Respect

Respect is literally defined as having a sense of worth and excellence towards a person.  In every aspect of life, I believe that this definition takes different forms. For example, one might have a different type of respect for their parents than he/she does for a best friend, and the respect for the parents is most likely different than respect that the person holds for a teacher or authority figure.  Inside the classroom, respect can also take many forms.  Respect, however, is not a one-sided notion.  A teacher who expects his students to respect ideas and regulations will not get very far unless he respects his students equally.  He must take into consideration each student that enters his classroom, and by doing so, he will earn more respect from the students.  In my history of schooling, I have seen classrooms full of respect, and also the opposite.  In general, a classroom where respect is evident is a much healthier learning environment.  Teachers respect that the students are there to learn, and they care about teaching the material and making it applicable to real life.  Students respect that the teacher is not a power-hungry authoritarian looking to ruin their lives, and they feel that sense of worthiness in the classroom.  When these things are not present in the classroom, many things can go wrong.  Students will begin to not care about their school work, and teachers will in return stop caring about the material they teach.  As a result, the learning that could have been taking place inevitably ceases because neither party respects the other enough to follow through with their duties.  Respect can be established in the classroom in many different ways. First of all, a teacher must engage the students in the material from the very start of a class and let them know that they are excited to teach them. Students will see the teacher's passion and drive to help and they will be more likely to be obedient and excited about the material as well.  A teacher must take the time to get to know his students as well becasue the students have to feel comfortable in the classroom in order to learn and take the most in.  Respect is a necessary element in education. If it is lacking, like it is in many classrooms across America, education does not occur. Instead, we end up with students who are bored, uninterested, and hating school. Respect, in many ways, is a responsibility of a teacher, and not only his students.