Up Close and Personal
By Peter Barnes

Recently, I ran into a former student at Target. "Have you seen any dry puddles lately?" I asked. To most of the world, this would seem a bizarre question. To Lisa, however, who invented the term, it made perfect sense. "No, but I saw a camouflage puddle the other day," she replied. For those of you who don't know, a dry puddle is a puddle with no water, while a camouflage puddle is one that sneaks up on your foot when least expected. More importantly, dry puddles are an exclusive topic of conversation, understood only by this particular student and me.

Putting a face to the blur
I value these personal connections in my classroom. Most likely, when my students return for a visit, they'll remember a joke we shared or a strange experience we witnessed together. These small memories are valuable to students and should be valued by their teachers as well.

For middle and high school teachers who often see more than 100 students daily, it's easy to rush through a school day. Classes move in and out as we struggle to stay organized, complete lesson plans and keep Jessica from digging through her purse during a reading test. The students can become a faceless blur.

To counteract this tendency, I make a conscious effort to personalize my classroom. A good place to start is sharing about myself. Once students know that my favorite baseball team is the Chicago Cubs, that I love Star Wars and hate doing laundry, they're more willing to share information about themselves. Every personal connection is different. The important thing is filing away these bits of information and bringing them up another day, engaging the students as unique individuals.

Full attention
I wouldn't accomplish anything if I stopped my math class every day to talk about last night's Cubs game. Instead, I look for moments when I can give my full attention to a few kids.

Written comments on papers are another good way to show students I know them as individuals. Here nicknames come in handy, "Great job, Miss Sunshine!;" "Not bad for a North Carolina fan!;" "Double G., next time, make sure you're wearing your lucky hat for inspiration." My goal is to make students feel welcome and unique in my class. Despite stepping in the occasional dry puddle, teaching also becomes more fun for me.

Peter Barnes teaches fifth grade at Rawls Byrd Elementary in Williamsburg, VA.

October 2003, Vol.34, No.2