What makes a good student? What makes a good teacher? Where do these things mesh and where do they differentiate? Is there a formula to a beneficial learning and teaching environment? At Madison High School, students having only one or two classes where they feel fully comfortable and engaged in their learning is a popular trend.

Feeling overwhelmed by workload or being confused about an assignment, but feeling uncomfortable asking a teacher for help; are feelings students are all too familiar with. According to students, in order to learn in a positive way, there are certain character traits and expectations that teachers need to have. For example, senior Elizabeth Kiernan believes that “the best teachers are the ones that listen and empathize with students rather than just giving [them] work on top of work.”

Being in a room with twenty-two teenagers and having the responsibility of teaching them something from ground zero, is a daunting task. Some teachers think that there is a method to teach and learn effectively. “Teachers that do their job well, are the ones that take an interest in students individually and try to learn things about them outside the scope of academics,” says art teacher Mrs. St. Jacques. When asked, “what makes a good teacher” many students responded with: “flexibility,” “approachability,” “caring,” “actually likes teaching and the topic they teach,” and “respects students and treats them like adults not kids.”

On the other side, students themselves are critical in making the classroom a good learning environment. When students aren’t listening to the teacher, aren’t engaged, are disrespectful, or distracting the rest of the class, the learning factor is destroyed and it can be hard for some teachers to rebuild the attention in the time they have left. Due to the teacher trying to bring the class back to learning, the actual learning is disregarded and the room becomes a fight for control and authority. But how can we avoid this? What is the ideal student?

Mr. Cecala says, “A good student isn’t necessarily the best, the brightest, or the smartest. A good student is one that shows up engaged, asks questions, answers questions, and gets their classmates involved.” Getting straight A’s, being the class-clown, or the teacher’s pet does not make a good student. Having all students get good grades, leaving a class with a smile everyday, or finishing your lesson plan on time does not make a good teacher. There’s no such thing as “perfection” only improvement.