A teacher creates an "I Need" box and when she reads her student's wants and needs she is very surprised
A teacher is never a person who teaches only subjects to children because when it comes to raising a child, a teacher is an authority figure like a child's parents, indeed, in some cases, even more crucial.
A teacher also supervises that there are no situations of bullying as unfortunately, it is can happen in a school. Often, students have a much more harmonious rapport with their teacher than with their parents.
Julia Brown is an American middle school teacher who has found a simple and effective system to establish a relationship of trust with her students. Here is how the "I Need" box works.
In the class in which I teach, I put an "I Need" box in which my students can put notes expressing what they need. I told them that I would solve their "I Need" problem within a week. I wanted to let my students know that I'm here to help them with everything they feel they need.
In the first week, only two students wrote a note informing me of a bullying situation. I immediately got busy and acted to resolve the issue. But inside me, I had the feeling that something was preventing the students from really telling me what they needed.
Then I decided to change the rules! Now, all the students, every day, would have to put a note in the box that I had prepared. It did not matter if something was written on it or not --- it could also be empty. In this way, whoever put a note with a real need would not be seen and identified by their classmates.
The result? From that day on I began to receive an enormous amount of "I Need" notes. The notes contained the most diverse needs, from those who needed to change seats because from where they were sitting they could not see the blackboard, to students who told me they were being teased by someone else and those who just needed a hug.
In all cases, I have done everything to resolve and satisfy their needs.
The thing that most amazed me is that soon my students started to do without the box to externalize their needs! In fact, they began to come directly to me, without fear and shame.
I have been teaching in schools for 15 years and I can honestly say that the box is the best thing I have done for my students.
