Paramount Bonds by: Nihar Kandarpa

One of the most paramount things in the classroom is rapport between a teacher and a student. It helps amplify many other things in the classroom as well, such as individualized learning. Rapport is generated through a lot of ways, but teachers can start simple. One of the best ways to achieve rapport is through an entry routine, because it is done every day, and it becomes a habit for both the teachers and the students. Entry routines are always a good tool to get to know a student, if a teacher uses entry routines properly. These routines can include assignments, but they also include how the teacher greets the student every morning. Many times, a teacher in the classroom sits in the corner of the classroom working, and students just come in, take a seat, and get to work on a bell-ringer worksheet or something of the sort. If a teacher utilizes this time before class to get to know students, rapport will automatically generate. My sixth-grade history teacher not only greeted every student that walked by or into his classroom with a smile, but also said their names gave them high-fives. Even in eighth-grade, students still talk about how great of a teacher he was. That’s because he generated such great rapport with his students, and it all started by greeting them at the door.

Another way to get to know students through an entry routine is by asking a new question every day. If a teacher utilizes the time before class to ask questions individually to every student walking into his/her classroom, then rapport cannot help but take place.

         Individualized learning is also something that helps rapport take place. It is a mutual relationship, because rapport causes individualized learning, but individualized learning also causes rapport to be generated.

Situation #1

Students listen while a teacher is up at the promethean board talking. The teacher has been continuously talking for fifteen minutes. A student in the back is drawing something. The sound of the pencil scratching the paper is drowned out by the constant talking of the teacher, though. One student is looking at his phone, making sure to hide it in his desk. Some other students have zoned out and are looking at the blank walls in the classroom. Only a small portion of the students are listening to the teacher’s speech. That small portion is hard to find.

Situation #2

The teacher is drawing a graphic organizer on the board, as the test is two days from now. She is using real world examples and analogies to support her claims, and is asking questions every now and then to engage students. One student raises his hand, all the way in the back. He was drawing before, but now he’s not.

He likes this lesson.

But he’s confused about one thing. The teacher calls on him, and he asks: “How do symbiotic relationships work?”

The teacher thinks for a moment. “You like Star Wars, right?”

The student nods.

“Can Darth Vader live without his robotic suit?”

“No, he can’t.”

“That’s how symbiotic relationships work. If one organism has a mutual symbiotic relationship with another organism, they have to work together to live.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” The student sighs, and sits down.

Situation #2 is a rather general instance that shows how rapport benefits individualized learning, and vice versa. If a teacher knows a student well, it’s amazing how easy it is for the student to understand topics. If individualized learning is implemented, great heights can be achieved in the classroom.