<p>You see this term thrown around a lot on CC. Build ‘good relationships’ with all your teachers.</p>
<p>So my question is pretty straight forward, how does one do this.</p>
<p>I mean apart from doing good in the class, showing your true passion come through, asking them questions pertaining to the field or questions that go beyond the subject matter.</p>
<p>Talking to teachers after class: asking them questions, talking to them about the papers you are writing for their class. You establish a relationship with a teacher the same way you would with anyone else: by talking to them.</p>
<p>In addition, one should try very hard not to irritate/annoy them by being inattentive in class or turning work in late.</p>
<p>My son got to know several teachers very well through his participation in clubs and/or competitions they sponsored, including math team and Mu Alpha Theta (a math service club at his school), Science Olympiad (the team event), Science Knowledge Bowl, Knowledge Master, a NASA-funded space simulation project, etc etc etc. Most of those events required out of town travel, giving participants lots of time on the school bus with the sponsoring teachers. He got to know a couple of history teachers well by participating in class discussions, talking to them after class about books related to class subject matter.</p>
<p>Along the same lines as midmo,
My son had a relationship with his Latin teacher because he did Latin forum every year and was president of the Latin Club. And because after finishing with all the Latin he could stomach, he took Greek/Hebrew with the same teacher his senior year- just because he liked the teacher.</p>
<p>His math teach was the Academic team sponsor. His bio teacher was the NHS sponsor.</p>
<p>If you are talking about good relationships with college professors:[ul][<em>] invite them to lunch or dinner on campus. Some schools have programs set up for this purpose, where there is an “invite your prof to dinner” night. Or where you can get a voucher for inviting them to lunch;[</em>]ask a teacher in your field to be your advisor. Typically, schools assign advisors to start out. But usually you can make a change to someone you feel an affinity for, or someone whose research interests match yours. [/ul]</p>
<p>Write a short thank you note if a teacher does somehing especially helpful or that you appreciated particularly that exceeded tge usual requirements of teachnhg his class. If he took you on a field trip and it was particularly interesting, let him know in writing. If he met with you to review work many times until you understood it, that’s worthy,
. One or two sentences on plain thankyou card is all that’s neededl - no Hallmarks hearts and flowers cards in other words.</p>
<p>How about a shiny new apple? If that doesn’t work maybe slip a $50. in a greeting card? Ha Ha</p>
<p>(1) Honesty. You should see the report cards of my students who have brought their academic concerns to me, shared their scholastic weaknesses, and been open about needing assistance. The reports practically look like college recommendations. It’s not that I’m rewarding them for coming to me. It’s that I have something to talk about! We’ve engaged in a dialogue, and that has given me an opportunity to know them quite well: academically and in terms of their character. I cannot stress enough how character comes across in a recommendation for college – whether the recommender expressly uses that word or not. And admissions committees definitely pick up on those embedded positive messages.</p>
<p>(2) Respect for the classroom. Classrooms, & their rules, tend to be more informal than they once were, but all teachers have at least basic rules. Deliberately leaving trash in a classroom is, to me, a sign of enormous disrespect. You would hopefully not think of doing that at a friend’s house: leaving your trash for them or their parents to pick up. It’s a statement that you do not value that person very much – either their position or their person, that you consider yourself “above” that person in class & expect them to be your maid or janitor.</p>
<p>(3) Personally, I do not like “gifts” from students or their parents. I never have. I would not think of giving my lawyer or doctor a gift. If a student or parent has an impulse to express appreciation, a card is the perfect way to do that (for me), like at the end of the year. I also like (if a student or parent happens to feel quite appreciative!), if they just tell me that to my face. I do this regularly, as a parent, to teachers of both of my D’s-- & not just for their teaching, but for the club moderation that was mentioned above. Some of these teachers who double & triple in these e.c.'s spend enormous amounts of time doing so, and they also (by that fact) contribute to a student’s college profile by allowing them to build that e.c.!</p>
<p>[I know the OP’s question was intended for students, not parents, but I consider the family to be a unit in support of the learning, so the parent’s contribution to that is never lost on me.]</p>
<p>My son’s science teacher, who wrote one of his recs, set up an appointment for the two of them to get together after school before ever writing, or even agreeing to write, the rec. Even though he’d been his teacher for two years, and knew him from an EC club, he wanted to sit down and chat about his future dreams, plans, etc. And talk baseball.</p>
<p>Anyway, I thought it was a really nice thing to do, and my son appreciated his interest. And enjoyed the talk, which was really the first time he’d talked to this teacher about <em>himself</em> as a person, not just a student.</p>
<p>Maybe you could approach a potential rec writer, and just tell them…you’re looking for people to write recs for you, you’d like to sit down and talk to them- share yourself a little so they can get to know you better- for the purpose of finding out if they would be interested in giving you a good recommendation. Nothing better than being sincere, humble, and genuine.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine a teacher not being amenable to that.</p>
<p>During h.s., if you think you’ll have to assemble a Creative Arts Portfolio or Arts Supplement for a college application, you can make a special afterschool appointment with a teacher in those subjects to discuss building a portfolio.
Bring him the college’s website materials about what they are looking for; the teacher may be able to translate this better for you.</p>
<p>Or, at the time of preparing applications, seek help culling through your slides/stories/musical compositions if you need to narrow them down to create a worthwhile portfolio.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies everyone!</p>
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<p>I was talking about high school teachers, but thanks anyway.</p>