We're In a Relationship

This week I am at the NCASCD conference. I look forward to this week because I always leave with great ideas to come back to school with. At one session I saw a video that I have not seen in a while. If you have not seen the nail video, I strongly suggest that you stop reading and watch it now!

In schools, we spend a lot of time talking about teacher and student relationships. These are so important that I believe that they are equally as impactful as the curriculum or methods that you use in your classroom. With all of this focus on the relationships with students, I think it is easy to put the relationships with other adults on the back burner. Particularly your relationship with school administrators.

All working relationships hinge on the fulfillment of four basic needs. They are: freedom, fun, love/belonging and power. These four domains allow you to be a connected equal in any relationship and I can certainly see how they relate to teachers as well. Teachers need autonomy, enjoyment, appreciation and a voice in what they do everyday. When I started reflecting on this, I instantly thought of times that I was acting just like the guy in the nail video. I recalled conversations with teachers that just wanted to share how hard they were working. They needed validation, not suggestions. And I get it, it's hard to tell me to shut up!

The spring semester is always a blur of events and activity and in the hustle of it all, please remember to focus on relationships. Not just student relationships, but also relationships with adults in our building and the adults that are in our student's lives as well. We all need those four needs to make the very most of our purpose and we can all work to help provide them for each other.