Bottom Line

Particularly when thinking about SET's & motivation, (2350) with the ethical responsibility (2360) inherent in the student/teacher relationship...
Here is this article posted which has always been fundamental (but imperfectly executed no doubt) in my approach to all students... and I suspect this is my world view as well, again imperfectly executed but an ongoing aspiration;
If students feel that you care, that you are pulling for them and wanting them to succeed, that goes a long way and helps fill in the gaps when they are flagging or struggling with their own reasons.

http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/caring-about-students-matters/

This paragraph a bit disconcerting but I have no doubt it's true:
"In one of the studies the researchers did a qualitative analysis of a set of comments written by students who had participated in a Thank-a-Professor program. What was surprising was the number of comments thanking teachers for what most would see as part of our job—being in our offices and welcoming to students, offering to help, expressing understanding, and showing respect. As the researchers point out, the fact that these behaviors merited a thank you would lead one to conclude that students aren’t experiencing them as often as we might expect."