Draw from your own school experiences with teachers. Remember teachers that you felt comfortable with and teachers that you felt you couldn't approach. Think of why you felt one way about certain teachers and a different way about the others.
Learn every student’s name as soon as possible. This makes the classroom setting more intimate while also making it more comfortable. Call your students by their names. Avoid using given names if the student goes by a nickname.
Make yourself available to your students. Your students will feel more comfortable in your class if they feel that they can approach you with a problem. Whether the problem is with another student or with homework, you should make it known to your students that you're available to talk.
Get to know your students. While some classes are larger than others, taking the time to get to know a little about each student helps you understand him more. For example, knowing that he enjoys reading gives you the opportunity to start a dialogue about certain books. Initiating dialogue between you and your students shows them you're friendly, which makes them more willing to approach you.
Spend one-on-one time with each student. Once a month or as often as possible, sit down with each student and talk about how she feels about the class, what she's learning and what she finds interesting during discussions or learning units. Use this time to let her ask you any questions she feels she can't ask you during class.
Become more social with the parents of your students. Use newsletters and parent-teacher conferences to discuss each student’s progress. Keeping a line of communication open with parents helps keep you aware of any problems at home that may affect a student's classroom behavior.