Organizing Relationships for Learning

Abstract: This chapter begins by discussing the reasons why adult role models are so essential for the success and well being of our students. Just as young children rely upon the comfort of parents to ensure that they are safe and acting in a healthy manner, as do adolescents look for such figures at school. By building a strong relationship with at least one teacher, students are likely to feel more comfortable and push themselves further in an effort to succeed. The chapter reflects upon an older edition of "Turning Points," which called for communities within the school to ensure that each student had a person to turn to for any need they may have. These communities have developed into teams and houses within middle schools, and the idea is that these teams will offer students a network of individuals to assist them through various successes and difficulties. In creating teams of teachers and students, students are enabled to develop strong connections with both peers and teachers, and ideally to create a sense of identity within the school.

Synthesis: This connects so much information that I was previously unaware of. Although I experienced houses and teams while in middle school, I did not understand the direct logic or all of the benefits behind this before reading this chapter. I would like to be able to build this in to my own teaching career, both in middle and high school as I believe that there are countless benefits to creating communities within a school. I especially would like to have specific students who I may make connections with and assist throughout the school year and beyond, as I feel that this is essential to the development of each student. I also really enjoyed the idea of an internal team leader and team roles. While the principal will serve as excellent guidance, I feel that it would be frustrating for an outside perspective to make decisions for a specific group's needs.