Observing My Mentor's Interactions With Students

Observing my Mentor Educator’s interactions with students has been an enlightening experience, and has helped me understand how the way we speak to our students plays a pivotal role in establishing positive and respectful relationships with students. My Mentor Educator speaks to each of her students with a calm and respectful demeanor, and it is evident through the relationships I have witnessed between her and her students, that the language she uses with her students has had a positive impact on them. When disciplining students, my mentor teacher’s demeanor is calm. I’ve observed her handling disciplining students with composure, never resulting in raising her voice at students or immediately turning to punishment. There is one student at

When my ME disciplines E, she will calmly tell him to put a star on her desk in a calm manner. Instead of reprimanding or raising her voice at him, my ME teacher will explain her reasoning to him privately about taking the star so that E can reflect on his behavior and understand why he is losing a star. E often becomes upset when he gets a star taken from him, and my mentor teacher usually responds by telling him “You are not in trouble, you just need to make a better choice in the future”. Another phrase she often uses with her students when disciplining them is “You are a smart kid” or “You are a good kid”. She always identifies her student's positive attributes rather than solely focusing on challenging behavior. I think this language reinforces accountability for her students, while also showing them that she cares about them and does not just want to get them in trouble or embarrass them. Her language cultivates relationships with her students that are built on trust and understanding, as she makes it clear to them that she wants them to reach their full

My mentor teacher’s approach to discipline aligns with this philosophy, as she resorts to just punishing students, but instead communicates with them and builds mutual respect. In the classroom, there is a student, M, who often feels discouraged when she finds work challenging or hard. When she feels frustrated, she often puts her head down at her desk or becomes visibly flustered. My mentor teacher constantly employs encouraging language that uplifts M, emphasizing her intelligence and helping her esteem. When M becomes upset with difficulties in completing assignments and becomes upset, my ME is quick to offer her reassurance, telling her she is smart and that they can work through the problems together. She always acknowledges L’s abilities and ensures that finding a challenging problem does not mean she is not intelligent. The language my mentor educator uses when addressing children who are feeling discouraged or have low self-esteem shows students that they are accepted and