5 Ways For Teachers To Respond 

To Their Students Needs

The 5 ways that the book mentions to respond to students needs are: 

Invitation
Opportunity
Investment
Persistence 
Reflection

Invitation: Things to think about

• I respect who you are as well as who you can become.
• I want to know you.
• You are unique and valuable.
• I believe in you.
• I learn when I listen to you.
• This place is yours too.
• We need you here.

I would like to share an experience about Invitation that I think one of my field teachers did a very good job at.  Every morning her classroom was full of former students, students from other 1st grade classes, and students from different grades.  She talked with all of the kids that were in her room before school, and sometimes even had them cut things out for her, and boy you would have thought those kids were in heaven.  They LOVED to help her with anything that she would let them do.  As soon as the bell rang her students knew the drill.  They would all line up outside her classroom door and she would greet each and everyone of her students as they came through the door.  She would say, "Good morning ______.  I am so glad you came to school today."  She cared about each one of her students, and her students knew that, and it was amazing to see the classroom unity that her class had.  

Opportunity: Things to think about

• I have important things for you to of here today.
• The things i ask you to do are worthy things.
• The things I ask you to of are often daunting.
• The things I ask you to do open new possibilities for you.
• The things that I give you to do here help you become all you can be.
• You have specific roles that make us all more efficient and effective.

I think as we think about opportunity we need to think about the tasks that we give to our students.  I think to make this applicable to me as a future teacher it means that I will not give out busy work.  I will not assign a task just to fill up time.  If I am going to assign a task I must make it something worthwhile for myself, and my students. I also think that the tasks that we assign need to push our students to their full potential.  

Investment: Things to think about

• I work hard to make this place work for you.
• I work to make this place reflect you.
• I enjoy thinking about what we do here.
• I love to find new paths to success.
• It is my job to help you succeed.
• I am your partner in growth.
• I will do what it takes to ensure your growth.

Persistence: Things to think about

• You're growing, but you're not finished growing.
• When one route doesn't work, there are others we can find.
• Let's figure out what works best.
• There are no excuses here, but there is support.
• There is no finish line in learning.

I have another experience that goes along with persistence.  In one of my field classes we had a little boy named "B."  B struggled, and B did not have a very good home life, and his home life carried over into school.  B struggled in almost every activity that we did in class, but the teacher did not give up on B.  If B wasn't getting it she always came up with an alternative way to teach him, or to explain to him again.  She made sure that if B didn't get it the first time she would try something different to make sure that he got it.  

Reflection: Things to think about.

• I watch you and listen to you carefully and systematically.
• I make sure to use what I learn to help you learn better.
• I try to see things through your eyes.
• I continually ask, "How is this partnership working?"
• I continually, ask, "How can I make this better?" 

I think reflection is the most important piece in teaching.  I've heard so many teachers tell me, "you always need to reflect after you teach a lesson."  It is so true though.  We always need to be thinking, "What can I do better?"  It is also important to be thinking, "What am I doing well?"  I love the statement above that says, "I make sure to use what I learn to help you learn better."  Isn't that key??  If we don't put what we learn into practice what is the point of reflecting??