Chapter #2: Respect, Liking, Trust, and Fairness

R-E-S-P-E-C-T, simple word, yet so many images come to mind when anyone hears this or says this. This overwhelming theme comes through Chapter 2. From the start of the chapter the focus becomes how to gain the respect of the students but also that respect is a two way street. Not only as educators do we have to earn the students respect, but also we have to be willing to give that respect back to the students. An argument can be made that the respect should be given to the students before we in turn can expect that it be returned to us.
The reason that this made an impression on me was because that in my years outside of the classroom this is one issue that continues to be an issue in the work world. Respect is something that people talk about every day. Students are bombarded with it both at home from the parents and also in school from their teachers. What this chapter does a good job of is laying out, in their opinion, how we can earn that respect. Earning the respect is an important concept that cannot be overstated. Many times people think that a degree or a job demands that others give you that respect, but you have to be willing to do the heavy lifting to earn that respect. One piece of advice that I keep close at hand is that a leader should never ask anyone to do any task that you yourself are not willing to do. This still applies to a classroom in that we should not ask our students to give us respect, without being willing to give it to them as well