Apply Knowledge of Students to Engage Them: 

You learn a great deal about people through their writing. As an English teacher, I am fortunate enough to have almost daily insights into the perspectives of my students. However, beyond frequent personal narrative assignments and notebook entries, I have made a regular habit of asking my students to answer a "Question of the Day." These questions are centered around community-building. By asking non-content related questions, I not only help students relax into open and convivial dialogue with their classmates, but also learn a great deal about their personalities, interests, values, opinions, and lives beyond the walls of my classroom. I use this knowledge to craft lessons and activities that help ELA learning feel personally relevant to each student. 

Maintain Ongoing Communication with Students and Families:

Part of educating whole people means maintaining clear communication in and outside of the classroom, and connecting to students' surrounding communities. Students flourish when their families take a vested interest in their learning, and this interest comes when families feel involved, informed, and valued. In addition to Back to School Night connections and the Letter of Introduction sent home at the beginning of each term, I actively reach out to parents via email, phone call, and Parent Square. This can be seen in this Parent Contact Log, which chronicles my interactions with parents of my English 10 students over the course of my student-teaching semester. Through this practice, I learned just how powerful a positive phone call or email home can be; both as a tool to reinforce positive behaviors/attitudes in the classroom AND foster a deeper sense of belonging for parents and students alike.