I've seen several posts asking about how to build relationships with students, so I wanted to share some of the things I've done for the past nine years to build relationships with my students.
Lunch with teacher is by far one of the most popular relationship builders I've done with students. Twice a month until I've made it through my entire class I randomly select 5 students to invite to lunch. I set up a time the week before for them to put their heads together and come up with what we're having and then I make it up over the weekend and pick them up after recess to join me for lunch either in our room or at a table in the cafeteria depending on their preference.
A lot of my students are impacted by food insecurity, and me making lunch for them has been a powerful connection. But it's also created an unexpected connection between my current and past students who love to pop in and see what the kids have decided on for the next lunch with teacher. Our principal will also usually drop in and have a slice of cake or something just to get a little facetime with the kids.
Here are a few pictures of things I've made for past lunches with teacher as inspiration (there are duplicates of each dish off camera, but I always stage a picture for them to see first thing in the morning the day of so they know I kept to my word).
