Hello everyone! Now more than ever, there is a need for relationships in our classrooms. What some might call "the hidden standards" of teaching, need to come out in the open, and drive our decisions and how we conduct ourselves daily. It could be argued that the younger generations are less equipped to deal with emotions than other generations were. Due to the sterilization of human emotion they see in social media, they spend more and more time operating with ideas that aren't exactly the most accurate way to view the world. This can, and does, cause many issues in their social and emotional development. Because of this, I believe educators should lead their classes with relationships first, then use those relationships to push kids into bigger and better places academically, socially, and emotionally. To talk about how to do this, I brought on Esther Brunat, a fantastic math teacher who has developed quite a following on Instagram for her stories and realness. Esther details how she thinks about relationships in the class, how she makes herself available, and just how exhausting it can be to do this correctly. You don't want to miss this episode! Check it out, and enjoy the show. Don’t forget to subscribe and review the show on iTunes!  For more insights into the power of relationships, here is an episode from season 1 about relationships and coaching.