R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Teaching boils down to one word: Respect. I learned this the hard way. My first year teaching was not easy. I was told to start off hard nosed and no nonsense (which is the complete opposite of my personality). I was 21 years old, I had no teaching experience, and was scared to death. So I took the advice and suffered an entire year because of it. My first year taught me so much about being a teacher, about students, and about myself. I realized that 7th graders are people too and they deserve as much respect as I think I deserve. So I stayed afloat my first year, and decided to be true to myself and to my students. The next school year would be different, I told myself. Summer finally arrived and I had made it through the first year, and I was still alive. But I knew that summer would give way to a new school year and I knew what lie ahead. I changed my entire approach to teaching in my second year. First day of school I had my "talk" rehearsed and ready to go. I was hoping to talk with my students, not over them. Here's my speech in a nutshell: I am not going to spend my first day with you telling you what you can and can not do in my class. There are rules and expectations that exist and will help you have a good time in my class, but there is something far more important that I would like to talk with you about. I want to talk about respect. This small word holds so much importance in my life and in my classroom. I just want to let each of you know that even though I don't know you..yet...I respect you 100%. Why shouldn't I? So there it is...you have it and it is your job this year to keep it. I want you to know that I respect you as an individual that has his or her own ideas, thoughts, and opinions. And I am happy to listen to them with all my attention when the time is right. All I ask in return for this is that you give me your respect and I promise with all my heart that I will work as hard as I can to keep it. I will be understanding, considerate, and fair in all ways that I can. I promise to be the best teacher I can be...all I need is for you to try to be the best student I know you can be.

My second year was no cake walk, but compared to my first year it was much more peaceful. I learned a valuable lesson the hard way. It is something I heard a million times as I was growing up: Do unto other as you would have them do unto you...and that is so true...even for teachers.