E A R T H S I D E
USEFUL TEACHING IDEAS FOR TEACHERS AND PARENTS
Get a Grip: Greeting Your Students
Get a Grip: Greeting Your Students
One common and rewarding way to start the school day, or any specialist class, is with a handshake
Shaking hands is a social skill that is required in western countries. The way we greet people is important, as first impressions are lasting. Moreover, starting with a handshake is an acknowledgement of the other, a mark of respect.
Have the students line up outside the class and greet them individually as they enter.
For the teacher, the handshake can also be a diagnostic tool. The teacher can attend to the child’s hand, stance, voice and general demeanour, and notice many things, including, but not limited to, the following;
• Warmth. Is the child too cold or too hot? Many children are underdressed in cold weather, leading to irritated behaviour, ill health, and an incapacity to concentrate during class.
• Distractedness. If a student presents in a silly or distracted way, they can be sent to the end of the line so that they have a greater chance of entering the class in a settled manner. They then join a class that is relatively more settled. If they enter badly, they are called out again.
• Eye contact. From the age of six or seven, children can be expected to develop proper eye contact when shaking hands. A persistent inability to make eye contact can indicate some psychological difficulty, but remember that there will be a range individual and cultural difference here.
• Unusual lack of presence. After a while, (perhaps a number of months) the teacher becomes accustomed to the feeling of the student’s normal handshake. A significant change in this on a particular day may indicate an abnormal event in the student’s life, such as a very late night or broken sleep, and may lead the teacher to watch the student more carefully or even to speak to the parent.
At the same time that the teacher is learning to more keenly observe and therefore better teach the student, the student is developing her own ability to touch and be touched and to be comfortable with the experience. The school day then starts with the teacher being ‘connected’ to the class in a physical way. The experience may remind the teacher of the need to take things easy or more carefully, especially on particularly unsettled days, with individual students or with the class as a whole.
Earthside Education
http://www.earthsideeducation.com/
earthside.education[at]westnet.com.au
(+61) 0449 025167
Shaking hands is a social skill that is required in western countries. The way we greet people is important, as first impressions are lasting. Moreover, starting with a handshake is an acknowledgement of the other, a mark of respect.
Have the students line up outside the class and greet them individually as they enter.
For the teacher, the handshake can also be a diagnostic tool. The teacher can attend to the child’s hand, stance, voice and general demeanour, and notice many things, including, but not limited to, the following;
• Warmth. Is the child too cold or too hot? Many children are underdressed in cold weather, leading to irritated behaviour, ill health, and an incapacity to concentrate during class.
• Distractedness. If a student presents in a silly or distracted way, they can be sent to the end of the line so that they have a greater chance of entering the class in a settled manner. They then join a class that is relatively more settled. If they enter badly, they are called out again.
• Eye contact. From the age of six or seven, children can be expected to develop proper eye contact when shaking hands. A persistent inability to make eye contact can indicate some psychological difficulty, but remember that there will be a range individual and cultural difference here.
• Unusual lack of presence. After a while, (perhaps a number of months) the teacher becomes accustomed to the feeling of the student’s normal handshake. A significant change in this on a particular day may indicate an abnormal event in the student’s life, such as a very late night or broken sleep, and may lead the teacher to watch the student more carefully or even to speak to the parent.
At the same time that the teacher is learning to more keenly observe and therefore better teach the student, the student is developing her own ability to touch and be touched and to be comfortable with the experience. The school day then starts with the teacher being ‘connected’ to the class in a physical way. The experience may remind the teacher of the need to take things easy or more carefully, especially on particularly unsettled days, with individual students or with the class as a whole.
Earthside Education
http://www.earthsideeducation.com/
earthside.education[at]westnet.com.au
(+61) 0449 025167
ES001 © Sean David Burke 2010. Free to Copy as is.
Sean is the author of Lighting the Literacy Fire: Creative Ideas for Teachers and Parents
Earthside Blog Index
1. Get a Grip: Starting the Day with a Handshake
3. Teach Something Meaningless
5. The Teacher as a Sower of Seeds
8. A Succession of Memorable Experiences
9. Writing Verses for Your Class
