Developing Relationships in Schools

1. Relationships are
Everywhere!
Eric Shipman
Clearwater Middle School

2. Relationships are
Everywhere!
Eric Shipman
Clearwater Middle School
Learning Forward Kansas Conference 2016

3. Resources
• Megan Meyers- Administrative Coordinator Elkhorn South High School
• ECET2 Seattle—Presenter
• Kagan and Kagan Cooperative Learning
• Bernstein-Yamashiro, 2004, New Directions for Youth Development
• Johnson, 2009, The School Community Journal
• Schaps, 2004, Community in school as key to student growth
• Community Tool Box. “Building and Sustaining Relationships.” University of Kansas,
2015.

4. Self-Reflection Activity
• What is the greatest relationships you’ve had in your life?
• How much “work” did it take to build that relationship?
• How much time do you take to build relationships throughout the school
year? (none, little, some, a lot)
• With students?
• With colleagues?
• Are you anyone’s greatest influence?

5. Stand Up, Pair Up, Share Up
• Students stand up & walk around (no stalking or snuffing anyone)
• Teacher states “hand-up, pair-up, share-up”.
• Students put hand-up & do a high 5 with a student close to them.
• Teacher prompts students with a higher level question that students
discuss & explain with partner.
• Repeat as needed
• Modified Kagan Cooperative Learning Strategy

6. Stand Up, Pair Up, Share Up
• Stand Up, Move Around, GREET EVERYONE nonverbally
• When I say “hand-up” you will find someone else close to you, high five and
introduce yourself in less than a minute.

7. What is it that you like most about yourself?

8. If you weren’t in your current career, what
would you be?

9. If you could live anywhere, where would you
live?

10. Why Build Relationships?
• Building relationships with students increases students engagement
• Building relationships with teachers leads to greater teacher engagement
• Building relationships with the community increases parent engagement

11. Evidence…..
Is it worth the time?
• 1,800 students
• 10th-12th grade
• One-on-one interviews and focus groups
• Data from this study confirmed “relationships as key ingredients in
successful teaching and learning.”
• Students feel disconnected and desire strong personal relationships
with teachers.
Bernstein-Yamashiro, 2004, New Directions for Youth Development

12. • have demonstrated that teacher support may have the most direct
effect on student engagement.
• Show students’ perceptions of teacher caring as being significantly
linked to students’ internal control beliefs, school interest, and
academic support.
As cited in Johnson, 2009, The School Community Journal

13. • Less substance abuse
• Less violence
• Less behavioral problems
• More likelihood of having positive
attitudes toward themselves and
others
• More likelihood of having high
academic expectations
As reported by Schaps, 2004, Community in school as key to student
growth

14. Building Relationships…..10 Tips
1. Greet Others
2. Respond to their Mood
3. Listen when they talk
4. Learn about their lives
5. Share your life
6. Regularly use Compliments
7. Have lunch with them
8. Be consistent
9. Deliver Consequences with Empathy
10. Learn how they want celebrated
Does this list only work with Teacher/Student relationships?
http://juiceboxesandcrayolas.blogspot.com/
Blog from 3rd and 4th Grade teacher

15. Building Relationships….an 11 Step Program
1. Build Relationships one at a time
2. Be Friendly and make a connection
3. Ask people questions
4. Tell people about yourself
5. Go places and do things
6. Accept people the way they are
7. Assume other people want to form
relationships too
8. Overcome your fear of rejection
9. Be persistent
10.Invite people to get involved
11.Enjoy People
Community Tool Box. “Building and Sustaining Relationships.”
University of Kansas, 2015.

16. How to Sustain the Relationship
• Pay attention to people
• Communicate openly
• Appreciate each other
• Extend yourself….go out of the way
Community Tool Box. “Building and Sustaining Relationships.”
University of Kansas, 2015.
• Volunteer to Help
• Provide Challenges
• Back each other when things get
tough

17. Fixing Messy Relationships
• Take time to listen
• Put yourself in their shoes
• Look at the their “truths”
• Separate from emotions
• Continue to appreciate and respect
• Speak from your heart
• Don’t Give up your principals
• Hang in there when things get hard
• Decide if it’s a Battle or the War
Community Tool Box. “Building and Sustaining Relationships.”
University of Kansas, 2015.

18. Example 2 Minute Activities
• Greetings in the Hall
• Stupid Jokes/and Innocent Pranks
• 2 x 10 Activity
• For 2 minutes per day for 10 class periods have a personal conversation
• Random Questions….Pancakes or Waffles
• Story Telling with Yarn

19. Ice Breaker and Team Building Activities
• Team Juggle
• Peek a Who
• Circle Delight
• Clocks
• Team Writing
• Tracks

20. Team Juggle
This is a great activity for a homeroom period and/or the first days of class
to help build community.
Description:
Have the class get into a circle. Hand one tennis ball to one person in the
group. Have them call out a person’s name and toss the ball. That person will
do the same. Keep this up until everyone in the group has had a chance to toss
and catch the tennis ball. The ball then travels back to the person who started.
Attempt the activity and add a second, third, and finally fourth tennis ball.

21. Peek A Who?
Another great activity that helps students learn each other names or simply build
morale.
Description:
Divide the group into two teams. Have two people hold up the blanket or tarp in the
middle of the groups so they cannot see each other. Each team should choose a
person to stand in front of the tarp facing the other team. On the count of three the
tarp is dropped to show the two people facing each other. The first person to say the
correct name of the person standing on the other side wins the round.

22. Circle Delight
A good activity to help build teamwork and talk about the importance of
communicating under pressure.
Description:
Split the group into 2 equal teams. Everyone gets into 1 large circle with the 2 teams
alternating position in the circle. Each team has a ball. Use 2 different colored balls for
easy identification. Decide which team is the chasing team and which team is the
escaping team. On “go” the teams pass the ball to the next person in the circle that is a
member of their team. The balls can only move in one direction and the teams may
not interfere with the other team’s attempts to pass the ball. When the chaser catches
the escaping team’s ball the game is over and can start again. To add competition use a
timer to determine which team can pass the ball the longest without being “caught”.

23. Clocks
This activity works on listening, communicating, and also team leadership.
Description:
Put your group into 2 equal circles and give each student a number. Have the
students hold hands with an adult between the two circles. The adult then calls
out a number and raises a scarf or bandana. The students will need to rotate
either direction without letting go of their hands to get that number next to the
teacher. When the person who’s number was called is next to the teacher they
may break hands and grab the scarf. Play to a set number of points.

24. Team Writing
Description:
Have the students in groups of 6 (or how ever many strings you have). Their
goal is to write on their marker board but they cannot touch the marker.
Instead each group member is to hold onto the end of a string. The strings are
attached to a metal washer that has a dry erase marker inside of it.

25. Tracks
Equipment Needed:
3 tracks or PVC pipes cut in half lengthwise, different size balls, 2 buckets
Description:
Create teams of at least 4 members and have them line up on one side of the room.
Each team will be given 3 different PVC tracks. Teams will move the balls from one
side of the room to the other. The first person may only touch the ball to initially put
the ball onto their track. The group members must then pass the ball from one track
to the other without touch the ball with their hands. If the ball falls to the ground
they must restart from the beginning. The team is done when all the balls are in the
bucket on the opposite side of the room.

26. Academic Activities that Build Relationships
• Win, Lose, or Draw
• Master of Memory
• Video Games
• Musical Wipe Out
• Aurasma Scavenger Hunt
• Math Around the Room
• Kahoot!
• Beat the Buzzer
• Crazy Carnival Contest
• Homerun Derby

27. Math Around the Room
• Students stand up at boards posted around the room to work on practice
problems.
• They all work on the same problems, but students standing next to each
other are able to assist on the problems.
• The teacher is able to be in contact with every students and every student
gets instant feedback from the teacher
• The activity helps the teacher build relationships but also helps the students
build relationships with each other.

28. Kahoot!
• Kahoot! is an online trivia activity that students compete with each other.
• Teachers can create their own Kahoot or use other educator’s Kahoot’s with
their students
• There are also a mixture of “fun” topics that teachers could use with the
extra time in class.
• I encourage teachers to use Kahoot with the assignments they already use in
class.

29. Beat the Buzzer!
• Teachers use questions from an assignment or key ideas at the close of class
to quiz students.
• Students can compete as a team or individually depending on the size of the
class.
• A great way to incorporate excitement into a lecture or class discussion.

30. Crazy Carnival Contest
• Using a set of questions students or an assignments students earn tokens
that they can use in a carnival game.
• They can work as a team or individually.
• After a set period of time (could be multiple days) the students then
exchange their tokens to play a game.
• Bean Bag Toss, Dart Balloon Pop, Pyramid Dart Gun Shoot, Snow Ball Fights

31. Homerun Derby
Homerun Derby is another “game” that students compete in that allows
movement in the classroom. It allows students to have fun and provides
motivation for learning.
• After correctly identifying a question students get an at bat. They can either
swing and try to hit a homerun or take a double.
• Teams compete to earn the most runs.

32. Win, Lose, or Draw
• Using a list of vocabulary words, key
people, key events, or ideas students
compete to illustrate the words while the
class attempts to guess.
• Students can be placed on teams and elect
an illustrator

33. Master of Memory
• Answers to a list of questions are
“hidden” in QR codes which are
printed and hung around the room
• Students “race” to match the QR codes
to the correct questions on a list or
worksheet.
• Students work in groups and can only
scan 1 QR code per round.

34. Video Games
• There are a variety of easy
to create video games that
can be used in place of a
regular assignment .
• Students could also
compete after completing
the assignment.
• Great site: classtools.net

35. Musical Wipe Out
• A review game that allow students to
move around.
• Similar to a cake-walk student move
until the music stops.
• A number is drawn and that student
must answer a question. If they answer
incorrectly they are “wiped out”. A
correct answer allows them to wipe
someone else out.

36. Aurasma Scavenger Hunt
• Aurasma is an app that creates
Augmented Reality.
• Students search the classroom for
hidden videos and then answer
questions based on the videos.
• A great activity to use student
created videos.

37. School Wide Relationship Builders
• Clubs and Activities
• Incentive Days
• Social Networking
• Diversity Days

38. Clubs and Activities
• Student Activities are the key to eliminating
behavior problems, low achieving students, and
school violence
• We must create clubs so that students have a way
to be involved in our schools.
• The organizations can be based on students’
interests but isn’t a requirement if an adult is
passionate about the activity.
• Examples: Archery Club, Varsity Knitting,
Quidditch Club, Varsity Ultimate Frisbee, Comic
Book/Anime Club, Bowling Club

39. Incentive Days
• Incentive Days give students are reason to
achieve.
• Many students lack the support from and have
not developed the intrinsic motivations
necessary to achieve.
• Lip Sync Competitions, Dentition Days, Dodge
Ball Tournaments, Student Faculty
Competitions, Talent Shows,
• Allow all students to attend and if necessary
have a reward to participate in part of the day.

40. Social Networking
• Schools need to develop
relationships by utilizing social
networks with the community.
• Policies about teacher’s use of social
networks need to be reviewed and
examined.
• In today’s world people expect
communication to come to them
not go and find it!

41. Diversity Days
• Diversity Days promote difference
culturally, ethnically, religiously, or simply
in personalities.
• Allowing older students to create displays
based on their interest and explain these
interest promotes community.