The experiences that Ms. Matlock-Phillips had with the students in her first classroom taught her to consider their needs and the environments that they came from when teaching. Administration and mentoring teachers were not able to help her to learn the individual need of her students. She developed meaningful relationships with each and every one of her students because she was able to understand why they behaved in the ways that they did. In other words, Ms. Matlock learned to respect the values that her students had learned about life and survival and developed teaching strategies that corresponded to their life lessons.