Knowing who your students are is most important in being successful as a teacher. One thing I have done so far is to go a bit beyond to learn who my students are, and that means even taking the time to know them by name first (sometimes memorizing faces and names to remember them), then observe them by their personality types.
After teaching in after-school programs for almost ten years, coming into an official school district setting full time is quite interesting. Getting to know the students is the best part by far, I believe that goes a long way in helping them learn. The connectivity is key; being able to connect with them personally has led me to become a quasi-mentor to some of them, a few who are not even in my own class. We share a room with our full-time pilot teacher who teaches in the morning, as our role is to be backup for him. I've gotten to know his student population and have connected with quite a bit of them. For our own class that takes place in the afternoon, I have gotten to know all of them, and I would say maybe a couple of them I have become a mentor to. So I would say my style is part Zen, part Socratic, maybe even a bit Dead Poets Society (mainly with humor and enthusiastic-style presenting), but all enwrapped with my own personality and personal style to teaching the material. It's been a rewarding experience so far
