My students all lead different lives, and that is something that I fully understand. I know that some of them hate coming to school, and that often my class could end up being the only reason why they do come. I've had students that barely do work and seem like they never want to be there tell me that they are upset when they have to miss my class. Those students know that I try to take the content that is often seen as unrelateable and I make it fun, a promise that I made to them in August. For example, I started my students on a Holocuast unit. Most of my students never heard of the Holocuast in their lives, but within the first week, their entire outlook on life had changed, and it changed because they looked at those people and found a way to identify with them. Even when given a scripted curriculum, I try to find ways to make it fun, which is tough when you have to recite a speech during class that would never sound like you. None the less, within the script, we have real conversations in my classroom. From a little story about Earth being a gift shop, we talked about Native Americans, and how humans take from the Earth, because that is what my students connected to. I've had debates about rap songs, and given them research projects about their favorite actors and actresses. Life for these young people is often not black and white, but often it was filled with so much gray. They know that when the time is right, they can say whatever they need to say, ask whatever questions (if they are appropriate) they want to ask, and get whatever answers they want to have. We operate on transparency.That is how I connect to my students within content, because if it was not set up like that, I feel that they would never be able find a love for learning. At the end of the day, amongst test scores and reading levels...that is my ultimate goal.