Getting to Know Students From Jesse Kushner, a special education teacher working with mentally retarded teenagers with behavior problems at Independent Hill School in Prince William County, Virginia: "If you want to make a difference in a student's life and improve classroom behavior, you must build rapport. I have found that it is essential that I spend time with each of my students after school or on weekends. The dividends in mutal respect and appreciation are enormous and have greatly impacted students' behavioral and academic achievement in my classroom. In addition, all of my visits always include spending time with parents. Without their support and appreciation of what I am trying to do with and for their son/daughter, all my efforts would be in vain. Outings with my students have included trips to McDonalds, movies, preparing meals with my students for their parents, ice skating, fishing, four wheeling, etc. For those teachers with many students, I recommend focusing on those sutdents that nothing has worked previously to improve behavior in the classroom."