1. Laugh at yourself
If you can show the kids that you can laugh at your own mistakes, it makes you seem HUMAN. Kids relate to humans–not teachers.
2. Sing often, sing loudly, and sing badly
Again, this is going to put you in the, “She is so weird but I oddly like her because she’s so weird” category. A few favorites to belt out: This Girl Is On Fire (Alicia Keys), Trouble (Taylor Swift),and Don’t Stop Believing (Journey)
3. High Five
It’s better than a hug because kids get all freaked out over hugs and you don’t know how clean their clothes actually are anyway. High five for turning in homework, for helping another student, to say good morning, to say goodbye. Kids love high fives even though it seems so silly. Tall kids make a game out of holding up their hands as high as they can, quiet kids feel heard, hyper kids get to move (and usually are the hardest and most painful of all the highfivers), and the kids on the outside feel like part of a group. High fiving has worked miracles in my class.
4. Remember birthdays
Jot birthdays down on a calendar at the beginning of the year and look at it first thing every morning. A simple unsolicited “Happy Birthday” to a child goes a long way. It’s their one day to shine!
5. Make sure all of your clothing fits well and is not see through.
Seems pretty self-explanatory, right? Well, we had ‘Orange Day’ here a few days ago. All students and teachers were asked to wear orange. I threw on the only orange shirt I owned–a summer-like, thin cotton t-shirt. Clearly, the lighting at my house in the morning is NOT the same lighting that is used in the school. Let’s just say that until I realized that my shirt was pretty see through, my first two classes got a good look at the real me.
