Caring Classroom Leaders: Building Rapport
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Effective teachers become classroom leaders when they know how to genuinely relate to students. A classroom leader knows how to manage the emotions and relationships of others, models well-developed communication skills, and positively reinforces respect and sensitivity for the individual students and their cultures. |
The classroom leader models and facilitates warm and caring interactions with students. The classroom leader skillfully creates a classroom culture of caring and sensitivity in such a way that, when students see these skills consistently modeled and encouraged, they will start to point out when other students demonstrate disrespectful behaviors toward the teacher or each other.
A large part of building rapport involves observation, gathering data on students, and looking for opportunities to connect or reflect on common experiences. It means empowering students in that they are confident that their teacher knows them, cares about them, and treats them with respect.