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It is very important for a teacher to establish rapport with their students. Students come from various backgrounds and are very diverse. One student may enjoy having conversations while another student in class may be shy and avoidant when the teacher makes eye contact. One student may live in a single parent home while another student lives with both parents in their household. One student may have had tutors help them throughout their education and another student in class may have had to rely on being self-taught. Students in the classroom are very diverse and it is up to the teacher to establish rapport with the student in order to learn about their strengths and their preferences to learning. In chapter 20 of the course, the text mentions ways that the teacher can establish rapport with her students. Using questionnaires and using surveys are things that the teacher can use to learn about their students. A questionnaire and a survey contains multiple choice or true or false questions that refer to the characteristics of a person. For example, a questionnaire could have a question such as, “How many siblings do you have?”. The students can respond with an answer such as, “I have two brothers and one sister.” And with this information the teacher can determine that the student will most likely be comfortable working in a group with their peers because they come from a big family. Also, the questionnaire can have questions that aim to identify student preferences for different styles of learning such as visual, kinesthetic, and verbal methods. Games also help the teacher establish rapport with the student. For example, “Pass the ball” is a game that requires only a simple item. The teacher picks up the ball and passes it to the student and the student is expected to answer the question that the teacher poses. Once the student has answered the question the student can then throw the ball back to the teacher and ask them a question. The ball is a fun prop to guide the conversation. Also, the teacher can insert rapport questions into things such as warmers. Warmers are used at the beginning of the school day and have the objective of a gentle introduction into a lesson. The student may be tired because it is early in the morning. Thus, the teacher has the student complete a warmer before jumping into the rigorous lesson. Some things that I’ve used in my classroom to establish rapport have been cooperative learning discussion questions, card games, and Art. I often use cooperative learning strategies such as the Kagan structure Rally Robin. I post a question such as “What did you eat for Thanksgiving?” and have my students state food items to their neighbors and to me. Using cooperative learning has allowed me to introduce topics that my students are interested in and topics that are nonacademic. I also like to use art to establish rapport with my students. I allow my students painting time in the classroom so they can paint pictures of their family, pets, and friends etc. Their paintings serve as topics for discussion. Establishing rapport is important because it builds trust between the student and the teacher. If a student feels comfortable then they are more likely to answer questions that the teacher asks. Also, they are more likely to have positive relationships with other students in the classroom. If a student knows that their teacher is interested in learning about their likes, dislikes, and preferences for learning then they are more likely to have open conversations with the teacher.
