Kid Whisperer Nation Teacher Tips #131-135
Kid Whisperer Nation Teacher Tip Number 131
BREATHE
Would you like to take care of yourself, press the pause button and freak out your students? When you notice things getting a bit harried and hurried in your room (mostly) close your eyes, inhale deeply through your nose and breathe out through your mouth. Four to ten times. You may be surprised how it slows everyone down so that you can again concentrate and maybe even enjoy the room again.
Kid Whisperer Nation Teacher Tip Number 132
YELL
Find something positive and yell about it. Yell really, really loud. You students have a yearning to see emotion. Most of them are about 10 times more skilled at getting that emotion through negative behaviors than with positive behaviors, so beat them to it and give them the emotion that they want to see before they use those negative behaviors to get what they want!
Kid Whisperer Nation Teacher Tip Number 133
LAUGH
Catch your students doing something funny and laugh about it in front of your students. Laughter is a very easy way to have an authentic, connecting moment with your students, even if those students don’t trust you yet. Laughter is a good way to “jump start” a relationship with a kid or kids because it is a primal part of our psyches that is easier to trust than words.
Kid Whisperer Nation Teacher Tip Number 134
FEEL THE SAME THING AS YOUR STUDENTS:
PART I: WITH INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS
As much as possible, look for opportunities to feel the same feelings as your students. The kinds of feelings you feel with them are unimportant, just empathizing with them authentically is what matters. If a child forgets his homework, feel sad with him before you say or do anything else. If you see that a student is excited that he won a dodgeball game in PE, get as excited as he is and keep high-fiving him until he gets tired of it. If a student gets sad that he missed the bus, get sad with him. That empathy will allow you both to build relationships with each other, think healthily about what to do next, and it will allow you to feel better at the end of each school day
Kid Whisperer Nation Teacher Tip Number 135
FEEL THE SAME THING AS YOUR STUDENTS:
PART II: WITH YOUR WHOLE CLASS
As much as possible, look for opportunities to feel the same feelings as your students. The kinds of feelings you feel with them are unimportant, just empathizing with them authentically is what matters. Empathizing with your entire class all at once is what I call “Wholesale Empathy”. If it is too cold in your classroom, agree that it is too cold and mention how you are freezing. If the local sports team lost last night, keep talking about how depressed you are. If your class gets a pizza party for selling the most raffle tickets, challenge yourself to be as excited as your students. When it comes time for pizza, party like its 1999! That empathy will allow you to build relationships with your class, solve problems in a healthy way, and it will allow you to feel better at the end of each school day.