.7 Know Your Students

The final category in terms of using feedback in the classroom is very sophisticated: taking appropriate interest in your students. This has a level of toughness to it because in addition to all the other things you have to deal with, you must also deal with the fact that the society is suspicious that some teachers engage in child abuse. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does happen, it is so horrendous that the society reacts with outrage. The teacher has to be a strong role model, the teacher has to provide a reality check for kids, the teacher has to be a friend, and the teacher has to be a confidant. But teachers must realize that there are going to be times and circumstances that can be misunderstood. There are some schools where teachers don't feel free to touch the kids. I don't agree with this. Teachers need to touch kids. They need to touch kids appropriately, but kids still need to be touched. We need to
make sure we don't over-compensate for inappropriate (in our circumstances) concern .

I don't think a teacher should ever promise a student that what she says is confidential. Don't put yourself in a position in which you are told something you cannot share. Instead, I tell students that when they tell me something personal, they can be sure that I will respond in what I feel is their best interests. On the other hand, there are lots of things students tell me that I don't share. I make the professional judgment that it is not necessary to spread a kid's business all over the place. Teachers do not have confidential relationships like lawyers. Your relationship with your students is a public relationship in the legal sense of the word.

Sometimes you may give kids advice on how to deal with their parents. When you do this you are on shaky ground. Don't tell students anything about dealing with their parents that you are not ready for them to repeat.

Realize the nature of adolescence, where everything is larger than life. A kid lost his girlfriend this week, and his life iscoming to an end. There are even kids who commit suicide under those circumstances. Adolescence is a very intense time. As a teacher how do you respond to this? You can say I don't want to hear about your girlfriend/ boyfriend, but I don't recommend that. I recommend that you listen. Empathize. Take an appropriate interest in your students.

Blurring the lines between personal and professional relationships is dangerous. You will encounter people that make different recommendations, but I recommend that teachers and students enjoy more personal relationship. I enjoy these personal relationships with my students, and I think they can be appropriate. The default position of never getting involved with students will work, but I think this gives away too much in terms of what I consider to be the fun of teaching. You will get to know some students better than you will get to know others. You will deal with some
students differently than you will deal with others. You will grade some students differently than you will grade others. All these exceptions are appropriate if they are done in a professional way.

	What is one of the final categories of using feedback in the classroom? In doing this, what are several roles a teacher will play to a student?	Answer Here
	Valerie Adams is enrolled in Mrs. Luster's mathematics class at an inner-city high school where gangs and drugs are prevalent. Valerie is a good kid and does well in her studies, despite the fact that her brother is into dealing drugs around the school. Mrs. Luster walks past Valerie's backpack and sees evidence of drugs inside of the unzipped front pouch. When confronted, Valerie confides to Mrs. Luster that the drugs are her brother's and she agreed to hold them so that he would not get into trouble again for having them in school. Knowing the school's no tolerance policy concerning drugs, what should Mrs. Luster do in this situation?	Answer Here