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13 Ways Teachers Can Build Great Teacher–Student Relationships

You’ve seen them all: the cool young teacher who relates to students as a friend, the stern veteran teacher who won’t put up with any nonsense, and the professor who values students’ input as much as the knowledge being shared from the podium.

No matter what your teaching style or experience level, relating better to your students can open the door to new learning opportunities for everyone involved.

What do the experts say about building great teacher–student relationships? Sara Rimm-Kaufman and Lia Sandilos of the American Psychological Association discuss the social and academic benefits, concluding that fostering positive relationships with students at different age levels improves student motivation and peer relationships, helps to address behavioral problems, and can even complement other important relationships in students’ lives.

The good news is that there are many ways to develop and maintain meaningful teacher–student relationships in the classroom. Whether it’s your first time at the head of the classroom or you’ve been teaching for 20 years, there’s always something new to learn—starting with your students.

Build a foundation for great teacher–student relationships.

1. Get to know (and like) your students.

The first essential ingredient in any relationship is an introduction. Get to know not only your students’ names but also their strengths and weaknesses, their interests, and their personalities. To know your students better, share something meaningful about yourself, such as your own educational background, interests, or quirks; you could do this by writing a letter to your students or by introducing yourself on the first day.

Building trust involves sharing who you are and learning whom your students are. Furthermore, getting to know students who are difficult or shy is essential to building trust in the teacher–student relationship.

2. Work with your students, not against them.

Instead of reacting to behavioral problems with anger, treat them as an opportunity for engaging the student in the classroom. Respect your students’ opinions, and channel their energies into productive outlets, such as group discussions or creative projects. Rather than pestering or complaining about students, get to know them, and show that you can be trusted. A study examining adolescent behavior in high school classrooms showed that teachers can use relationship building to prevent discipline problems, as students act out less when they perceive their teacher to be trustworthy. Trust is one of the values that facilitates positive relations in any classroom.

3. Practice respectful classroom interaction.

One of the best ways to lay a foundation for good teacher–student relationships is to create a code of conduct: agree on how things will be done before the class starts. Not only will these rules help create an ethical classroom but they will also create a culture of respect. This involves stressing the importance of respect among your students as well as between learner and teacher. But remember, behavior starts with your own actions, which leads to our next step.

Model appropriate behavior.

4. Be aware of your tone, expression, and body language.

A respectful, friendly, cooperative classroom is all well and good, but what if you can’t conceal your frustration at Pam’s texting, Cam’s interruptions, and Sam’s constant chatter? Rimm-Kaufman and Sandilos urge professors and teachers to be aware of the explicit and implicit messages they send to students through words, actions, and manner. They recommend making a video of one of your lessons to ascertain whether you are demonstrating interest in your students as individuals or whether you are too bored, angry, or sarcastic to provide real attention. Modifying your own behavior will set the tone for positive teacher–student relationships.

5. Stay calm and emotionally balanced.

Keeping your cool goes hand in hand with cultivating a respectful classroom climate, as showing undue or prolonged irritability or annoyance toward your students can seriously undermine your relationships with them. While learning to accept constructive criticism is an important part of the learning process, nobody wants to be publicly lambasted by an authority figure. Remember to see the good as well as the bad in your students.

6. Be helpful and fair.

From simply answering questions to going the extra mile to meet your students’ academic needs, you must offer consistent, reliable support. You must also treat all students fairly, maintaining high standards for educational outcomes and acceptable behaviors. The rules apply to each student equally, so you should avoid favoritism and promote respect. All these approaches to teaching will secure your students’ trust in you as an educator, which will encourage them to seek help when the need arises.

Provide quality, one-on-one feedback.

7. Conduct personal interviews or student–teacher consultations.

Ideally, your students will see you as approachable and come to you with questions, concerns, and feedback. Sometimes students experience personal problems that may interfere with their studies. Though you are not trained to be a counselor or a social worker, you can still point your students in the direction of relevant services on campus, at your school, or in the community. Building great teacher–student relationships means caring for your students and respecting their emotional, social, physical, and mental well-being—not just their performance in the classroom.

8. Be available for office hours.

Part of a quality teacher–student relationship is being available and responsive to students’ needs. Even if you plead with students to talk with you in your office or after class, there are sometimes barriers that often prevent students from seeking help. One such barrier is scheduling. Make sure you hold regular office hours, but remain flexible enough to meet a student by appointment at a time that works for him or her. If you can’t arrange to meet at a different time, arrange to meet right after class or correspond via email. Another barrier is lack of information. Make sure students know where your office is and how they can reach you. Include this information on the syllabus, clearly marked. Though these steps might not guarantee more one-on-one interactions, they will allow students access to your individual guidance, should they need it.

9. Use comments to provide feedback.

You might be thinking that there’s no way you have the time to provide one-on-one feedback to your students. But even if you can’t arrange for face-to-face interaction on an individual basis, you can still provide tailored feedback through comments on students’ work. This could be in the form of written comments on reports, essays, and presentations, or it could be provided online—a medium that offers convenience and accessibility to teachers and students alike.

Build an open-communication, multi-modal learning environment.

10. Encourage open participation.

We often hear of the benefits of classroom participation, but how does this pedagogical tool affect student-teacher relationships? For one thing, it’s hard to relate to a lecturer who never allows feedback, challenging questions, or new ideas from his or her students.

Once you establish that no question is a stupid question and that true learning doesn’t arise from passivity, you can create a positive learning climate in which students aren’t afraid to contribute their ideas. Building group activities into a lesson or adding an online participation component can help your students engage with the material and discuss ideas with each other.

11. Use online learning environments.

Maybe the constant war over students’ attention—away from their smartphones and onto the curriculum—isn’t best served by confiscating said technology and using it to make long-distance calls to Europe (as one of my previous professors threatened). A better solution to redirecting students’ technology obsession is online learning platforms.

Use online forums to open new avenues of course-related dialogue for students who are too shy to speak in class. Create questions that invite students to relate the material to their own lives and spheres of knowledge. Keep an eye on these threads to make sure the conversation stays on track, and use students’ questions and salient points as teachable moments. Your responses in these online forums can show students that you value their ideas and care about their learning outcomes.

12. Provide additional resources.

In addition to online forums, using online courses or other materials can invest in students’ knowledge and show your interest in their transferrable skills. Giving your students access to such online resources is a great way to supplement your curriculum and help you meet your students’ needs effectively.

And finally…

13. Make teaching and learning fun!

How you teach is, perhaps, just as important as what you teach. You don’t have to be a stand-up comedian, but incorporating a bit of humor, storytelling, positivity, and enthusiasm in your subject can make all the difference in establishing a positive learning environment.

Following these guidelines will help you connect with your students to create the best environment for learning. You might have all the resources available in the world, but failing to show interest in your students or behaving in an inconsistent manner may damage your chances of building positive teacher–student relationships. Enrich students’ learning by respecting their social and emotional needs, which are just as important as their intellectual ones.

 

12 Essay-Writing Hacks from a Professional Editor

As a professional editor, I’ve edited all kinds of documents, not the least of which are essays. I’ve seen it all—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Look, it’s easy to write a bad essay when it’s due in less than 24 hours (we’ve all been there), but that doesn’t mean it’s difficult to write a good essay. To write a good essay, you just have to know what to look for to make weak writing stronger.

Simply looking is the number one job of a professional editor (outside of drinking coffee) because looking leads to discovering—and once you find your errors, improvement is just around the corner.

After editing over a million words, I’ve come to understand what makes a good essay and what makes a bad essay, and I have a few practical tips—essay hacks, if you will—for improving your own essay-writing skills.

1. Befriend your argument.

Make sure you know everything there is to know about your argument. That means you should understand exactly what it is you’re arguing and why. If your argument was an elevator pitch and you had to explain it to someone in just a minute or two, could you? If the answer is “No,” revisit the main point of your essay. Do more research to make sure you know the topic inside and out.

The reason you need to be prepared is that, if there’s any proof that can shoot your argument down, you not only need to shield those bullets but also to ricochet them back. Don’t just know your argument—befriend it. Find out its strengths and its weaknesses.

2. Challenge every idea.

If you have any questions about your topic, subject, or field, ask them as soon as you can. Hitting a snag later can stall progress on your essay, so if you can hit all the major weak points early on, you can avoid finding major flaws in your argument later.

Challenge anything that causes questions to sprout and play the devil’s advocate for your own argument. If you’ve identified these weaknesses before, now is the time to investigate further and begin to clarify anything that might still be fuzzy.

3. Select your sources carefully.

When selecting your sources, be picky. Don’t resort to using online sources just because they’re easily accessible. Try to use all kinds of different sources, but only if they’re current. Don’t pick a dusty old book from the library just to have a print source in your references list.

Choose current and relevant sources from trustworthy or notable scholars in the field. If your proof is questionable, your whole argument will fall apart, so choose your sources like you would an all-star team if you want to knock your essay out of the park.

4. Start writing early.

This is important: make sure you start writing early. Don’t put your essay off until the last minute. Do you know what’s waiting for you at the last minute? Regret and sadness.

Kickstart yourself now so you don’t kick yourself later. If you need to set an early deadline for yourself or split the essay writing into manageable chunks, do it. Just make sure you start early so you have time to solve any problems you run into later.

5. Organize for clarity.

The structure of your essay is every bit as important as the argument itself. If you have a flimsy structure, there’s no firm foundation to build the essay on; if there’s no firm foundation, your essay could collapse at any moment.

Focus on structuring your essay before you start writing. How will you arrange your argument and provide evidence in a cohesive and logical way? It’s better to answer that question earlier rather than later. Use transitions to ensure your argument flows logically from one point to the next.

6. Watch your tense and voice.

First, use the active voice when you write your essay (unless otherwise instructed). Second, avoid personal pronouns to maintain objectivity if need be (e.g., in scientific and other formal writing).

Third, you should write in the literary present, meaning that all actions performed in the text should be explained in the present tense rather than the past.

Finally, avoid using clichés. Since you want to present original thoughts, overused phrases need to be cut.

7. Explain everything clearly.

Any time you make a point, explain it clearly—even if you think it’s obvious. Your argument will be obvious to you (since you’ve befriended it), but it’s brand new to the reader. Your argument is meeting your reader for the first time, and like any new friends, they need introducing. If you fail to introduce them properly, things will get very confusing and awkward.

8. Be succinct.

Sentences should be straightforward, communicating one point at a time; cut all unnecessary words. You’ll also want to eliminate any repetition. It’s easy to say the same things over and over again in an essay, but doing so won’t strengthen your argument.

Cut unnecessary phrases and anything wordy or redundant, including phrases that don’t add information, such as “it should be pointed out that” or “due to the fact that.” Similarly, don’t ramble on about the same topic or go off on a tangent in the middle of your essay.

9. Avoid academese at all costs.

Try to keep things simple. While you shouldn’t talk down to your audience or explain every technical term, you should always be concise. Most importantly, don’t ever use words or phrases that you think will make you sound smarter.

It’s always best to be straightforward, so use the right vocabulary to say exactly what you want to say. It’s embarrassing if you try to use a fancy word only to find it doesn’t mean what you thought it meant.

10. Be aware of your word count.

Don’t go over your word count. Most markers will stop marking at the last word within the word count, so it’s crucial that you stay within it if you want to do well.

However, you also don’t want to stay severely lower than the word count provided. While you shouldn’t pad the essay by adding information that isn’t necessary to your argument or relevant to the topic at hand, you should get as close to the word count as possible by thoroughly exploring your topic and elaborating on your argument.

11. Carefully cite everything.

Unless you want to face a failing grade, academic probation, or even expulsion, you need to cite all of your sources. There are many types of plagiarism, but as long as you take good notes during your research and credit your sources, it’s easy to avoid plagiarism.

Your academic integrity is at stake here, so ensure that you are overly cautious in recording the necessary material. Be vigilant in confirming that you’ve documented everything fully and correctly.

12. Revise extensively.

Every good essay has been revised at least once, which means you, too, should tighten your writing. Comb through and ensure that everything is clear, consistent, and flows well. Once you’re happy with the content of your essay, you can sweat the small stuff, like grammar and spelling errors.

Even brilliant essays receive lower grades if simple mistakes are left in the document, so consider getting a second opinion and having an expert look over your writing for both form and content. At the very least, run a spell and grammar check. You’ll be so happy you did.

Conclusion

Essay writing doesn’t have to be hard. Anyone can write a good essay with the proper tools. These essay hacks are part of your toolkit, which you can use to improve your essay writing. Go from good to great by considering these tips and implementing them when writing your next essay.

If you would prefer a step-by-step guide for essay writing and want to improve your skills once and for all, you might want to think about taking a course to organize and write good essays every time.

How to Master the Cornell Note-Taking System

Think ahead a few months: exam season has started, and you’re thankful that you’ve attended class faithfully and taken clear, well-organized notes—or so you thought.

The incoherent jumble of words and phrases stares up at you from the page like so much tangled spaghetti, defying you to remember exactly what the professor meant or how these ideas connect. How can you study effectively when faced with such a note-taking disaster?

The solution is easy: learn the Cornell Note-Taking System and start using it before exams start.

Created by Dr. Walter Pauk from Cornell University, this note-taking system is both an efficient way to record information and an effective way to absorb it. Aside from saving you the time and angst spent cramming, Cornell notes can actually improve the quality of your learning experience, helping you make connections and get more out of each lesson.

With this step-by-step guide, you’ll learn the five Rs of the Cornell note-taking system, and you’ll never end up with the nightmarish problem of not understanding your own notes.

Before You Begin

The Cornell Note-Taking System organizes ideas spatially, so it’s great for visual learners. The idea is to give yourself space for copying down information (class notes), for identifying key points (study cues), and for summing up the main ideas of the lesson (summary). Remember to also record the course name, the class topic, and the date of the lesson to keep your notes orderly.

Before class, use a marker or a different color of ink to divide the page into two main columns, with a bit of space at the top and a larger section at the bottom.

You might want to prepare several pages in advance, or you can use a template (you can find them online or use Microsoft Word to create a digital version). Lefties can switch the cue column to the right-hand side to make things easier. The idea is to make the process as easy as possible.

Step 1: Record

This is where the fun begins. Fill the largest section with your class notes, recording relevant terminology, names, dates, formulas, statistics, and other information. Keep these tips in mind:

  • Write neatly (or at least legibly).
  • Leave a space between each line in case you need to add more information later.
  • Use shorthand, such as the ampersand (&) instead of “and,” or acronyms instead of full terms, but make sure you know what they mean.
  • Don’t use complete sentences.

If you learn better by doodling/drawing or if you make connections through tactile learning (such as something you saw, smelled, or felt during an experiment), feel free to write these down. This will help you study later.

Step 2: Reduce

Class is over, but hold it! Effective note-taking continues outside of class. It might seem like a drag, but taking a few minutes to go over your notes (and clear up any illegible handwriting) while the information is still fresh in your mind will spare you hours of pulling out your hair while cramming for an exam.

After class, take a few moments to summarize the key points inside the left-hand column (study cues), and make sure they line up with the corresponding information. One way to reduce the lecture is to put it in your own words, looking for meaning and the relationships between ideas.

When study time comes, you can find information quickly by scanning the cue column, and you’ll already have a firm grasp on what you’ll need to know for the test.

Step 3: Recite

For the oral learners out there who remember best by hearing, take a few moments to verbalize the key points in the study cues. Without looking at the detailed notes from the class, see if you can remember what you learned by looking at the cues. You can always “cheat” a little to check if you got the right answer (it’s not the real test yet!).

Spoken information—especially if it’s in your own words—can help you understand the material in a way that simply memorizing something can’t.

Step 4: Reflect/Summarize

Ask yourself: How would I explain the lesson to someone who’s never learned it before? Not only do teaching and learning go hand in hand, but reflecting on what you’ve learned is the best way to retain information.

When you write your summary section, don’t think of it as a mere repetition. Treat it as a chance to engage with the material, including your thoughts, your questions, your interpretation, and your own personal reflections. You can even relate the material to the textbook or other study materials, to your previous experiences, or to knowledge from other courses; the more connections you can make, the better.

Step 5: Review

This step can actually be done throughout the semester as a way to aid comprehension and alleviate the pressure of studying for exams. Believe it or not, taking the time to review your notes for 10 minutes each week can spare you the 10 hours of fruitless studying where you’re straining to remember what was once fresh in your mind.

Conclusion

They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If that’s true, then a systematic approach to college or university note-taking is worth the effort. Don’t make your studies any more stressful than they need to be: become a master of Cornell notes instead.

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