You walk into school from the tower, heading to your first hour. You enter the silent classroom, fall into your seat, opening your notes as your teacher dives straight into the lecture. After 70 minutes of fighting to stay awake, you leave unnoticed. As you enter your second hour, your teacher greets you with a bright smile and asks you how you are. Feeling seen, you sit down, energized and ready to learn. Taking out your computer, you think to yourself how much more you like this class – is it the subject or the teacher that has made a difference in your attitude?
Samantha Devries is a world history teacher at Loy Norrix who does her best to guide students through their time in high school. By exploring different learning styles, she finds new ways to teach, so she can empower and connect to her students.
After teaching for 20 years, and working with hundreds, if not thousands, of students, Devries reflected, “I think emotionally they’ve changed me. Definitely, the way that I teach has been impacted by students.”
She gazes around her classroom, eyes browsing the collection of artifacts from those 20 years. Her cupboard walls behind her desk show just how many students appreciate her teaching. A careful collage full of senior photos from students decorates her space, reminding her of all the students who have made an impact on her life.
Not only does Devries collect pictures, but she also stays in touch with many students after graduation. Many students reach out to Devries for letters of recommendation and help with college assignments, and some even connect through social media.
“I think it is important to try and figure out some way that you connect with a student. And it doesn’t have to necessarily be the topics in school because they may hate your class,” Devries said passionately.
“Maybe there’s stuff going on in their life that’s really bad, but if we can find some way to connect, then we’ll probably be okay,” Devries said.
Devries is one teacher trying to reach out to students and make an impact on their lives, but most students can benefit from teachers who make them feel seen.
“A teacher that actually cares about their students wants to make sure their students are learning,” freshman Tea Wadsworth-Curcuru said. “If they can tell you’re having a bad day, they’ll check in with you.”
Wadsworth-Curcuru is a model student : she’s easy-going, smart and quick to get her work done. Even though she’s self-motivated, she’s seen how teachers can make learning easier for students. Students usually prefer teachers who are compassionate and make connections with their students.
“She [a past teacher] was just always really nice to me, and I always felt a connection to her,” Wadsworth-Curcuru said.
Although Wadsworth-Curcuru doesn’t let apathetic teachers affect her learning, she points out that some teachers just don’t seem to care, which negatively impacts her learning experience.
“They don’t care what you do and what you don’t, or they’re actually lazy. They can do something that would help their students really easily, and they just choose not to do it,” Wadsworth-Curcuru said.
Wadsworth-Curcuru isn’t the only student who notices when teachers care or don’t. An Education World article cites a study that found only 48% of students, grades 6-12, felt that teachers cared about them as individuals.
When students aren’t confident that their teachers care about them, it can have a serious negative influence on their self-esteem and performance. One bad teacher can ruin a subject for a student, make them dread their day, or make them feel like teachers are the enemy.
Shameful: Kids lose when bad teachers win, an article by the Oklahoman, states that “One poor teacher can easily destroy progress made under a previous wonderful teacher.” The article claims that in student success, teachers are one of the most important factors.
Freshman Khaliya Wallace has encountered many rocky relationships with teachers. Wallace battles with anger management, which has frequently led her to throw fits of rage in the face of teachers.
“[In] middle school, probably my worst reaction with my history teacher, I threw a chair at him,” said Wallace.
Wallace expressed how her teacher made her feel “[like] I didn’t mean anything, my life would never amount to anything, nobody would ever love me.”
Wallace said that past experiences have made it increasingly difficult to contain her anger. For example, some of her teachers have yelled at her and embarrassed her in front of the class.
“I could just blow up,” said Wallace. “You can just feel it inside you, boiling.”
Conversely, Wallace is learning more every day from teachers that she loves, helping her to get past her struggles.
“Mr. Kizer taught me ways to definitely cope with my anger with dance instead of reacting so fast,” Wallace said.
Most teachers enter the profession to help change kids’ lives. Whether or not you are a straight-A student, teachers care for their students. In fact, according to the article Survey Explores Why People Go Into Teaching in the First Place by Elisha McNeil, “Ninety-three percent of teachers say that the prospect of making a difference in students’ lives played a critical role in attracting them to the profession.”
Throughout the four years at high school, teachers and students have the opportunity to change each other’s lives.
“A lot of kids that I’ve had where, you know, [they’ve] made a big impact on me,” said Devries. “I like to think maybe I did make an impact on them as well.”
