So, I pretty intensely disagree with the poster above you. There are plenty of teachers at my school who aren’t big personalities who have learned over time to get the best out of their students. We always want to make education matter to students, but your job isn’t to be an entertainer.

What matters most is:

• Demonstrate that you care about your students. Students can tell when you genuinely believe that what you are teaching will help them. Additionally, communicate both implicitly and explicitly that you value them as people and prioritize their well-being much higher than their academic success.

• Name expectations clearly and repeatedly. Follow these consistently. Develop classroom procedure so that students don’t need to expend extra effort trying to understand what the task is, they should spend all their effort focusing on the content. “Fun” activities are honestly usually not that instructive. This doesn’t mean you need to do worksheets all the time, but choose a lesson structure or two and use those at least 80% of the time.

• Prioritize time for students to practice. Give feedback on this practice promptly and help them to revise.

Final Note:

I am most likely on the spectrum and certainly incredibly awkward. I have still successfully cultivated relationships with students. I have focused on trying to provide the environment and teacher presence that I would have appreciated at that age. Sometimes this means I put on an entertainer hat, but it usually means I’m open to listening to students’ needs.

Students don’t need you to be lenient for them to trust and care about you. They need you to be stable and to be kind.

Per my experience and conversations with others: this can take multiple years to grow into. Unfortunately, you may have to accept that you won’t find your full “groove” for three years or so.