When I volunteered during September and October last year in 2009 at Iowa City West high school, Ashley, an at risk student asked me to help her with a creative writing paper that focused on a life-changing experience. She was writing about her Dad who recently went to jail and suffered from an alcohol addiction. Every student comes from a different family and background and aspects outside of school can affect students’ academic achievement, motivation, and may be the cause that places them in an at risk class. Being on the opposite side of a student-educator relationship reminded me of the support and encouragement that my teachers provided me with. Working with students from various backgrounds is something that every educator faces in the classroom. The biggest challenge of this reality is forming interpersonal, constructive student-teacher relationships that provide every student with the equal opportunity to obtain successful levels of achievement in and outside of the classroom. Personal, positive relationships with students are created when teachers willingly support them academically and acknowledge the importance of learning who every student is individually. Since then and presently, I have established a basis for what I believe will contribute and help me form personal and positive student-teacher relationships when I become an educator.
I still believe this fully and during practicum I did my best to practice forming such relationships with my students. It is vital to their growth as a student and as an individual, and if you make the effort, I promise the experience is rewarding!
