In middle school, there are 3-5 minutes between periods. That’s enough time for a quick trip to the bathroom or copy room. Enough time to post attendance or check email. But it’s also prime time to set the stage for the next period. Here’s why I greet my students at the door.
- Greeting students at the door builds a positive school culture and classroom community which benefits all stakeholders.
- Greeting students at the door builds relationships with students. Isn’t that why I became a teacher to start with?
- Greeting your students at the door correlates to a 27% increase in on task behavior during the class (1) and therefore increases learning.
- Greeting students at the door decreases problem behaviors by 9% and promotes academic engagement. (2)
- It makes students happy and it makes me happy.
Sources:
- Allday, R Allan, and Kerri Pakurar. “Effects of teacher greetings on student on-task behavior.” Journal of applied behavior analysis vol. 40,2 (2007): 317-20. doi:10.1901/jaba.2007.86-06
- Cook CR, Fiat A, Larson M, et al. Positive Greetings at the Door: Evaluation of a Low-Cost, High-Yield Proactive Classroom Management Strategy. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions. 2018;20(3):149-159. doi:10.1177/1098300717753831
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