Being Friends With Students

When observing at the high school in my hometown, it was difficult to stay away from the "friend zone" with students, especially because I have a younger sister and brother who attend the high school I was observing at.  The students who knew my siblings wanted to be friends with me as well.  There were students who wanted to talk about what they did on the weekend or other things that were going on in their lives, but I tried to avoid this by trying to talk to them about art or their particular project they were working on.  My cooperating teacher, thinks its important to get to know what goes on in her students lives outside of the classroom, but the age difference helps when avoiding being friends with students.  Her rule is if students want to talk to her about something that isn't class related she will listen, but also knows its her responsibility to report anything she feels the need too.