Teachers have a lot of things to do, especially at the beginning of the year! But one of the most important things that you can do is to take the time to build and invest in relationships! Relationships are the cornerstone of an effective classroom. Below, I’m giving you six ways to build positive relationships with students at the beginning of the year!
1. Send The Students A Meet The Teacher Letter
Before the school year begins, send a meet the teacher welcome letter to each of your students.
You will want to address the letter right to your students! We used to get our class lists about 3 weeks before school began. So, I would usually wait until about 2 weeks before the first day to send the letter home.
To save time, have a few extra letters prepped in envelopes for any new students you may get. That way all you have to do is put the address on it.
I highly recommend that you include a picture of you on the letter so that students can know what you look like. Also, include some fun information about you so that they can learn a little bit about you before they meet you! It was always so much fun to have students come into the classroom for the first time and with a big smile say “I got your letter! And I love to read too!” Or “My favorite candy is Kit Kat!”
This letter is also ultimately introducing you to the parents too! So, it’s like a two-for-one in helping you build positive relationships right from the start!
Do you need a ready-to-go editable letter? This easy to use Meet The Teacher Template will save you so much time!
2. Have A Little Gift On Students Desks For The First Day Of School
The first day of school is always so exciting and so nerve-wracking! For both us and our students!
I love leaving a little gift on my students desk for them to find the first time they come into our classroom.
It doesn’t have to be big or expensive! Just having something small for them to feel special and to know that you are so excited to be their teacher goes a long way!
Quite a few notes from my Encouragement Notes Resource can be easily paired with gifts! For example, you can never go wrong with play dough! Wouldn’t your students love getting this note from you?
If you need more ideas for a little gift, I have a blog post about 7 Budget-Friendly Beginning Of The Year Gifts FOr Students that you will love!
3. Use A Getting To Know You Bag
One of my favorite activities to do to start building positive relationships with students during the first week of school is a getting to know you bag!
It is such a fun and easy activity to do!! On the first day of school students will get to know you by pulling items about you out of a bag! Then, you’ll send home a bag with them to bring back on the second day of school for a special getting to know you show and tell time!
I’ve written a whole blog post about how to use this fun and easy Getting To Know You Bag activity for the first week of school HERE.
And you can get the FREE editable note for the student’s bag HERE!
4. Do A Ton Of Read Alouds During The First Weeks
Read alouds are a great way to build a positive classroom community! They also help to start building a love of reading in students! You know the saying that “readers are built on the laps of their parents?” Well, I believe that readers are built on the laps of their parents AND on the carpets of their teachers!
I highly recommend having a ton of read alouds planned for the first weeks of school! In fact, I usually had four read alouds planned just for the first day!
Read alouds can be read for fun! However, they also work great for tying into what you are trying to teach and learn! Teaching students about rules? Read “Officer Buckle and Gloria” before you teach them the classroom rules. Or read “The Recess Queen” before going over playground expectations. Need some more ideas? I’ve put together a entire blog post of some of my favorite back to school read alouds!
5. Create An All About Me Class Book Together
Not only is it good to read books together as a class, but it’s also fun to make books together! Why not combine reading and writing with a fun getting to know you activity! Your students will love getting to make this FREE All About Me Class Book!
It’s so easy to do! Just pick one of the 5 All About Me writing line options included for your students to write and draw all about them! Then, use the All About Me Class Book Cover to turn your students’ writing into a class book. You can then add it into your classroom library for students to read!
Students LOVE getting to read each other’s writing and it affirms that they are real authors and illustrators! Plus, it’s a great way to get to know each other and continue building those positive relationships!
You can grab this FREE All About Me Class Book HERE!
6. Make A Positive Call Home To Each Family Within The First 2 Weeks
I highly recommend you make a positive phone call home to each of your students’ families within the first 2 weeks (3 weeks max). When you call you will want to talk to a parent/guardian.
This sounds like a lot, but it is totally doable! Plus, the impact it has on building positive relationships with your students and their families is HUGE!!
On the first day of school you will notice that there may be a student or two that are going to need some extra love and support to be successful this year. Those students are going to be the ones that you call first. The reason for this is that there will probably be other calls that will need to take place later in the year. And you will want that first call to be positive!
How To Make a Positive Phone Call Home:
When you call you can say something like this, “Hi, this is Mrs. Foxwell (you’ll insert your name here). I just wanted to call and let you know how much I am enjoying having Johnny (you’ll insert the student’s name here) in my class! Today, when we were reading on the carpet he was listening so well to our story (you’ll insert one positive thing you noticed that the student did.) I am so glad that I get to be his teacher this year and I’m so excited to get to partner with you this year in first grade (you’ll insert your grade here) as Johnny continues to learn and grow! And I just had to call to tell you that!”
It would probably take me about 2-3 hours to call every student’s family. These don’t have to be long conversations. Some, of course, will be longer than others. But, I highly recommend that you actually take the time to make a phone call home. Do not just send home a note for this. This allows every first call home to be positive! It also lets parents/guardians know that you are on their side and for their child’s success!
Making a positive call home to each family within the first 2 weeks is one of the best things that you can do to build positive relationships with your students and their families!
Continued Positive Communication With Families:
Throughout the year try to continue the positive communication with families through calls and notes too! No one likes to only hear the hard things. And there will be some hard conversations needed with some families during the year. But they will go so much better if your students’ families know that you are one of their child’s greatest cheerleaders!!
If you need an easy way to stay organized and consistent with parent communication all year long, you’re going to love my Parent Communication Bundle!
It includes this Parent Communication Log that is great to use to track communication with families!
6 Ways To Build Positive Relationships With Students
Positive relationships are the cornerstone of an effective classroom. Taking the time at the beginning of the year to build positive relationships with your students will set you up for success for the rest of the year!
The six ways to do this at the beginning of the year are: sending students a meet the teacher letter. Leaving a small gift on their desk is always a fun surprise too! You can also do a fun getting to know you activity with your students the first week of school. Or create an All About Me Class Book together! Make sure to plan for quite a few read alouds during the first weeks. And strive to make a positive call home to each family the first two weeks of school!
Save Time With These Resources!
If you need some ready-to-go, time-saving resources to build positive relationships then you’re going to love the resources below that I mentioned in this post!
Leave a Reply