To teachers: what makes you like or dislike a student?

I know a lot of students won’t believe this, but it’s absolutely true: Neither I, nor any teacher I’ve ever worked with, actively disliked a student. There are students that are much more difficult to teach, and students whose attitudes and behavior get on your nerves, but you remember that they’re just kids, and they can’t always help it. You don’t take it personally.

That being said, here are some things that make me look forward to teaching a student:

• They have the self control to sit silently and attentively when I’m teaching.
• They care about their education.
• They participate in class discussions.
• They do their work to the best of their ability, on time.
• They learn from their mistakes.
• They are nice to their classmates.

And bonus points if they have nice handwriting. It just makes my job that much easier.

Here are some things that make a student “difficult” to teach:

• They lack self control; they talk too much at inappropriate times and interrupt the education of their classmates who do care.
• They don’t care about their education; they’re just going through the motions because they have to.
• They always seek out the least possible amount of work to do in order to get their teachers and parents to quit hassling them.
• They don’t learn from their mistakes.
• They are bullies to their classmates.