What Students Need

Five Elements Students Seek

1. Affirmation

2. Contribution

3. Power

4. Purpose

5. Challenge

1. Affirmation

Students need to know that they are safe and accepted at school. Teachers need to encourage positive self-esteem in their students. The way to increase self-esteem is to be successful at something challenging. That is number five, but students seek the praise and encouragement teachers provide. It is so important to let your students know that you believe in them. Even in small ways, it means a lot to them. In the classroom, once I started to get to know the students better, I began to praise them for real accomplishments I noticed. It was as simple as telling them, "Wow, you figured that out fast!" or "Class, Jimmy found a new way to solve this, let's listen up and have him explain it to us." Their faces lit up at the recognition.

2. Contribution

It is detrimental to your students that they feel like they make a difference in your class. It is the teacher's responsibility to recognize and embrace each students' abilities and uniqueness. I believe this is the root of feeling accepted at school and what gives some students the ability to make friends. Too often a lonely student continues to go unnoticed. I believe that teachers need to show each student that they matter to them, and to the rest of the class. One day, I didn't know the protocol for lining up, so I said, "We can't walk down the hall without a line leader, who amongst you will lead us?" That is when the students informed me that they had assigned jobs and one of the shier students in the class was the leader. It gave her a chance to be noticed by her classmates as an important part of the class.

3. Power

Show students that what they learn in school is useful to them. They need to know what is expected of them, how things are ran, and what quality work looks like. These things all vary from teacher to teacher, but that is why we tell students our expectations and procedures for how we want things done in our classrooms. Students also need to be allowed to make choices. The student needs to have power in your classroom. Teachers do not need to be the control freaks they really are deep down because their students are part of the classroom too. Yes, order needs to be in place and students need structure, but that does not mean that they cannot be a part of the process. I have seen teachers who are too strict, and their students lash out, and I have seen teachers who are too lenient and the students walk all over them. The classroom is a place of give and take; that goes for power as well.

4. Purpose

 Students are always asking, "Why do I have to do this?" and as a teacher, you better have an answer for them. If you cannot answer that question, your lesson is useless and a complete waste of time. Students need opportunities to see what they do in class reflects on them as a person and that they make a difference in the world. In math, I constantly asked the question, "When will I use this in real life?" and there were plenty of things I learned that I have not used since then, but it taught me how to think differently and challenged me to work through the problem. It is so important to discuss this with your students. Show them that they are thinking in new ways and make a point to that changing their lives. Math will not seem so pointless after that.

5. Challenge

Zone of proximal development is constantly being thrown around in the education world, and for good reason. Students need to be challenged, not only to advance, but to stay focused and interested in school. This, in my opinion, is the most important thing teachers do for students; appropriately challenge each and every student. It is so important to show students that it is okay to fail, as long as something has been learned, but they cannot always be failing. Students need to see that they are successful. All students should be trying to push themselves to improve in all areas at school. My biggest belief in school is that every student deserves to gain a year's growth, in a year's worth of school. The only way this is possible is by challenging each of your students.