Tip 19: Show Up

As a student, did you ever experience the thrill of seeing one of your teachers outside of school? Maybe it was in the grocery, and you marveled at how they too bought food! Or maybe their kid also played the same sport as you, and you came to realize that they also spent their Saturday mornings somewhere other than their classroom.

Even with all of today’s technology and opportunities to connect online, there might be times when showing up in person helps create opportunities to build powerful relationships with students. Not only does it show students how much you care, but it also allows them to see you as a real person who exists beyond the four corners of their computer screen.

Of course, distance, health or safety, and your own personal preferences for seeing students in person must be taken into consideration, but the following are just a few ways remote teachers have “shown up” for their students outside of their computer screens (Vulpo, 2021). • Heather Tuttle, a special education teacher in Manhattan Beach, California, wanted to surprise a student on his birthday. After driving up to his house and getting the student’s attention, Ms. Tuttle got out of the car dressed up like a unicorn and started dancing to “One More Time” from the movie Trolls. • Linda Wright, a second-grade teacher in Greensboro, North Carolina, puts small flower-shaped signs in the front yards of her students, letting them know how much she values them. One of the students’ fathers even posted about it on social media, stating, “My son got an awesome surprise from his teacher this morning. . . . Such a sweet and above and beyond gesture from her!” (Vulpo, 2021). • Unable to show up in person? Consider mailing a cutout mini teacher version of yourself, which students can place next to their computer during online class time when they’re completing work independently (or whenever they need a little more of you in their life).

Advice From Students

I really like feeling like my teachers are my friends; and I like when they get to know us, by talking to us. One of my teachers sends us messages if she can’t speak with us directly. She also shares books with me that she knows I might like to read.

—Becca, Eighth Grade (personal communication, February 3, 2021)