One of My Keys to Success

With but one week remaining in my first semester of teaching, one of the keys of my success has been associating myself with the extra-curricular activities of my students. It's more than just showing up at the popular sporting events like basketball, but catching a hockey game, wrestling meet, school musical and more. It's identifying students outside of my classroom environment by cheering them on in the arenas of sports and other out-of-class activities. Students enjoy the concept of having 'fans' in the stands and the concept creates empathy and goodwill on a scale of massive proportions. They see me as someone who takes a vested-interest in both their team and school, in addition to generating conversation in the classroom as well as between periods. I am amazed at how much time students invest in these activities- both in training, competition, and performance. As much as I want to say "I wish you'd put the same amount of time into the homework I assign," I know that this isn't the venue nor approach I need to take. High school students are keen at assessing who is doing all they can to help them succeed both in and out of the classroom, and this is just one of the many proven ways of building that bridge.