Week 13-lunch

This past week one of my students asked to have lunch with me and since I did not have any planning or meetings I agreed. So, after recess my student came up with their lunch and the two of us ate in the classroom and talked the whole time. Not that I did not like this student, she is actually one of my favorites but I was looking to be able to relax during lunch and grade some papers. However, by the end of lunch I was happy that the student came to have lunch with me and genuinely enjoyed my time talking with her. We talked about funny things that happened when we were babies to what the student plans to do in the future as well as myself. The twenty minutes seemed to fly by and it seemed as though the stuff we talked about was silly and not important but looking back it was the best thing that could have happened.

Having lunch with that student, I learned more about her than I would have ever in the entire year. Hearing her stories helped me gain a better understanding of her family, her home life, where she comes from, what she does outside of school, things she struggles with, things she loves and succeeds at and what she considers as fun. Since learning all about this student, I feel as though I not only can better asisst her when she has questions but I feel like we connected on another teacher-student level thus she listens more, participates more and is always eager to show me she has completed something. It was as if I saw an entire different student, it was not until that moment that I realized I want to have a one on one lunch with all my students.

Having a one on one lunch with all my students could not only tell me  more about the student and form that teacher student bond but it also allows the student to see the teacher on another level. For example, the following day I had to talk with this student about a behavior issue that happened. This student was very receptive to what I had to say and understood that I was not yelling at her just to yell at her but that I cared about her, whether her behavior was good or bad. So, although there were consequences for her actions she did not harbor any feelings of anger against me because we had that previous bond over good conversation and not all negative.