Unspoken Student/Teacher Respect

Now it has been some time since I've done any observations (I did most of them least a year or two ago), but thinking back on them I remember seeing a lot of good and bad things in those visits. From strict power hungry teachers, to complacent uncontrolling ones, there was, like in many things, quite a variety. Of the successful teaching approaches I saw, there was a big range in terms of style and techniquThe e; but despite these differences there seemed to be this unspoken contract of respect between the students and teachers in all instances.

I then remember thinking about what exactly it is that gives a teacher this unspoken contract of respect? That keeps students focused and attentive? That's when I had this flashback to one particular english teacher of mine in high school. This teacher like any good teacher was very knowledgeable about his subject area and confident in his teaching style. But to me this had only a small part to play in what made him steadfastly respected by his students. Without a doubt it was his charisma and personality that made him so interesting to I and so many others. I swear he could have been teaching us to weave baskets out of birch bark and we would have paid attention like he was telling us a sure-fire way to win the lottery. Thinking about this teacher really brought me back to one of the key reasons I've for a long time wanted to be in teaching. I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking this, but I've always aspired to be that really interesting teacher in school, the one you were never exactly sure which crazy story they were going to tell you, or the one you could never quite pinpoint and categorize. In essence, the teacher that you secretly envied and thought had the coolest job in the world.