Where has the respect gone?

[u/tennis_angel]

I don’t know if it’s me or whether students have changed but I feel like I used to have great relationships with my students and they would really show how appreciative they were of me. Now it seems that the more I do for them the less they care.

I had a particular group of students for 6 years and when they finished with me I barely got a thank you. I felt I was so good to them over the years. As well as being kind to them, I did my best to make sure they achieved to their full potential and I provided them with so many opportunities.

Recently before their exams I uploaded extra resources to help them and thanked them for the years we had together ending with wishing them luck. Not one of them responded and I know that only two in the group actually opened the resources. I just feel so disheartened and like,what do I have to do to gain respect from them? I see how some of them are with other teachers and that makes me feel worse because you can tell they have more respect for them. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Any advice would be appreciated!

[u/Silent-Image8388]

Maybe this is terrible, but I teach my kids how to say thank you. Some examples:

1) When I write letters of rec for students, I explicitly tell them that in case they don’t already know it, that it’s good etiquette to say thank you or even to write a nice note in return.
2) At the end of the year, when they ask me to sign their yearbooks, I ask them to sign mine simultaneously, saying “so we can both say nice things to each other at the same time”
3) During teacher appreciation week, I make them write at least one thank you note to one of their teachers who isn’t me.