It's the Small Things

There’s a saying in the psychology world that goes something like this:  What you do every day matters more than what you do every once in a while.  As an educator, this life tip has served me well.

A beloved habit of mine is to greet and briefly chat with my students before they enter the classroom each day.  I can learn so much by their response:  Are they smiling?  Stressed out?  Can I make them laugh?  Do they avoid making eye contact?  This seemingly simple social exchange provided a window into their current state of mind — and gave me crucial clues to how I might tailor my communication to better educate these young adults for the next hour.

Finding the right way to greet students may be more important now than ever.  It somehow also feels more challenging than ever before.  As I mentally prepared myself to fully reopen our school for in-person learning, I constantly thought about what I would say to students, most of whom I haven’t seen in 18 months, others whom I’ve taught but never seen, and some who have never seen the inside of their high school classroom until now.  How do I begin to break the social ice in the midst of an ongoing pandemic with no apparent end in sight?

Here’s where I landed: "Hi! It's great to see you!"

It’s certainly not a groundbreaking greeting, but it’s one that I believe our students need to hear every day, if not every class.  Many students have not felt seen or acknowledged by their teachers and peers in many months.  Some still feel the need to hide from these interactions.  I encourage my fellow educators to lead by example in this way.  Make the first move, then listen.  Take a short moment to genuinely connect with each and every student that comes through your door – and do it every day!  After all, it’s the small things in life that are truly the biggest things.

Written by: Brynn Toops, Intervention Coordinator, City Neighbors High School