Respect

To me, respect is necessary in every single relationship, whether it is between friends, parents and their students, or between students and teachers. In every situation, I believe both parties must have respect for each other. The students' respect towards the teachers involves listening without talking and other simple things, while the teachers should respect their students' thoughts. For example, a teacher once blew off an opinion of mine because it was not the "right" opinion, or the same as her opinion. I feel that once I know a teacher does not have respect for me, it is hard for me to have respect for them in return. However, I think that both teachers and students must earn their respect. Teachers cannot expect to automatically have the respect of their entire class without doing something to earn it. That is not to say that people need to do things to earn respect, but I believe there are different levels of respect. The first could be not knowing someone, but since they are a person, you listen to what they have to say. The latter could be based on knowing someone for a while and also trust. Regardless, respect must be present from both the student and the teacher for a functioning classroom.