The Importance of Forming Relationships with your Students

             As future educators we will run into all kinds of different students. There will be students that can be discouraging and hard to deal with as a teacher. I’ve been lucky enough to have a lot of time substitute teaching so I’ve got to see some of this firsthand by subbing in the in-school suspension room. I saw students who were smart, personable, and had all the tools within themselves to succeed in school and do whatever they wanted to in life. But, despite that, they were failing all of their classes and it felt like there was nothing I could do to convince them to try. If you could get them to try for even part of a day, they did great on their tests or assignments despite not going to class often.

             Watching students make decisions like this was hard for me, even as somebody who was just a substitute. I spent a week working in the in-school suspension room and I couldn’t get any of them to talk or listen to me the first couple days. Finally, on the last day I was able to get one to open up and tell me why he wasn’t trying. He had an extremely difficult home life and had to work late every night to pay for his things and by the time he woke up for school he didn’t have the energy to try in school. There was nothing I could do to help his situation as much as I wanted to. But, after he talked to me about it and saw that I understood and cared about his life, he listened to me and allowed me to help him. He worked hard the whole day. Trying to build a relationship and showing you care about a student’s success can make a world of difference to them. As Dr. Larson has said multiple times this semester, building relationships with your students is the most important part of teaching, and I whole-heartedly believe in that. Yet this is not limited to teachers who work in a disciplinary room, it’s especially true for math teachers.

             Lots of students dislike math as it can be difficult and extremely frustrating. So, as a math teacher we need to find ways to make the class more fun for them. A great way to do this is to be personable and form relationships with your students. Being approachable to all students can make their experience with math more enjoyable and they’ll be willing to work harder. I think this is especially true for students with little to no motivation. Getting to know those students and making them know you genuinely care about their success can make a world of difference to them. Being able to help your students, in more ways than just teaching math, is what makes teaching enjoyable and worthwhile.