Authenticity

Students need to be trusted, but the same goes for the teacher. Without trust, there is no cooperation between the teacher and the students. Last year, I walked into band rehearsal to observe at my old high school. The teacher was new and I had never worked with him during my high school years. As I observed the class for three days, I was a little worried. Not only were the kids getting no respect, but the director was hard to read. He said one thing and then did another. He was little unpredictable. It was hard for the students and for myself (even though I wasn't actually involved in the class), to actually understand what he wanted. He would say that he trusted his students do practice or play something like a scale with ease, but he treated the first twenty minutes of each class as if they weren't high schoolers, but elementary kids.

Compassion

It's important to put yourself in someone else shoes. If you don't, you lose touch with what other people deal with and can become self-centered. As a student, I liked the teachers who were there to help and understand what I was going through. Teachers who were too strict were hard to work with and seemed annoyed with teaching the first place. It is, however, very important that compassion does not rule how you teach. Give too much, and people walk all over you. It also makes the class boring and agitating because you learn nothing and feel like you're wasting your time. Compassion is definitely needed, but only at the right amount.

Respect

We were asked about what respect is and how it is found in a classroom. For me, respect is something you have to earn and give to who you respect in return. It's a sign that says that someone trusts you with information and that you've impressed someone with you're experiences or knowledge. It's also how you adapt and negotiate without taking complete control. Respect is vital to the classroom. Without respect the classroom becomes a circus. I once had a teacher in high school who acted like we were still in elementary school and gave us no chance to change his opinion. Because we received no respect we gave none back and I don't remember anything worthwhile from that class. No respect created a distraction from what we were actually trying to learn. With respect, learning becomes much easier and students are more willing to learn. Another of my high school teachers taught me a powerful lesson. The more you give, the more you get in return. I didn't know what he meant until my senior year. What I found was the more you treat the student like a friend (meaning time and facts about yourself, try to understand their situation), the more they'll respect you as a teacher and a friend. I learned so much from him and every teacher who were the same.
Sally