Students and Teachers: Their Differences and Similarities

Although I personally believe that students and teachers are more different than they are alike (and yes, I can say that because I have a job as a teacher), I know that they share some qualities. As a result, I'd like to share with you my knowledge of teacher-specific characteristics, student-specific traits, and the things they share.

Firstly, teachers have to plan. Every day. They have to be super organized; their work space can't be a big sty, else they'll never get students' work graded on time and do their job correctly. They are completely in charge of everything, so they have the stress of being accountable for if and/or when their students fail; you know, like how in Harry Potter the teachers are super stressed about the students' O.W.L.'s during Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts. Teachers also get paid for their work, unless they are volunteers, in which case I personally don't count them as teachers. They have more responsibility than students overall, but it's much more fun and rewarding to be a teacher; this, in part, is a consequence of the person's decision to be a teacher and the opportunity to teach only what he/she wants to. I believe that this is the main difference between teachers and students (especially high school students)--teachers made the choice to be a teacher, the choice to teach whichever subject they desired, the choice to work at whatever school they wanted to, the choice to teach full time, the choice to be in school all day. Circumstances always seem better when you chose them for yourself. Being accountable for your own actions is as different from doing something you're forced to do as playing a sport is from napping. These are some things that cause teachers and students to differ great...

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...g a student). They both have homework. They both practically live in the classroom. They're both involved in school clubs, sports, and other high school activities. They all have families that are counting on them to do their part and be there when needed. Despite all the differences between teachers and students, there are a few similarities.

I'd like to conclude by saying that although there are some obvious similarities between students and teachers, there are more differences. I have presented but a few of these similarities and differences. If you are interested in this topic, I encourage you to take up the role of a student and research this area some more (although this would be un-student-like in the aspect of being assigned work rather than opting to do it); you can also write an entire paper on it if you so desire. Thank you for your consideration.