Good teachers are everywhere, but finding a great teacher is hard to do. Teachers slowly shape the lives of many of their students without even realizing it in their everyday interactions. They spend countless hours working to find better ways to teach, spend full days talking to each other about how they can be better, but very rarely do they talk to the young adults whose lives they are taking part in. So, what separates a good teacher from a great one?

“I think [great] teachers are ones who are understanding, approachable and lenient. I think it’s difficult to learn and difficult to talk to teachers if they are not understanding and especially if they aren’t lenient, but not use this as an excuse to not do your work… it just makes for a better learning environment,” said Savannah Vincent, 11.

The teachers that students remember for being great are the ones who work to help students not only grow as scholars, but help them grow into a person they didn’t know they could be.

“[A great teacher] has to understand the mindset of a teenager, when they are going through a hard time…. [They] have to be approachable,” said Libby Bowden, 10.

When you talk to students, you hear over and over that they want teachers to relate to them. You see that a student simply wants to be understood and not overlooked. You hear they want respect and they want to be treated not as a miserable insignificant high school student, but rather as growing young adults who really does understand the world around them.

“[Teachers] should treat students like adults because [students] will act like kids if they are treated like kids,” explains Emily Palos, 11.

We all know that most teachers work their best to provide the best learning environment for their students. There job isn’t easy and they do more then most students see. What separates the good teachers from the great teachers though, is the ability to put down their title as educator and step into the title of confidant and mentor. Teachers have been, and will continue to be, more than just teachers. The best teachers will always be the ones who aren’t just your teachers, they are your coaches,  your inspirations, and they are always in your corner.