Why teachers should give pupils a warm welcome
ListenEnthusiastic and elaborate ways of greeting students at the classroom door are constant viral hits, but do they actually make any difference to what goes on in the classroom? Chris Parr finds that a word at the door is more powerful than you might think
TikTok users love a video showing greetings at the classroom door. You get thousands of likes and comments for videos of teachers high-fiving students, shaking hands with students, doing individual short routines with students, even dancing with students.
It’s nothing new, of course: such videos existed on other platforms long before TikTok rose to social media royalty. One viral video, of US primary teacher Jerusha Willenborg, who memorised an individual handshake for each and every one of her pupils as they came through her door, has now been viewed more than 9 million times on YouTube ...
Subscribe to continue reading
Get full access to our magazine to keep up-to-date with the latest education research, insight and analysis – including audio articles and back issues
Already have a subscription? Log in
