Cool Teachers: Connecting with Students in the Digital Age

I became a Cool Teacher! I found a unique way that connected me with students and it is still paying off today. 
I am a teacher with 25 years of professional teaching experience in the visual arts, but it was not my skills in teaching art that truly connected me with my students. It was when I shared my hobby with them that I was more relatable. I shared that I was a teacher who played the video games they played. I did not just start talking about video games while teaching my content area, even though video games are visual art. It happened organically. 
You see, during the brief activity called “Good Things,” a component of the Capturing Kids Heart system, I would ask my students to share any personal good news they had with the class. However, I observed that most students were unwilling to talk and share their experiences. So, to demonstrate that good things can be an acknowledgement of something simple but positive in one’s life, I sometimes broke the ice and shared my own good things, which, at that time, involved news about popular video games. The effect was students in the class who related to video games began to open up and share their good things about video games, and other students began to share about things that were good and positive in their lives. However, my story does not end there. 
Encouraged by the students’ reception to the good things I would share with them about video games, I got the idea of starting an Esports club/program at the school, and with interested students made it happen. Esports are video games played in a highly organized competitive environment. These games can range from popular, team-oriented multiplayer online battle arenas to single player first person shooters, to survival battle royales, to virtual reconstructions of physical sports. 
Since its inception, the Esports club/program at Fort Dorchester High school maintains membership of twenty plus students each semester. Each semester, participating students sign up and represent the school in online and in-person Esports competitions against other high schools. Recently, a graduating student who had been a participating member in Esports at Fort Dorchester High school was awarded an Esports scholarship at the college of her choice, and in May of this year I was awarded Cool School teacher, an award given by WCBD News 2, Charleston's NBC affiliate. The award recognizes schools in the Charleston area that are excelling in innovation, among other things.
Taking a moment to connect with my students changed the way I was perceived by my students and, eventually, the way they perceive themselves. Being a Cool Teacher is more than just a title. It is how I live and breathe into my students.

---

Author

Damond Howard is an educator and a practicing visual artist. He has 25 years of professional teaching experience in the visual arts and his award-winning artistic works have been featured in solo and group exhibitions.