1-I believe Ms. Koch does the lesson she wants her students to complete because she wants to model how she is thinking while she is doing it, giving examples of acceptable answers and making her students feel comfortable completing the task. 

2-By connecting it to her personal life the students get to know her a little better and then become more willing to share the truth about their answers.

Ms. Koch does the lesson/activity that she asks her students to complete to show her students that she is unafraid to take risks and she is willing to see if any parts of her activities need to be revised based on feedback. 

Sharing personal stories fosters a safe learning environment because it makes the teacher seem like they are actually "human/normal". Students in elementary school often may have the misconception that their teacher sleeps at school. When you show pictures or tell personal stories (even those of something you did over the weekend), shows that teachers are just like their students, they go to the store, go to movies, go to the mall, etc....

 

1. Why do you think Ms. Koch always does the lesson or activity she asks students to complete? So she can empathize with them about the lessons and can experience why or what parts of the activity were difficult.  
2. Notice how Ms. Koch incorporates a personal touch with modeling a lesson objective. How does sharing personal stories foster a safe learning environment? The students (the ones in my class, too) love when you share a little bit of your personal lives.  I think it makes the teacher more normal and approachable.  

As a new teacher struggling with engagement, I quickly realized how exposing a touch of my past could pull students in to my lesson. When writing essays about traditions, I was stunned by how personal many of my student's responses were. They so easily revealed to me things that I would have never guessed about their lives, including loved ones that had passed away, tragedies, and less-than-ideal family situations. I decided to write my own and share it with the class. As I read about my grandmother and I baking the Thanksgiving turkey each year, I looked up and realized that they had never been so engaged. We then talked about the reasons, details and examples that I had given in the essay. As they asked me specific questions about my essay and my "tradition", I asked if they thought I should have included that info for better understanding of the essay and why. I hope to use this technique in the future not only to ensure engagement, but also to show them that I am human. I feel like they definitely deserve it:)

This is a great strategy to use in the English classroom. Students typically have a hard time imagining their teachers as people with lives outside of the school building. Making it personal in the classroom allows our students to get to know us as individuals which can translate to a deeper level of discussion on other topics.