Students Know

There was a great article in the Dec. 1st issue of Ed Week, about an Ohio school that turned itself around.  The great part of the article wasn't about how a tech company had partnered with them to give students access to technology.  That alone will not make a school great, or increase student involvement. The best part is that a group of community members lobbied to keep the school open, the district recruited a dedicated person to be the principal who worked hard to find the tech partners, and the fact that any student can attend.  It's about relationships...people believing in each other. The principal is quoted as saying, "When kids believe that you really want them to be successful, they'll do whatever you want them to do."  Students know what you have in mind.  They can sense it like a shark senses its prey.  If they know that the school doesn't really think they can succeed, then what's the motivation to try?  It seems that our best teaching tool is to develop an authentically caring relationship with our students so that they can see in themselves what we see in them.  We create an environment where we can do our best together, on the same side.