Compassion

Although the experience that I am about to describe isn't an instance of a teacher showing me compassion in response to some traumatic experience but rather an example of a teacher who was consistently compassionate.  During my senior year in high school I was taking a few AP classes that were quite challenging, including AP English Literature.  I was also participating in sports and music and therefore was quite busy.  I was amazed on the first day of AP English when my teacher, Ms. Smith, told us that if we had other tests around the date that a paper was due to talk to her and she would gladly give the student an extension.  I had never had teachers who were willing to be flexible in order to help students who were particularly busy.  It turned out that I never had to ask for an extension, but the fact that she so willingly offered showed a great deal of compassion.  This class proved to be one of my most difficult but because of the understanding and compassion that my teacher showed the class I had a great respect for Ms. Smith's ideas.  Ms. Smith would also make the class her delicious brownies around the time of a big test which showed that she understood and was compassionate about how stressful a student's senior year can be, with so much about to change.  Ms. Smith showed me that a tough teacher can be a compassionate teacher as well and I believe that this is critical when trying to make a difference in students' lives.

Respect

Respect is a mutual appreciation for one's personality, ideas, and humanity.  Respect is the basis for any relationship: parent/child, co-worker/co-worker, teacher/student, and student/student.  It is the responsibility of the teacher to build a classroom in which respect is fostered.  This starts with the teacher respecting their students ideas, but also making it known that the teacher has authority in the classroom.  When a teacher respects all of their students it encourages students to respect other students.  When respect is present in a classroom students and teachers feel comfortable sharing ideas and asking questions and this encourages genuine and fruitful learning for all parties involved.  I believe that respect is something that needs to be established from day one by showing genuine interest in the students lives inside and outside of the classroom.  The teacher needs to be honest about expectations for their class and in their classroom.  Once respect is gained the teacher must work consistently with students to maintain this respect because once respect is lost it is incredibly difficult to regain.