Understanding students

No matter your level of familiarity with your school placement and the communities it serves, knowing communities as a teacher is different. Inquiring into your school and its surrounding neighborhoods from the perspective of a teacher will give you a head start at the beginning of the school year.

Getting to know the varied professionals at your school who support both students and teachers is an ongoing process! Start by finding out what roles exist at your school and who serves them—ask your mentor, look at your school’s website, and visit the offices of the school.

The school community encompasses more than students and teachers. It includes education specialists, (ELL, SpEd, STEM, etc.) administrative staff, nurses, security and cafeteria personnel, maintenance experts, volunteers, and others. Every one of them is there to support students’ well-being and learning.

Getting to know your students as learners is more than formally assessing students’ content knowledge. It requires a targeted and systematic inquiry into your students’ ways of thinking, how they “do school” and how they understand the subjects you are teaching.

Getting to know students as individuals in and outside your classroom is more than just knowing what grades they usually get in class and anecdotes you may have heard about them. Knowing your students as whole people means getting to know their interests, backgrounds, experiences, challenges, passions, and more.

This guide provides you with some concrete steps you can take to learn more about your students as individuals at the start of the school year. Note that you will often have to actively seek out opportunities and information yourself; placements do not necessarily provide these opportunities for you.