Belonging
Remember that time you were in a meeting or classroom and you just didn’t feel like you belonged? The energy and motivation for learning can come from a sense of belonging. When students feel connected in a classroom community, we can activate their cognitive learning. When they feel they don’t belong, students spend more brain power being on edge than on higher order thinking. When they feel it’s a safe environment to share their emotions, their struggles, their celebrations, they will begin to build each other up and encourage the success of their classmates. When we treat students with kindness and high expectations, they will respond well and learn together. The more we value them, the more they will respond in kind. Some students need much more support than others, but it does not mean we need to lower our expectations. The same goes for the home and boardroom. Valuing a foster child, a distant relative, or a college intern goes a long way to helping create a sense of belonging. My motto “Love God Love People” reflects my understanding of our deepest need to find true belonging. In Christ, we find our true belonging. We are fully known and…