Building Relationships By Checking In with Students

Building relationships make a difference

Checking in with your students makes such a difference. Not only does is it improve student grades, but it is also key to building relationships between teachers and students.

According to edutopia, checking in with your students is a technique used for formative assessment, which has the potential to double student learning gains. Bill Younglove defines formative assessment as “the frequent, interactive, checking of student progress and understanding in order to identify learning needs and adjust teaching appropriately.”

How effective is “rounding”?

Another common term used for checking in is “rounding.” One of the most successful practices healthcare professionals do with their patients is round on them. Think of a patient in a hospital. The doctor comes to the patient’s room each day asking a very common set of questions. The doctor gathers formative information about the patient’s well-being and builds the relationship. When the doctor leaves the room, the patient feels cared about.

Why use this technique?

As teachers, we want to gather information about the students’ learning. While gathering information, we want students to know we care about them and are concerned about their well-being. Teachers are building relationships by making rounds on their students, or checking in with them. Said another way, teachers purposely connect with students to recognize success and determine barriers to student learning. Over time, this is what helps students to improve their grades because they get good feedback during their check in. Teachers let students know they will be connecting with them from time to time, and teachers make sure students clearly understand the purpose – for students to know teachers are concerned about how well they learn.

Remember the goal is to always be building relationships with students, to let them know you are concerned and care about them.

Feature Image source: KIPP:Blog

Resource: Who’s Engaged? Book