Most of us have been going to school for at least nine years, and in that time, we have most likely experienced the good and the not-so-good teachers; from the English teacher who can bring an entire class into fits of laughter, to that one math teacher who you swear on your life hates you more than anything. Which brings up the question: what qualities do we as students look for in teachers?

A Positive Attitude:

Nobody wants to have a teacher who comes to class every day in a bad mood or simply looks like they’d rather not be there. Everybody has those days where they wake up on the wrong side of the bed, so obviously not every teacher is going to be feeling 100 percent day in and day out, but bringing a bad mood to class consistently doesn’t create a good learning environment on a consistent basis.

A Tough But Fair Retake/Correction Policy:

There’s nothing like knowing you can retake a test, especially in subjects where it may take you a little extra time to digest the subject. The teachers in the math and science departments have mastered the art of retakes; allowing them, but at the same time, requiring you to have all the homework completed for that particular unit or have gone over corrections with the teacher before allowing you to give the test another shot. If you’re not a good test taker, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a bad student; a student’s dedication to pursuing a retake shows that they have enough initiative to improve their grade.

Realizing that we have homework for six other classes:

Nobody likes getting homework, but in high school it’s inevitable. However, the majority of us go to six classes in a day, and if each teacher gives you a mountain of homework there’s a chance that you won’t have much free time. Not to mention, many of us are engaged in other club sports and activities, taking out another large chunk of our day. There’s an awfully high expectation to be engaged in clubs/sports, do our seemingly infinite amount of homework and get a good night’s sleep to do it all again the next day. No wonder so many of us are stressed.