Student Relationships

Student relationships are the most important and critical aspect to being a successful teacher. Everything else you do as a teacher stems from the relationships you form with students. This idea has been the key to my entire teaching career. I strive to build trust with my students. To make them feel safe. I want them to feel a sense of community and belonging when they enter my room. They are accepted as whoever they choose to be. They understand that when they deal with me I see them as more than just a student in my room. They know that in many cases I've had their brothers, sisters, or cousins. I know their families, their history, their backgrounds. If they have a problem they know they'll usually find empathy from me. In many cases I've found it lucky that I share many interests with some of my students and I love talking about it with them.

Having a positive relationship with your students is the most important thing you can do as a teacher. It is something that I've found I am very good at doing. I am not sure why but I really enjoy talking with my students and getting to know them. I've always viewed it that a student is my student from the first day they set foot in my classroom onward with no end in sight. I tell the students they'll have to deal with me for the next 3 years at least when I get them as sophomores in my College Prep Chemistry Class at Crestwood. I regularly check up on them in AP Chemistry and AP Seminar as most of them go on to take those classes as juniors. In some cases I am lucky enough to have them as seniors in AP Research but in many other cases it is just a constant stream of students returning to talk about whatever during the course of the year. Yet it doesn't end there. I always have kids returning to talk and catch up about what they are doing in their life and I make sure the current students see that. They realize this is not just a 2 trimester experience and then "bye". It shows the kids that I'm into this with them and committed to them for the duration. It makes all the difference in the world.

During my time at Crestwood I've been lucky enough to get to know many students very well. I'm still in touch with many of them and am always so astonished by what they've accomplished and where they are now in life.

One way I've found to really show the students you are supportive and behind them is to get involved with things they are interested in. Below you can see some pictures from the Chess Club that we started a few years ago. It started mainly due to the interest of a few of my students that I had been close with for years. They'd always expressed an interest in doing something like this with me and I had known them for years due to siblings and other family members. I really enjoyed doing this with them. We had a great time with the meetings and it got pretty competitive at some points. A few even got pretty serious about chess.

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At one point we had a seminar period during the day and we were allowed to group up with students that shared a common interest with us. I ended up heading the "Professional Sports Discussion Club". This quickly turned into an NBA discussion club which eventually ended up becoming a massive NBA 2K (video game) double elimination tournament between everyone. We were lucky enough to play the final 4 games in the auditorium on the big, big screen with the last game being won by a massive underdog on a half-court shot. The paper bracket is still in the possession of the winner and arguments and discussion regarding the validity of the results are still had when some of the guys come back to visit from time to time.

This past year our school began dabbling in the eSports scene. We had a group of guys that were very into League of Legends and they started taking it pretty seriously. It just so happened that there were a few local tournaments as well. As the teacher who is known for playing games and being into that scene as well as the fact that I was already close with most of those students I acted as the coach/advisor for the team. They did everything needed and I just made sure they got along and enterted them into the competitions. We won the first tournament we entered!

Finally, I've always believed in keeping in touch with my students over the years as I mentioned earlier. In my Capstone class we've made it something of a tradition to have a meet up at least once a year so everyone can keep in touch and see how everyone is doing in life. Some kids have moved on or moved out to other parts of the world but it really is wonderful to see them. This is a picture from the first year with the inaugural Crestwood AP Research Capstone group.

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