Glad to hear that you plan on teaching. It can be a bumpy, yet rewarding journey. There is no formula, or maybe actually, too many formulas to actually generalize what works. That's the art of teaching I guess. Knowing your audience is definitely primary to figuring out your strategy. I don't know you too well, so I knocked out as general a plan that I've found to works for me right now. Best of luck to you.

Firstly, in order to win over the parents and students, you'll want to fully recognize that change will come slowly. It's like watching a tree grow in your yard that you planted as a kid. It seems like nothing is happening until one day, you gain a new perspective and find the little tree has a trunk you can barely wrap your hands around.

Secondly, you'll need to up expectations by educating them on the importance of their endeavors. For example, you might set up a study into fractions, "Have you guys ever realized what portion of the hours of your week you spend, sleeping, in school, etc... Let's check that out." Relate the subject to what they know.

Thirdly, generate interest and enthusiasm through open dialogue with the subject matter as the center. This is generally more difficult in math than say science which is likely to be immediately relatable. I find that for math, continually relating, "Math is just patterns and puzzles about the world that people have discovered. Today we're checking out how _________ pattern works. What do you guys know about it so far?"

From there, I'd say, always have a clear and fair instructional system and give them lots of feedback. Students, especially my middle schoolers, as they are working to take full responsibility for their learning, when frustrated, will look for excuses out of their responsibilities in learning.

By having a system that is clear and fair, they will less likely to take the easy way out, and then learn to adapt to the expectations you have of them.

Thanks for asking the question. It's nice to rethink my reasoning for my teaching.