Sports

In the last post - I went over a quick strategy to try to build relationships individually with students. In this post, we will concentrate on another way to build a strong connection with many of your students and that is through sports.

I have been lucky enough that I have played and coached many sports and I can usually have a nice conversation about almost any high school sport for a few minutes without embarrassing myself. I have also found that there are always a few students in my class who watch sports regularly and always a few students that play sports. I am from the Baltimore area so I know all about the Ravens, Orioles, Wizards and Capitals. However, when I moved to Philadelphia I did not know much about the home town teams here. So I made it my job to learn as much about the teams as I could. I listened to podcasts about the teams and watched some of the games and then I was able to talk about the games with my students. There was nothing like coming in to class on a Monday morning and asking everybody if they saw the Eagles game last night. Number one, it shows to the students that you do other things in your spare time besides Sudoku and solving challenging math problems in the textbook. Number two, it shows your students that you are on their team, you are part of the community. You cheer for the Eagles! You want the same thing that they want! It makes them feel a connection with you. If you teach near a city, I highly recommend that you become at least partly a fan of the hometown team.

Another thing that sports ties in to the classroom is when you work with students that play sports. I taught a student this past year who played on the varsity football team and he used to come in everyday and talk to me about football because I used to coach it. When someone is that passionate, you really have to go to the Friday night game and watch them play. That was exactly what I did. Its important to go to as many games as you can and cheer on your students. If you are supporting them when they are on the field/ court, they know that you will support them in the classroom. It just builds another connection.

Lastly, there are national sports events. Just showing that you pay attention on the news. Like did anyone hear that so-and-so threw a perfect game last night. Did anyone see the warriors game last night? Just showing that you know what is going on in the sports world gives you a little bit of credibility when you are talking about sports with your students. When Kobe Bryant passed away, I played a video of his highlights for the class. I wanted them to know that I was also grieving with them. I wanted them to know that they could talk to me. This was another connection. I always talk about the Superbowl the day after it happens. I normally play a clip of the best commercials from the night before and sure that might waste five minutes but if it makes your students' day a little bit better - isn't worth it? Also, at the same time, it might make them like your class a little bit more and maybe they won't show up late anymore. Its just the little things that make a student like you a little bit more and want to come to your class. The little things like sports just might make the student feel a little bit more comfortable talking with you and maybe that little thing could make them feel more comfortable talking to you about other things. That way you can help your students. Try to lean in a little bit on sports. It just might help a little bit.

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