Teachers Are Your Friends
To some students, teachers seem like normal people. However to others, they seem like an entirely different species. I still remember the first time I saw one of my teachers roaming the world like a normal person. When I saw Mrs. Burns, my seventh grade math teacher, at the grocery store I wasn’t sure how to react. Do I say hi? Does she even know who I am? What do we talk about? This was my mental process for the next three seconds before I decided to turn around, and walk in the opposite direction. I saw her again in the checkout line and gracefully proceeded to hide behind my mom, pretending to busy myself with my fingers. I wasn’t until high school that I discovered how normal, and awesome teachers can be.
I was never the kid that voluntarily answered questions in class or casually struck up a conversation with one of my teachers. But getting to know your teacher has its benefits.
You get perspectives from adults that are not your parents.
Teachers know more!!! They’ve lived longer, and have been through more than we have at this point in our lives. They have different opinions that can provide insight to some of the problems you may be going through.
It doesn’t hurt to be friends with your teachers.
These are the people grading all your papers and tests so give them a face to match the name on the paper. If they have a good impression of you, they are more likely to attribute a bad test to some external factor than to you being lazy. They might also understand your writing style more if they get a sense of who you are.
Teachers can be pretty awesome.
I have some friends that are going into the teaching field and I can tell you that these are people you definitely want to talk to and be friends with. It may be intimidating to talk to someone older than you but do not worry. Teachers want you to like them just as much as you want them to like you!
Give it a try next time. You may not have a full on heart-to-heart with your history teacher but next time you walk in class, give them a smile, say hello, or ask how their day is going. Give them a face to match the name on the paper and you never know. Maybe you’ll find yourself a mentor or two.
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