The Fourth “R”

Usually, when people think of school, only three R’s come to mind: reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic. These are known as the fundamentals of education. Yet, despite the fact that school focuses on application in the real world, the fourth R is ignored–Relationship.

This is not the type of relationship that develops between couples or best friends, but instead the relationship between students and teachers. When you think about it, you cannot spend a semester or a whole year with someone and not develop a relationship.

It is no surprise that students establish relationships with their teachers, but what may come as a shock is how much those relationships actually affect performance in the class. When plagued by the ups and downs of life, teenagers become stressed. This stress causes problems: anxiety, depression and lack of motivation.

However, developing a positive relationship can change this. By providing students with a healthy classroom community, teachers give students something they desperately need– a nice, calm place to relax and find the motivation to keep going. When students are in a comfortable environment, they are more likely to retain the information taught instead of carelessly working just to get the grade.

“All the factors that are coming into the classroom.That’s not just how my day is going and what I’m bringing to the classroom, but also how my students’ day is going and what they’re bringing to the classroom. And that’s not just how their last class went and how they feel about that.” Latin and Etymology teacher Reagan Ryder said.

When students don’t feel comfortable with their teachers or their classroom environments, student morale plummets. They no longer have the motivation to work hard, especially if they feel slighted in the relationship department. This can create disruption in classroom atmosphere,causing grades to slip.

As relations between the teacher and students are built, a community forms in the classroom. This community establishes a safe environment that students can look forward to and allows teachers to demand academic excellence from each student.

When students and teachers take the time to establish a healthy/positive relationship with one another, the classroom changes and becomes a community that students are more than willing to learn in.