In education, one of the vital goals is to improve student success through high-quality teaching. Teachers' pedagogy and knowledge of content coupled with the interactions between the teacher and student is one of the most critical components influencing the academic success of students. The purpose of this study was to examine supportive teacher-student relationships, a protective factor of educational resilience, by documenting teacher-student interactions in the classroom and asking teachers about their perspectives of the importance of these teacher-student relationships. Open-ended questionnaires, interviews, and observations were used to identify teachers' perspectives and classroom activities that develop supportive teacher-student relationships and cultivate resilient teachers. Four themes emerged from the data as major components that not only allow teachers to create positive interactions with their students daily but also cultivate resilient teachers. The themes are: 1) Teachers with knowledge about teaching and learning, along with pre-service experiences possess an interest in children and teaching and have gained adequate training through experiences with diverse children in varied school environments. 2) Teachers who demonstrate endurance are persistent with addressing bureaucratic issues, maintain a sense of humor in the classroom, keep striving, and defy the everyday pressures associated with being a classroom teacher. 3) Teachers in harmony with school staff and families seek supportive administration and staff, engage and connect to parents, and embrace and understand the cultures of their students. 4) Teachers who make positive connections and exchanges with students establish meaningful relationships with students, provide caring, discipline and structure, have high expectations, and teach student social skills. In addition, an emergent grounded theory developed: when there is a presence of the themes, teachers possess attributes of educational resilience and the possibility of teachers having meaningful teacher-student interactions increases. When teachers possess characteristics of educational resilience, they pass along these protective factors to students so they too may be resilient. This research will contribute to models relevant to effective teacher-student interactions that cultivate strong relationships in classrooms, and educationally resilient teachers. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]