During the last week of September 2023, we asked if the interactions between staff and students affect the whole day. Through the process, we found out that students and teachers alike are building relationships with each other. Just by walking through the halls of MMCRU, you will find the majority of the teachers in the halls, talking with students.
Teachers try to build connections with the students by using daily journals, Boast it Notes, daily bell ringers and just being real with them. Teachers are having conversations about their likes and dislikes, and common interests the students and the staff may have. A teacher finds it fun when we have days that are not just days about learning. Homecoming week is a good example because students and teachers can participate together in fun activities. Powderpuff football, volleyball, tug-a-war, and dodgeball are some things that both love to watch and join in.
Teachers love when students greet them in the mornings, and when the students go in and talk with them about how their day was. Daily chats, help teachers understand some wants and needs the students have during the school day. Some teachers will even go out of their way and provide them with the help they need. If the task includes anything that needs to be bought a teacher will usually use their own money to buy it.
Students like it when the teachers try to interact with them on a day-to-day basis. It makes the students feel like they are seen at school and makes them want to be at school. The students like it when the teachers are willing to help them with a problem they have from personal issues to school homework. They also like when staff have an inviting classroom, a place they know they can just hang out.
A fellow student from MMCRU stated, “They greet me by name, they work with me when I feel too stressed, and they truly make me feel like I’m supported at school.”
Another student shared their experience, “Some of them relate to you and try to be friendly, along with being a teacher.”
In response to the interviews about students, teachers shared with us their experiences with students and their ways of improving the school atmosphere, “I always try to make eye contact and smile, greeting students by name. I often put my hand out for a high 5 or fist bump in the hallways.”