Quotes for school friendship

 

Quotes 

Improving Students' Relationships with Teachers to Provide Essential Supports for Learning

 Improving Students' Relationships with Teachers to Provide Essential Supports for Learning:

Improving students' relationships with teachers has important, positive and long-lasting implications for both students' academic and social development. Solely improving students' relationships with their teachers will not produce gains in achievement. However, those students who have close, positive and supportive relationships with their teachers will attain higher levels of achievement than those students with more conflict in their relationships.

Picture a student who feels a strong personal connection to her teacher, talks with her teacher frequently, and receives more constructive guidance and praise rather than just criticism from her teacher. The student is likely to trust her teacher more, show more engagement in learning, behave better in class and achieve at higher levels academically. Positive teacher-student relationships draw students into the process of learning and promote their desire to learn (assuming that the content material of the class is engaging, age-appropriate and well matched to the student's skills).

LET US WATCH THIS VIDEO, TO GAIN TIPS TO ENHANCE STUDENT'S TEACHER RELATIONSHIP:

How can my child's friends affect his school performance?

  

Affect of friend on student performance and achievement 

Sometimes it’s a good thing to be like your friends, and sometimes it isn’t. . . . If they’re getting all As, of course I want to be like them,” said Valerie, an 18-year-old college student during her first year at “MU,” a large, public, four-year university in the Midwestern United States. Like Valerie, many college students use their friends as academic motivation, finding support among a close-knit group surrounding them. Other students view only certain groups of friends as academically helpful. Betsy explained that the friends on her dorm floor constantly help each other with schoolwork, but her friends from home do not. Still others desired more support and encouragement than they received from friends. Steve told me, “I’m doing it myself… I want [help], but at the same time I don’t really need it.” All three students graduated from MU within four years, yet reflect some of the wide array of experiences students have with their friend networks.

The new or interesting story isn’t just that Valerie, Betsy, and Steve’s friends had different social and academic impacts, but that they had various types of friendship networks. My research points to the importance of network structure—that is, the relationships among their friends—for college students’ success. Different network structures result from students’ experiences—such as race- and class-based marginalization on this predominantly White campus—and shape students’ experiences by helping or hindering them academically and socially.

I used social network techniques to analyze the friendship networks of 67 MU students and found they clumped into three distinctive types—tight-knitters, compartmentalizers, and samplers. Tight-knitters have one densely woven friendship group in which nearly all their friends are friends with one another. Compartmentalizers’ friends form two to four clusters, where friends know each other within clusters but rarely across them. And samplers make a friend or two from a variety of places, but the friends remain unconnected to each other. As shown in the figures, tight-knitters’ networks resemble a ball of yarn, compartmentalizers’ a bow-tie, and samplers’ a daisy. In these network maps, the person I interviewed is at the center and every other dot represents a friend, with lines representing connections among friends (that is, whether the person I interviewed believed that the two people knew each other). During the interviews, participants defined what friendship meant to them and listed as many friends as they liked (ranging from three to 45).

The students’ friendship network types influenced how friends matter for their academic and social successes and failures. Like Valerie, most Black and Latina/o students were tight-knitters. Their dense friendship networks provided a sense of home as a minority on a predominantly White campus. Tight-knit networks could provide academic support and motivation (as they did for Valerie) or pull students down academically if their friends lacked academic skills and motivation. Most White students were compartmentalizers like Betsy, and they succeeded with moderate levels of social support from friends and with social support and academic support from different clusters. Samplers came from a range of class and race backgrounds. Like Steve, samplers typically succeeded academically without relying on their friends. Friends were fun people who neither help nor hurt them academically. Socially, however, samplers reported feeling lonely and lacking social support.

I followed the experiences of Valerie, Betsy, and Steve during and after college to examine how friendship networks matter. These students are typical of those in my broader sample. Their experiences show how students’ race and class, more than other individual characteristics, shaped the networks they formed and the benefits they gained through these networks. The students I interviewed were racially (half were Black or Latina/o, the other half were White) and class diverse (half were the first in their family to attend college). I recruited MU undergraduates as widely as possible through 12 different campus clubs and organizations, flyers posted in coffee shops and stores, and asking participants for suggestions of students unlike themselves with whom I should speak. Certainly, I could not capture all views or generalize my findings across all U.S. college students, but I am able to provide important insights into the processes through which friends provide social and academic benefits in the critical college years.

The Power of Peers

Scholars who study education have long acknowledged the importance of peers for students’ well-being and academic achievement. For example, in 1961, James Coleman argued that peer culture within high schools shapes students’ social and academic aspirations and successes. More recently, Judith Rich Harris has drawn on research in a range of areas—from sociological studies of preschool children to primatologists’ studies of chimpanzees and criminologists’ studies of neighborhoods—to argue that peers matter much more than parents in how children “turn out.” Researchers have explored students’ social lives in rich detail, as in Murray Milner’s book about high school students, Freaks, Geeks, and Cool Kids, and Elizabeth Armstrong and Laura Hamilton’s look at college students, Paying for the Party. These works consistently show that peers play a very important role in most students’ lives. They tend, however, to prioritize social over academic influence and to use a fuzzy conception of peers rather than focusing directly on friends—the relationships that should matter most for student success.

Social scientists have also studied the power of peers through network analysis, which is based on uncovering the web of connections between people. Network analysis involves visually mapping networks and mathematically comparing their structures (such as the density of ties) and the positions of individuals within them (such as how central a given person is within the network). As Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler point out in their book Connected, network structure influences a range of outcomes, including health, happiness, wealth, weight, and emotions. Given that sociologists have long considered network explanations for social phenomena, it’s surprising that we know little about how college students’ friends impact their experiences.

Additional information: 

https://scholars.fhsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1138&context=theses

How can an Elementary counselor prevent students from accompanying bad guys?

School Elementary Counselor should make an awareness campaign for elementary parents to be aware about bad friends that surrounded their kids especially in elementary years. 

As children enter the elementary years, they move away from their parents and create more independent relationships on their own. It isn’t uncommon for friends in elementary school to become “inseparable” or “best friends.” Along with the budding independence, also comes the possibility of negative friendships that may manifest as competitiveness or being exclusive towards others. If you find yourself questioning a particular friendship during this stage, you might find it helpful to consider the following:

1) Set aside time to have a ‘friendship check-in’ with your child.

Open a conversation with your child by asking them about various social activities/opportunities both in and outside of school. More than likely, your child will discuss different friends or friend groups throughout your conversation, making this a good opportunity to discuss or ask your child what he/she likes about individual friends. Listening to your child’s view on their friendship will provide a window into what they are drawn to in each of their friends and allow for you to gain a better understanding of your child’s different friendship dynamics.

2) Revisit the definition of a good friend.

Children are never too old to engage in a conversation about what makes a good friend, and I have yet to meet a parent who hasn’t benefited from a similar conversation with their spouse or close friends. You can begin by drawing a circle in the middle of a blank piece of paper and asking your child to provide adjectives that define a good friend. Next, ask your child to provide adjectives to describe a less than ideal or bad friend. Lastly, ask your child to identify friends who have each of the characteristics on the page, while making a point to focus on both the positive and the negative attributes. In some cases, your child will find that a friend fits well in the ‘good friend’ portion of the page, while others might either fit in the ‘poor friend’ or even in-between the two sections (having some positive and some negative attributes). The goal of this exercise is not to label friends as good or bad, so much as to facilitate a conversation about the role different friends play in your child’s life. You want to help your child identify individual behaviors as opposed to making a large sweeping statement about a particular individual’s character. For example, one friend might be a lot of fun but not always nice, which helps you to understand why you child is drawn to that person. It can also help you identify the friends who best meet your child’s friendship needs (for example, nice and fun) and then as a parent, you can help encourage those particular friendships by planning play dates and after school activities with that child. You can also speak to his/her teacher to see if they will help encourage what you feel is a positive friendship by pairing them up for a project in class.

3) Be accepting and keep an open mind.

As parents, we will not like every classmate, teammate, or peer our child calls a friend. Part of preparing our children for adulthood involves allowing them to experience different types of relationships in order to develop their own sense of self and character. Unless the relationship poses a serious threat to them, it is okay to let situations play out on their own. Throughout this time, you can utilize strategies that help reinforce healthy behaviors, positive friendships, and what the expectations for behavior are in your own home.

4) Model positive friendships.

While it is important to recognize the signs of negative friendships with our children, it is equally important to model how our children can develop positive friendships. No matter the age, parents can start by maintaining healthy friendships in their own lives (think about that childhood friend or college roommate you are still in touch with), modeling good friendship skills, and respecting each child’s personality (refrain from comparing how many friends one sibling has over the other, or how socially active they are in comparison to one another). Everybody makes friends differently.

5) Figuring out how to handle uncomfortable situations.

Sometimes making the decision to spend less time with a certain friend is the easy part, while undertaking the physical act of separating on the playground or during a social event can be stressful for a child. Help your child build confidence for these situations by role playing what the conversation might look like. Take on different roles (e.g. give an accepting response, a negative response, or even play the role of a hurtful response) and provide your child with the opportunity to rehearse what to say and how to respond. Sometimes understanding the notion that we cannot control the way others feel or what they might say helps a child gain confidence to navigate the scenario. Also, remind your child that it is normal to want to spend time with a different friend group, realize they have less in common with someone than they had thought previously, or to disagree with the behavior of a child who they had felt connected to. Remember that friendships hold a significant influence over the decisions our children make and accepting the notion of growing apart (and how to navigate those circumstances) is something children will carry into adulthood.

 

7 Ways the Teacher Can Help Your Child Make Friends.

If your child misinterprets or ignores social signs, he may have difficulty developing friends. Your child's teacher may be a great resource in this regard. Here are several ways in which the teacher can assist.

1. Convey your approval.

Simply demonstrating that she enjoys being around your child is one method the teacher might aid in his social advancement. 

That doesn't imply you should treat your child like a "pet" in class. 

Instead, the teacher might interact with your child in front of others, such as laughing and conversing.

2. Give your child responsibilities.

The teacher can give your child leadership opportunities and coveted responsibilities. If the kids are always vying for the opportunity to hand out snacks on Fridays, you could ask the teacher to put your child in charge of this and have him pick a few kids to help.

 3. Use sharing activities.

Teachers can provide opportunities for kids to discuss their interests and opinions in class with sharing activities. For example: “Turn and tell your neighbor two things you liked about the main character” or “Find someone else in the class who would’ve been willing to move west during the gold rush.”

4. Pair kids up strategically.

The teacher can foster friendships with study groups and buddy systems, pairing your child with another student who shares his interests (rather than pairing kids by academic skills).

5. Create a social skills group.

Some teachers are trained in social skills and will lead “lunch bunches.” These lunchtime sessions are informal chats with a small group of students about social issues. A social worker or guidance counselor might lead these discussions, too. The chats can help children practice responding to things like feeling isolated during an activity or being bullied.

6. Emphasize the positive.

Teachers can recognize and reward behaviors that they want to see more of in the classroom, as well as those that promote a healthy environment. This system of rewards demonstrates to children that acceptable behavior is valued and rewarded. It can also help a rule-breaking child feel less like an outcast if no one in the group suffers as a result of his actions.

7. Establish a classroom culture.

Setting goals for how the classroom will feel and function is critical to assisting all kids in feeling like they "belong." Setting guidelines for when things don't go as planned for the group or amongst individuals will help students develop a community and create a common vocabulary for holding each other accountable and supporting one another.. A strong classroom community allows for individual differences and celebrates what makes each kid unique.

Elementary teacher should be friendly with students but not friends

friendly or friends ?

When you are friendly with someone, you are approachable and polite but you don't actually have to like the person. You may be willing to spend some time with them if it suits you to do so. A friend is someone with whom you choose to build a relationship. They are somebody whom you like and enjoy spending time with.

Should teacher be friend with student?

I used to think teachers could be friends with their students, but then I realized I was confusing “friend” with “friendly.” We can grow closer to students when we share a common interest or work on long-term projects, but in every interaction, we must remain teacher/student, mentor/mentee, not true friend, and this is wise.

Teachers and students can share an equal interest in local sports teams, for example, trading team updates, re-telling great moments in legendary games, and showing souvenirs to each other. These are acts of human connection that are valuable to both parties. Students mature when adults extend these connections, and teachers enjoy the camaraderie and seeing students as more than one more paper to grade.

Notice, though, that the teacher does not take the student out for coffee and vent about office politics. There are topics that are inappropriate for teachers to share with students, and such sharing can undermine learning relationships in the classroom, even when the teacher is already very familiar with the student and his family. There are other dynamics at work, too.

Important distinctions. The clinical social worker Michelle Selby once told me that a teacher disclosing personal information with a student can be helpful when it is to help that student understand something, but never when it is for the purpose of adults filling their own needs, such as when seeking friendship or approval. Her husband, educator Monte Selby, added, “A health teacher can help kids learn about human sexuality, but it is not appropriate for the same teacher to tell kids which student looks sexy or share intimate details of their own sexuality. Those efforts are attempts to fill adult needs, not support student learning.”

While a friend might call us in the middle of the night when something upsets him or her, the teacher who receives such a call from a student must remain the concerned mentor. He should call the child’s parents, health officials, a school counselor, or Child Protective Services after the call, if warranted. In other words, our adult responsibility for the welfare of the child supersedes any element of friendship forged.

Kids want teachers to be grown-ups. Some teachers dress and act like their students in an effort to ingratiate themselves with students. The opposite happens, however. Students prefer teachers to be adults, not overgrown versions of themselves. Students gravitate toward teachers who inspire them to become something more than they are today, not extensions of their current condition.

Sure, teachers clown around from time to time, but the better teachers remain clearly adults, facilitating learning, offering insight, and representing larger society as students try on new vocabulary, behaviors, fashions, and politics, always watching how we respond.

It’s important to be friendly. I am a better person for having been influenced by the strong character and insight of some of my students over the years. When they became adults, a few of them moved into my circle of good friends. With Facebook turning the word “friend” into a superficial commodity these days, true friendship seems diminished and uncertain. In an increasingly connected world, we can’t afford a policy of, “Teachers may never be friendly with students,” but we can help teachers and students recognize clear boundaries rightfully established in successful teaching-learning relationships.

Friendship

Friendship      

💙Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an association, and has been studied in academic fields such as communication, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and philosophy.

What is important in a friendship?

If you and your friend have trust, equality, compassion, honesty, and independence, you already have the foundation of a strong and healthy friendship. Even though it can be hard to recognize when a friendship is weak in some areas, it is always possible to improve yourself and your relationship with a friend.

Kinds of friendships:

There are three kinds of friendships according to Aristotle, namely; friendship of utility, friendship of pleasure and finally perfect friendship. These friendships are related to three reasons of why we like things: usefulness, pleasure and goodness.

Importance:

A recent Harvard study concluded that having solid friendships in our life even helps promote brain health. Friends helps us deal with stress, make better lifestyle choices that keep us strong, and allow us to rebound from health issues and disease more quickly. Friendship is equally important to our mental and problem health such as anxiety and depression.

In addition friends can help you celebrate good times and provide support during bad times. Friends prevent loneliness and give you a chance to offer needed companionship, too. Friends can also: Increase your sense of belonging and purpose. 

For additional information:

https://www.liveabout.com/why-friendship-is-important-1385655#:~:text=A%20recent%20Harvard%20study%20concluded,important%20to%20our%20mental%20health.