I think you get the point...the staff at Stone Bank School not only understand the importance of the learner-teacher relationship, but they purposefully plan and engage in activities that grow and deepen these relationships.

Next week we will be starting our coaching cycles as we delve into Reader's Workshop!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Beth