The First Key to Success: Connecting with Your Students

The real key to success in the classroom goes beyond one’s mathematical preparation in college and one’s desire to teach, although these are very important to the success of any teacher. Those ingredients alone do not make a good teacher. The real key to success in teaching is being able to connect with your students. To start connecting with students: 1) Learn their names before anyone else does, 2) Make a seating chart on the very first day even if you intend to change it in a few days, 3) Keep an information sheet on each student with their phone number, parents' or guardian's names, hobbies, and a few questions on what they think are their strengths and weaknesses, and 4) If you have ESOL students (students whose first language is not English) in your class, be sure to find out how long they've been in this country and how much English they speak. Yes, you will still need to know your material very well and create meaningful lessons, but if you are not able to connect with your students, you won't influence students to keep learning mathematics.

Students need to know you care about them as individuals. As much attention as you want them to pay to you, you must pay to them. As much respect as you want them to show you, you must show them. You need to get to know your students’ strengths and weaknesses to know how to change the content of your lesson, to know how much you can challenge them, and to know what additional resources you must bring to your lesson to make it clear and effective.

Getting to know your students does not mean becoming too "buddy/buddy" with them. If you cross the line and become too friendly, you'll have trouble dealing with discipline with those same students. You're also bound to turn off other students who will think you have favorites. You want to be an adult they can look look up to, trust, and turn to for help. It is through you and what you do in the classroom that the mathematics you teach flows through. When you begin to see mathematics as your students see it, you will become a better math teacher.

To earn students’ trust, make sure you have a fair system of discipline and a fair system of grading. Whether you set up your discipline system with their input or not, what is important is that you are consistent and fair. Make sure you let the student know when you need to call home. Don’t be afraid to communicate with parents, but also call for good reasons. Don’t threaten students with a test because they seem unprepared. I am not in favor of pop quizzes in math. Often I give op-quizzes which are optional quizzes. The students have to take the quiz but the grade is optional. Op-quizzes help me know if my lesson has been successful. Announce quizzes and tests ahead of time. Never use grades as a punishment and always use a variety of assessment methods. Also, never forget to admit when you make a mistake.

One thing you may not have been told is to watch the tone you use when you talk to individual students or to your class. Many experienced teachers with great preparation and materials still turn students off by the tone they use. It’s hard to connect with a teacher who treats students like little children. Some teachers think that in class or in the hallway they must assume what I call the "teacher tone." Talk to students with the same tone you talk to adults. Your tone of voice should reflect that you view them as equal human beings. It should reflect that you care, respect and trust them. If you trust a student and later learn that you shouldn’t have trusted him/her, you may be fooled the first time and you’ll just learn to become more careful with that student. But, try to give students the benefit of the doubt, depending on the situation. If you can communicate that you are concerned about students as individuals you will see great positive changes in your classroom.

No matter what you hear, students love structure. When you communicate that you know what you want from them, your lesson will go better. Even if you do cooperative activities often, you must set classroom and group rules and communicate all your expectations clearly. If you believe that students should discover mathematics, then be aware of their limitations. No one can make a leap of discovery without the proper background knowledge. If you keep students in the dark, they will become anxious about mathematics and learn to hate the subject. Discovery methods are excellent but at the right time. My philosophy of mathematics is that students learn mathematics by different means and at different rates. I'm glad none of my math teachers kept me from learning mathematics because I sometimes couldn't figure out the "why" to a problem. Sometimes showing students how to do a problem and then expecting that they come up with the "why" is just as important to their development as having them come up with their own discoveries. Don't perpetuate the myth that mathematics is only for the gifted!

Lastly, don't ignore the quiet student and/or the ESOL student who doesn't say much in class. Make time to talk to those students who are quiet. Many go through years in school without being noticed! Change your seating chart to move those students closer to you. Give them errands to do if they want to and involve them as much as possible. Talk to the ESOL students even if they don't answer back and make time for them outside of class.

If you make connections with your students, your classroom will have an atmosphere of teamwork. Never allow put-downs. Tell them: "You're are all my students and whenever any of you gets put down, I take it personally." When you create an atmosphere of caring, respect and fairness, students will love to come to your class and will be more ready and eager to learn. Yes, it's possible to be firm and kind. It's possible to have very high expectations and create a loving environment at the same time. Look at students in the eye when you teach. Walk around the room and communicate that you love what you're doing. Students may forget something you taught them in math, but they will never forget how you made them feel. It’s the love that you communicate for them, and the love that you communicate for mathematics that they will remember. That is what will influence their love for education and will impact their future.