Chapter 2 - What the Student Needs

One quote from this week's reading really stood out to me. The author shared some research that says, "If a child feels unsafe, threatened, or insecure, the brain blocks off the pathways to learning and attends to the more basic human needs instead." This struck me because how often our the students we teach completely tuned out because they don't feel the support of their teacher. Part of being an effective teacher is creating an environment where students feel safe, comfortable, validated, and loved. It is only in this type of environment that students will thrive. Further on in the chapter it talks about what the student seeks and how the teacher can meet these needs and help the students' brains open pathways to learning.