This was the last thing I removed from my classroom walls this year.

I kept it up for two reasons. I kept it up for the connection, and the good feelings connected with loving and being loved. I also left it on the wall to remind myself I’m doing it right.

At our final faculty meeting my director presented data about the things that impact student achievement. She shared some of John Hattie’s data.

Here’s a bit of a summary from the Visible Learning Website.

The following examples may give an impression of the scope of Hattie’s findings:

• What’s bad? Retention, summer holidays
• What’s neither bad nor good? Team teaching, open vs. traditional classes
• What helps a bit? Class size, homework
• What helps a bit more? Cooperative learning, direct instruction
• What helps a lot? Feedback, Student-teacher relationships

It makes perfect sense. Aren’t we all more able to think, learn, create, do, and be when we feel loved, cared for, seen, heard, known, challenged, valued, and encouraged? I am edified and pleased to see student-teacher relationships studied and mentioned in research as the impactful things they are. Thank you, John Hattie.

Positive student-teacher relationships are powerful. Just yesterday, I got this in the mail.

I love you, too, my young friend. I love you, too.