Ready, Set, Connect! 5 Activities to Build Strong Connections With Students

Purpose & objective

Participants will be inspired to strengthen their connections with students through engaging,tech-infused learning activities.
Participants will be able to implement any or all of the 5 learning activities designed to build connections with students.
Participants will engage in interactive activities through discussion/chat and collaboration using tools such as Padlet.

Outline

Welcome & Introduction (5 minutes)
5 Activities to Build Strong Connections

3 About Me (7 minutes)
Participants will introduce themselves by posting to a Padlet board during this activity.

Playlist (7 minutes)
Participants will create a playlist together in a shared document

A Great Read Aloud (10 minutes)
We will share a favourite read aloud and engage in a collaborative activity using a shared document.

Would You Rather (5 minutes)
Participants will participate in this activity using chat. \

One Word (5 minutes)
Participants will try this activity in the chat window

Questions & Conclusion (5 minutes)

Supporting research

There is research to support the benefit of strong relationships between students and their teacher. One helpful article comes from Furrer, Skinner & Pitzer (2014). Furrer et al. (2014) stated that “The basis for student–teacher relationships, like all close relationships, is interpersonal liking and trust” (p.105). We’ve been teaching for a combined 30+ years and have seen the value of developing positive, trusting relationships with our students. Furrer et al. (2014) explained, “When teachers are dependable sources of emotional and instrumental support in difficult times, students feel connected to their teachers and safe at school” (p.105). In addition, investing time in building strong connections with students may help them develop their own motivational resources which students can use when they encounter difficulties (Furrer et al., 2014). The pandemic has presented a host of additional difficulties in addition to the challenges already common to students pre-pandemic. Now, more than ever, we need to build strong relationships with students in order to support them in their learning and personal development.

Furrer, C. J., Skinner, E. A., & Pitzer, J. R. (2014). The influence of teacher and peer relationships on students’ classroom engagement and everyday motivational resilience. National Society for the Study of Education, 113(1), 101-123.