Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, shows that students can be affected by so many different factors – death, divorce, relationships and many more. ACEs is a way for students to understand their emotions, why they have these tough feelings, and how to find calming and coping strategies in order to be successful, both personally and academically.
Below is a paper I wrote for EDU 385 on why ACEs was the most important learning for myself during the semester and why teacher relationships are pivotal for providing a successful path for students to take.
Most Important Learning Paper:
ACE’s – Teacher and Student Relationships
Adverse Childhood Experiences, ACE’s, is a form of understanding students’ life outside of school. Many students come from difficult homes, causing them to be more focused on other issues than educational topics. When a student is focused on home-life, and not school-life, students demonstrate specific behaviors that cause students to act out or become disengaged. Teachers, some of the most important people to be in contact with students, have a huge responsibility in becoming an important figure in a student’s life. The relationships between teachers and students is a foundation to a successful academic year.
The benefits for connecting with students is infinite. No matter what the situation might be in the student’s life, the connection with the teacher can go a long way. For example, if a student opens up to the teacher about his or her parent’s divorce, the teacher now has some background over how to help the student focus on school work, while also teaching the student coping mechanisms to help understand and accept the situation. Also, with this information in mind, the teacher can develop an understanding with the student that things might not be that great at the moment, but knowing that there are steps the student can take a find happiness within and acceptance, difficult situations can seem less burdensome. While this will not fix everything, the student has the background information that their teacher cares more about them instead of just caring about academic performance.
A pivotal component to developing relationships and how to learn about key relationships involved the creation of a community. There are many different aspects to building relationships in the classroom. The most moving reference, however, was the movie, Paper Tigers. This movie took relationship development to a whole new level. Teachers spent a lot of time and effort into understanding where their students are in life and how to best help them. Teachers took a lot of anger and abuse, but their commitment to their students, their lives, and how they believed in the best out of each and every one of them shined throughout the movie. This is something that really impacted me because I honestly believe that the development of relationships creates an environment far more important than the academics of school. Learning is a lifetime, but school is for a specific amount of time. Creating a self-awareness about oneself can open the possibilities to adventures and opportunities that one might not have if they do not have people teaching them to push through and learn to depend on themselves and others.
Another important perspective that related to learning about relationship building was the class discussion with Justin Roy. He was able to give first-hand experiences that we might see when we go into the schools after we graduate and are on our own. He was very helpful by offering the advice to meet students where they are. Picking a random starting point or telling students to stay focused will only hurt them. However, when you meet students where they are, the teacher can create a starting point where students feel comfortable and can succeed at their own pace, along with the support from their teachers. Justin Roy was able to convey a difficult perspective that many people might not have the background, knowledge, or comfort for taking on. It was great to discuss strategies that allow new teachers to get a head start on a foundation for creating an environment that puts the students first.
Overall, learning about ACE’s, relationships, and classroom communities has brought me to believe even more on the powerful components teaching has to offer. I picked Paper Tigers and Justin Roy’s presentation because they offered real-time and real-life experiences. It is important for me to know that students need a trusting adult who is consistent in their lives. They will benefit tremendously well into adulthood from the relationships and skills they will learn. I think a lot about what student teaching will be like and how my future career will turn out. I know that relationships are a crucial and significant component to teaching. I cannot wait to meet my future students and learn with them.
References:
Paper Tigers
Justin Roy presentation
