Relating in the classroom

     After the discussion in class about relating and being able to relate in the classroom, I decided to expand on my thoughts on the subject. As stated in class, I have always felt it is beyond crucial for both the students and the teacher to relate in some fashion. First, although it is often challenging for a teacher to be able to relate to his or her students, I know from experience that it can affect how well the class will respond to the teacher. When a teacher acts as if they are in some way superior to his or her students, it is common for the class to give little response even if they were to grasp the information or task at hand. The same thing goes for the material covered during a lesson. 

     Over winter break I completed my observation hours at Aliquippa Junior/Senior high school. Here, I witnessed the effect of covering a topic which students can relate to versus something which doesn’t “touch close to home” so to speak. The classes I observed were eighth grade reading and grammar classes. During the three days that I had been there, the classrooms were literally sheer chaos. Each day, a handful of students were written up or kicked out of class for behavioral reasons or causing other disruptions. Eventually, it was time for one of the later classes to begin reading a novel. The novel had been about characters in which the class could relate and let me tell you, the demeanor of the students changed dramatically. Suddenly, everyone was quiet and attentive. The students clearly wanted to learn and were itching to turn the page--unable to wait to figure out what would happen next. It was truly a touching moment considering the students who were once unruly and wily were now deeply absorbed in a story about individuals around their age experiencing similar situations as all of them—making the story relevant. The transformation was so rapid and profound I couldn’t avoid smiling. 

     That moment made my decision to become a teacher concrete; I immediately imagined all the other “aha” moments I would experience in my own classroom. While in today’s schools it is more of a challenge to pick material which strays away from traditional reads and the curriculum, choosing stories which students can relate to would make an enormous impact. On the other hand, if I am not able to select easily related texts for my students, I welcome the challenge of taking a piece of work and giving both myself and my classroom the opportunity to look at it unconventionally through our own eyes in order to understand and learn.