Have you ever had a student that maybe was not responding to you or used to act one way but suddenly became a different student? Or maybe you are just wondering about different ways to connect with your students?
I have been reading and participating in a book study about the book The 5 Love Languages of Children. There was an original book put out that was focused on the 5 love languages for relationships. The authors realized that adults could benefit from applying this concept to children so they wrote the version I am reading. While reading the book, it has been interesting to think of my own child, even though she is only 2, and also to think of different interactions with many of our students.
Let me tell you a little about each of the love languages...
1. Physical Touch - If a child's love language is physical touch, then they will feel most loved when you are giving them a hug or a high five or maybe even just a pat on the back.
2. Words of Affirmation - A child whose love language is words of affirmation will want you to tell them you care instead of show them. Someone who has words of affirmation as his love language will feel most loved when given praise, encouragement and compliments.
3. Gifts - A child who has gifts as a love language means that they feel loved when receiving personal, thoughtful gifts. Of course you might think that every kid has this love language! But the gifts that are important to this child are the ones that are thoughtful and are given out of the blue. These are also the kids that will frequently give you little gifts. It's important to tell them you appreciate them and are grateful for the "gifts" they give you because then they will feel loved.
4. Quality Time - Kids who have the love language of quality time are the ones who feel most loved when they have your undivided attention. Considering you have a room full of students who need your attention, this can be a difficult language to speak. Sometimes all it means is taking a few minutes to sit and talk with a student or listen to them talk about something important to them. If you give them that quality time before an activity or lesson, they are more likely to respond to you in a positive way.
5. Acts of Service - With this love language, children feel most loved when you perform some sort of service for them, such as fixing a backpack or helping to organize a folder. These don't need to be big acts of service, just something simple that will translate into speaking that child's love language.
It might be interesting to stop and think about the different love languages that the students in your class speak. Some students are easier to categorize than others. But once you have an idea of which love language a child is speaking, then you just might be able to connect on a different level. And when you make that connection and that student feels valued and cared for, that student just might surprise you!
Are you curious about what YOUR love language might be? Take this quick quiz to find out!
Currently reading:
This weekend, I traveled to DC to visit with family, and I brought along a book that I have had for a while but had not started yet. The book I began reading is The Wild Robot. It seems like it will be an interesting read: a book about what happens when technology and nature collide!
Monday - Elementary curriculum meeting @ Prescott 12-3
Tuesday - Ed Eval Working Group Meeting @ Prescott 12-3, School Council Meeting 3:30-4:30
Wednesday - District-wide curriculum half day, 12:15 dismissal, 3rd grade SPARK assembly @ 9:45, 4th grade SPARK assembly @ 11:40
Thursday - Student council meeting @ 8:30, AM K SPARK assembly @ 10:10, 1st grade SPARK assembly @ 11:45, 2nd grade SPARK assembly @ 1:45
Friday - Interim Superintendent Bill Ryan visits FR @ 11:45, PM K and Full Day K SPARK assembly @ 1:15
Great things I noticed last week:
- A big thank you to Mr. Casey for building a frame and mounting our voice level sign in the cafeteria!
- I popped into Mrs. Wilkins class just in time to hear about how they were solving problems with three addends using their knowledge of 10.
- Wednesday morning 2nd grade was having a giant dance party in the hall...what a fun way to start the day!
- Mrs. Wenz was reading a story to her 2nd graders who were listening intently.
- Who is that lady in the hat?! I think it was Mrs. Taylor about to read to her students after they talked about words that start with H.
- I did a book buzz in Mrs. Pierantozzi's class and one of the books I talked about was Dear Dragon. I tweeted the author, Josh Funk, to tell him that I was talking about his book...and he wrote back!
- When I popped into Mr. Smith's class, they were sharing some ideas for how to make informative writing more interesting.
Check it out:
For those of you who have been trying out Twitter or those of you who want to try out Twitter...check out the hashtag #12daystwitter.
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