Relationships
In all of the Teacher Tales podcasts I have done and all of the conversations I have had with teachers throughout my career, the most important thing in teaching, learning and having a successful experience in school seems to come down to one main factor.
Can you guess what that is?
Funding?
Test scores?
Parent involvement?
Resources?
Support?
Words of praise?
More pay?
These are all indeed variables that can affect the “success” equation, however, all of these hinge on the ONE THING that teachers tell me is the KEY to their success, student success, school success, educational success…
RELATIONSHIPS!
It is also the main reason teachers tell me that they stay in the profession despite some or all of the other things mentioned above that might be lacking or missing altogether.
This is what Jimmy Buffet says about relationships in his song Fruitcakes:
Now here comes the big ones, relationships, we all got ’em
We all want ’em, what do we do with ’em?
Here we go, I’ll tell ya
She said you gotta do your fair share
Now cough up half the rent
I treat my body like a temple
You treat yours like a tent
But the right word at the right time
May get me a little hug
That’s the difference between lightning
And a harmless lightnin’ bug
This is such a profound thing for me, both in and out of the classroom.
“The right word at the right time”
Words have power to nurture and develop a healthy relationship or to destroy it and make it toxic.
In many presentations I have done about the “Affective Domain in the Classroom”, I have shown these pictures and sited the work of Masaru Emoto and The Hidden Messages in Water.
The WWWWWH (who, what, when, where, why and how) of the expression of our words creates that “difference between lightning and a harmless lightnin’ bug”.
Do our words strike someone down, give them a painful, life threatening jolt or do the flitter and flutter and bring a warm, glowing light to our hearts?
Words have the power to lift us up or knock us down.
How we talk to ourselves and others, the words we choose and the expressions we make are so critical to our well-being and the well-being of the world around us.
The can either be bridges to understanding and make connections to others… OR They can be a divide that gorges a deep, uncrossable ravine with steep, rocky sides and treacherous cliffs carved away by the erosive language we use with each other.
It is ALWAYS a choice we have!
Teachers and parents especially need to be mindful of the words they use with each other and with children.
Relation comes from the Anglo-French relacioun, meaning “report or connection”.
Ship, to me, is a vessel for carrying the GOOD(S).
Relationship is the vessel for carrying good words, good deeds and making good connections.
Perhaps report cards should share more of the good that children are doing rather than a letter or number system that is very impersonal and less meaningful.
What can we do as teachers (and parents) to create less lightening and more harmless lightenin’ bugs?
Use your words wisely!
Also, I invite you to listen to the Spirit of Teaching podcast called Teacher Tales to hear more about the nurturing, long-lasting relationships that teachers have developed with their students.
Inspirational song:
Fruitcakes by Jimmy Buffet
Photo credits:
“Relationships/Community” by tuchodi is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
The Hidden Messages in Water by Masaru Emoto
Need a spirit "spark" to start your week?
Subscribe to our mailing list and you'll receive a message of support and encouragement right in your inbox every Sunday evening. Sundays don't have to be so scary!
Thank you for subscribing.
Something went wrong.