Do you think you are responsive to your students?  Sure, you are careful to answer their questions thoughtfully, and give sufficient breaks.  But, how do you know if your students are learning from you?
 
When I was in college, my Psychology professor told us about an instructor who was teaching his class about “shaping”, the technique of offering small rewards for behavior that is slightly in the direction of what you want.  Eventually, with consistent rewards, an animal or human can be “shaped” into just about any behavior.   This instructor made such an impact on his students that they decided to “shape” him!   They got together and decided that, by the end of the semester, their instructor would be lecturing from the hallway outside the classroom!
 
Each time the instructor moved slightly toward the door, all the students sat with rapt attention, eyes focused on the teacher, smiling and nodding appropriately. Whenever the instructor moved slightly away from the doorway, pencils started dropping, students stared out the window or at the floor, and there was generalized squirming in the seats.
 
By the semester’s end, the instructor was leaning in the doorway, lecturing, not even aware that he had been “shaped” by his own students.
 
We communicate our approval of our students with body language, eye contact, and tone of voice.  They do the same to us.  Don’t you just love being in the classroom when the energy between you and the students is positive?  And isn’t it a terrible drain when it is not?