Our students need to know that they are valuable to us. How do I make my students feel worthy? Looking at my students, I find it sweet and charming to recall what it was like to be a child and to be a student. This makes it easier for me to be young at heart, show empathy, and let my students know they matter.
Photo by Julia M Cameron
But many educators fail to realize that students’ emotions might get the best of them and interfere with their ability to learn. Hence, this post was created.
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<<Make your students feel they belong by making your classroom emotionally safe. Sounds just right! Read our lovely tips below.
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Throughout this time, we always have the opportunity to help our students feel like they have a place in the classroom and feel worthy.
So, how do I make my students feel worthy? Snatch the following practical tips so every student in your classroom can get the most out of their education and create meaningful learning experiences.
How Do I Make My Students Feel Worthy?
Every student in the classroom needs to feel valued. We must notice their unique capabilities and personalities. Their achievements must be celebrated. It could truly be life-changing for them.
1. Make the classroom a supportive space
Photo by Naomi Shi
For some students, the stress of life transitions, uncertainties, and challenges can be overwhelming and they need a certain welcoming space to make them feel better. It could be the classroom.
When we create a safe space for learning, our students feel worthy and they become interested in being in our class. Each day can be very exciting for them. Now, how do we make our classroom a supportive space?
Create a positive impression by being approachable and kind. When our students feel that they are supported through our actions and words, they give their confidence and trust. However, we should be consistent with our dealings so we won’t disappoint them.
Establish connections by being attentive to their academic and social needs. We should interact with them even after class. A casual yet sincere dialogue with them can make a big difference in how they feel. Eliciting students’ feelings and thoughts like asking them how they are and what they are thinking can create a positive impression.
A supportive space is a safe classroom environment. This is critical to our students’ well-being and their ability to perform better. Also, students have the impression that the only place outside their home where they may feel safe is at school.
2. Get to know your students
Getting to know our students is our own caring attitude. To begin, students get more interested in school as we get to know them better and they get to know us better as well.
We will begin by learning their names so we can call them by their first names. You can let them wear name tags for the first few weeks of classes and you should perform profiling of student interests.
Knowing our students means knowing their interests, skills, and learning styles. It can help us in crafting learning materials for differentiation. This makes students feel valued.
Also, this is the beginning of building strong relationships in school which is essential to a vibrant and dynamic learning environment. When we build meaningful relationships with our students, we foster an atmosphere conducive to learning together.
Aside from wearing name tags, you can also create wall spaces where students shoot their personal artifacts. They can share information about themselves creatively. Or you can have a scavenger hunt game to make the get-to-know activities fun and meaningful.
3. Show appreciation
Organize appreciation activities in the classroom so achievers are recognized and all students are appreciated for doing their best.
The best way to make students know how much we value them is to really show them. It can make them happy. It can increase their motivation and boost their self-worth.
Plan and implement appreciation activities in the classroom and in other venues. This can be the best way to make students feel worthy. During the program, we can invite students to share their meaningful experiences.
Similarly, the input from our students will let us know what’s most valuable and meaningful to them. In such a manner, we will be guided on how to make things in the classroom even more exciting.
4. Foster a sense of belonging
Photo by Max Fischer
Students who feel like they don’t fit in at school are more likely to become detached, distracted, and disengaged in learning, according to research.
On the other hand, students who have a sense of belonging are more likely to participate in school activities and are more involved in learning. They take ownership of their education and perform better.
We should create classroom environments that encourage participation and help them to develop a sense of belonging. As they are meant to belong in a safe space, they feel their worth. As a result, students learn knowledge and master life skills effortlessly when our classrooms communicate compassion, attractiveness, and foster harmony.
Additionally, with our prepared interactive motivational activities, for example, the think-pair-share strategy, our students will feel that they are indeed in an encouraging environment.
5. Set high expectations
One way of showing that we believe in our students’ capabilities and believing in their worth is by setting high expectations.
So, we are all after making our students feel valued. Then, we must set high expectations. And it should be for everybody in the classroom. We may have a heterogeneous mix of learners but we can’t just deprive the slow learners of the best learning opportunities they deserve.
It’s kin to the feeling when we see our students perform well and are all active participants in learning. This is because we trust in their worth and we give them the best education they deserve. We don’t settle for less and we always make every student a priority.
6. Differentiate instructions
Giving our students fair access to learning materials and creating individualized instructions are great ways of fostering differentiated instruction.
Also, addressing our students’ academic needs through varied learning activities is promoting students’ critical thinking and creativity.
When our classrooms allow a diversity of learning styles, our students will learn better and increase their motivation.
Understanding students’ differences and creating learning environments that accommodate all of them are the hallmarks of successful teachers.
As much as possible, all considerations must be made in order for each learner to enjoy learning and feel his or her worth. Let’s face it. This can be very challenging on our part, but this is what the teaching mission is all about. If teaching has been your passion, then differentiating instructions won’t be a pain.
7. Be consistent
As teachers, we should understand the role of consistency in our daily routines. Everything that we do creates a pattern not just for us but also for our students. When we are consistent with our classroom rules and norms, for example, our students can perform effectively.
Consistency is the key to successful classroom management. It is about maintaining a supportive learning environment with due consideration for every student in the classroom. This is to ensure that all students have equal opportunities to succeed.
We should be consistent with our dealings and emotional responses to our students. Our students should know what makes us upset and what happens when they mess up.
Unpredictable emotions of the teacher can affect the social-emotional aspects of the students as well. It’s good to be predictable in the way we treat our students when we talk about consistency and student behavior.
A sudden change of rules or patterns for classroom rules weakens the bond between teachers and students. Therefore, it’s really important that we plan and stick to our routines.
In other words, our treatment or the way we deal with our students should not take them by surprise. Just be consistent with your actions and words. There can be no learning without students feeling comfortable physically and emotionally, which is why maintaining a routine is important.
Here are some of the best results when students feel worthy:
- Increased student engagement
- Increased student performance
- In-depth love for learning
- Heightened students’ self-esteem
- Strong relationships between teachers and students
<<<Every kid needs a champion! Watch this video to establish a significant relationship in the classroom.
Conclusion
Student engagement has never been so crucial in teaching and learning. In order to keep students engaged, it is important to show them that we value and appreciate them. Simple and casual expressions of appreciation like “You’re doing great!”, “That’s a fantastic idea”, and “Very good” are musical pieces that our students would love to hear.
When students feel heard and valued, they are confident that their existence matters. Their voices are heard. They are convinced that they are in a caring and positive learning environment. It’s an excellent method for laying a firm basis for future teaching and learning endeavors.
