How to Build Relationships in an Intervention Setting

Most students want to feel a sense of belonging. Students who receive interventions are no different in this regard because many of our struggling students have already experienced hardships and failure in school. They may suffer from low confidence and feel excluded because of their struggles.

As an intervention teacher, I’m afforded an opportunity to advocate for students across their school day. By forming connections and letting them know I’m in their corner, I hope to build stronger relationships with them that give them motivation to work even harder or challenge themselves further. Of course, students can improve without this connection, but building relationships can accelerate this process. Kids want to work hard, learn how to read, feel confident, and meet their goals. Researchers says there are four key factors in boosting students’ motivation to learn: competence, autonomy/control, interest/value, and relatedness. If I can connect reading to these areas, then I have a greater chance of engaging my students. 

Conversations Facilitate Connection

One of the most effective ways to connect with students is to have conversations. This seems almost too simple to say, but when I pick up my students from their classes, we engage in discussions on our walks. This simple opportunity affords me a chance to get to know their likes and dislikes and to hear about their weekends and interests, and I’m even able to weave some higher-level oral vocabulary into the conversations.

Sonia Cabell and Tricia Zucker talk about increasing the talking exchanges with each student in their book, Strive-for-Five Conversations. By asking questions or sharing my own interests with students, I can draw out more conversation from them. Although this isn’t in a content sense, I’m showing a genuine interest in their lives as well as introducing them to new language. For example, we don’t discuss weekend plans, we discuss weekend “adventures.” While it’s not the end goal in this scenario, increasing the level of vocabulary only adds to their learning.

For intermediate students who walk to my room by themselves, we set aside a minute or two on certain days to highlight something we may want to share with the group. These authentic daily conversations set a positive tone for our work together.

Interest-Based Reading Supports Relationship Development

An additional way to foster relationships with students is to connect reading material to their interests. This is an excellent way to encourage students to read more outside of intervention time, and it shows them that their interests are noted and important. It isn’t always easily accomplished in an intervention setting, but when I’m not using scripted lessons, I’m able to select my own texts. I attempt to weave in topics of interest within the articles we read. I’ve found that ReadWorks is especially helpful in matching texts to my students’ interests. It’s an amazing platform that provides articles at a range of grade levels on a variety of topics.

Additionally, I use AI platforms like MagicSchool AI to create additional texts on a topic that students find interesting. Students can read these pieces outside of our time together, either in their classrooms or at home. Using AI to create texts affords you the ability to control the content of the text in length, vocabulary, topic, grade level, and genre, among other things. 

Recordings Support Student Improvement

One of the most impactful strategies I use to support student learning and celebrate growth is showing student improvement through recording lessons or parts of lessons where students can hear themselves reading. Often, after watching these short recordings, students realize they’re now able to do something they couldn’t do before.

Sometimes in intervention work, milestones are more like stepping stones, and students need to be encouraged along the way so that they are “making progress.” Recordings provide a concrete way of demonstrating progress. I’m also able to share these little snippets with their classroom teachers, administrators, or even parents to showcase how their student is making strides. Like they say, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

Sharing the recordings with students or with those they are close to allows students who don’t typically get recognition to receive positive feedback from other adults in and out of the building. One caution about using recordings is that it is essential to adhere to any policies your district has in place. In my district, students can opt out of media sharing if they choose. If you’re concerned about sharing students’ identities, you can make sure the recording doesn’t feature their faces, as well as get parental permission for the sole purpose of sharing within the school setting. Making sure these allowances are in place has only helped to support this process. 

Goal Setting Motivates Student Success

One final way I like to connect with students is by speaking to them about the goals they need to meet in order to exit intervention work. We discuss grade-level norms and how we plan to reach those goals. Students appreciate knowing how far they need to go to meet grade-level expectations, and when we show improvement, we celebrate our success.

When we are still struggling, we tweak our plan to get more practice so that we can keep moving forward. This process of honest reflection builds trust between me and the students as we work. In this process, students know that you are there to support them and help them reach their goals.

Building relationships isn’t always easy. Many demands are placed on students and teachers throughout the day. However, if you stick to just a few of these strategies, students will get the message that you are their advocate, supporter, and coach, and are undoubtedly in their corner. It’s important to know that improvement is a process—there are times when we celebrate and times when we have to keep working until we meet our goals. The aforementioned strategies afford us an opportunity to connect, work together as a team, and support students in developing their capacity and confidence.