Teachers are like sandwiches. One can have a very good sandwich or a very poor one. It all depends what’s in that sandwich I wouldn't want a sandwich with jelly, egg salad, and BBQ sauce. Same could be said with teachers, depending on characteristics of the teacher can make or break a students time in school. The following are three characteristics that would make that perfect PB and J, Laid back, fun, and understanding.

The reason I would want a laid back teacher would be because they usually assign less homework. Most people would agree less homework is amazing but it especially works out better for me because I am involved with sports year round. Usually playing two at the same time. That is why it is important to me to have less homework, not because I am lazy but because it really helps a lot with my schedule because I am always busy. My second reason for wanting a laid back teacher is that they are a lot less strict. Almost every student has a smartphone with them. They can be a distraction but they can also be very useful. I understand that’s why we have our Chromebooks, but it is so much easier to quickly grab our phone to google something. With a laid-back teacher, they will most likely be fine with a student using their phone for school work, instead of taking it away from the student as soon as they see them and not giving it back until the end of class or the end of the day. But with the teacher being laid back they can’t be boring which leads me to the second characteristic, fun.

My second characteristic of a perfect teacher would be fun. The best way to get all of the students involved and learning is to make learning fun. Instead of boring lectures and powerpoints, find an alternative that effectively gets the point across in a more “fun” way. The classes I have learned most in have been classes where the teacher presents the information in multiple ways that interest the students making them more engaged, focused, and generally interested in what the teacher is trying to teach them.

The third and final characteristic of a perfect teacher would be understanding. Teachers need to understand that students are busy whether it be sports, theatre, speech or any of the other extracurricular activities offered at Cannon Falls High School. Even family stuff will get in the way. If teachers could understand this and be more flexible with students schedule. Maybe it is a family emergency or an away game where sometimes I don’t get home until 10:00 pm. Another thing teachers need to understand is that not all students learn the same. Throughout my years of learning one thing that repeatedly happens is that a teacher wants to make the class learn the same way that makes sense to them and outline everything they do. But this doesn’t work for the majority of students. For example, Mr. Jones makes note outlines for us to copy down then gives us the information but I don’t like it at all because I like taking my own notes differently than how he does his. Also, students learn in a variety of different ways like writing stuff down, listening, or to do hands-on work. Each student is different and teachers need to know this and better plan out their lesson so it makes sense to everyone.

less homework, not being strict, lessons that make sense and don’t put students to sleep, and more lenient due dates, these are all benefits of having a teacher that is laid-back, fun, and understanding. These three things will make the perfect sandwich that every student will enjoy. With more teachers like this in our education system grades will be higher and students will be more productive. Making school time more enjoyable for everyone.