To be honest, it is love.  To be a teacher, to draw knowledge from young and old humans alike, you first have to show love

–Edulovereading

Someone asked me how I get my students to be so engaged.  They seem so eager to read and participate in class they said.  I told them that the answer is simple, okay it is not that simple, but it is simple enough, the answer is love. The school year starts really soon, so now I am reflecting.

On the first day, it is important that your students know that you will still accept them even if they fail.  They know and understand that the first day of learning something new can go two ways, either it will go really well or it can suck.  The idea here is to understand persistence that even though it sucks you can always get better with practice and admitting your defeat.  When it goes well they should know that they can not be complacent that they can always do better, challenge themselves and help others to do the same.  When they make a mistake they should know that failure only comes when they decide to take that mistake and make it into something great.

You as the teacher should know that  making students  feel bad about that mistake can actually make the mistake a failure.  Children should learn from their mistakes above all things.  When students feel the love and know that it is okay to fail, they will reach more success over time.

That is the beginning of learning to read.  First comes love.