The Connector

The term "connected educator" conjures up immediate images of the tech savvy teacher who is able to enhance his or her classroom with the resources of the internet or the teacher who is well connected to a number of social networks.  I see connecting as something that is more focused on the engaging relationships we need to have with students to have any hope of being an effective teacher.  Being connected is really about establishing rapport or relationships.  The "connector" is a person who is actively engaged with people.  As an educator, it means being connected with students and their families as well as being connected with fellow staff and administrators.  I want to take time in my first post at the beginning of a new academic year to reflect on how I can be more of a connector as a teacher.  I also want to encourage all of us involved with children and adolescents to explore how we can be even more engaged in assisting them with the challenges of growing, learning, and developing in these challenging times.

CONNECTOR
C = Community/Citizen
We are part of our students' communities and as such one of our roles is helping them become true citizens.  That is to help them develop the skills to negotiate their relationships with the people that support them.  People like their families, their friends, their classmates, their neighbors.  It is my hope that we can model how to deal with the challenges of making relationships work - on the good days and those not so good days. It is important for me to realize that I can be an incredibly important part of my students' support teams!

O = Optimism
The ability to use possibility language with our students is critical in aiding them to see what is possible with their learning, their understanding, and their developing as young men and women.  This is a component of character development that is part of the unwritten curriculum.  Being optimistic is also about hope and my belief in the resilience of young people as they meet the challenges of school and life.

N = Nurture
The encouragement we can offer our students goes a long way towards helping them move forward when they may feel frustrated or misunderstood.  I attempt to meet my students for the "first time" everyday.  That is I want to be curious and affirming with them no matter what happened during the previous interaction we had together.

N = Never Give Up
This goes without saying - it is vital that every student has at least one adult as a member of their support team who is unwilling to give up or quit on them.  This is about feeling confident in who we are as teachers and creating the situations in our classrooms that makes it a real ordeal for a student to fail.  I need to remember that I am the adult in the relationship and that my being able to link optimism with never giving up can be just what a student needs to be able to take his or her next step to success.

E = Empathy
We need to be able to both care for our students and care with them. I care for my students when I take the time to be adequately prepared for my classes each day; when I take the time required to design meaningful assessments; when I can make the changes required to reach a struggling student.  I care with my students when I take time to understand what is happening in their worlds; when I can celebrate with them a success in an athletic competition or when I join a student dealing with the loss of a relationship or the loss of a family member.  When students experience our care they are empowered to grow personally and to challenge themselves academically.

C = Competence/Capacity
I am a teacher because I believe in the hope and the possibilities of young people.  One of our responsibilities as educators is to assist our students in developing the competencies required for them to be active participants in their own lives.  We can assist them with that process when we support them in developing their executive function skills such as goal setting, time management, self-regulation, and dealing with interpersonal conflict.  Let's be part of the process of assisting our students in developing their competencies.

T= Time
I am willing to "invest" time with my students.  I am willing to spend time with them in their quality worlds.  This means that I spend time outside the classroom showing my support for their extra-curricular activities.  Let's attend some of the events taking place in our schools as one way of way of letting our students know we believe in who they are in addition to being students in our classrooms!

O = Occasional
I am mindful of the transitory or the "touch and go" nature of adolescent relationships.  It can be intense one day and almost non-existent for days after that.  As the adult in the relationship it can be tricky for us to walk that line between trust and concern.  When there is concern for what a student has shared with us, it is important for us to assist those students in accessing the assistance available for them in our schools.  This becomes critical when they are in need of outside help.  Let us be the supporters they need us to be for them to be successful.

R = Respect
We earn the respect of our students.  They come to us to open up not to be opened up.  It is important that I remember that my actions do speak louder than my words when I am interacting with students.  As this academic year begins, let us make it easy for our students to see how much we respect them.