When Respect Becomes Ours: A Freshman Class Finds Its Voice

Mrs. Torres was starting her fifth year of teaching, and if she was honest, she felt a little worn down. The past few years had been rough—students talking over her, ignoring directions, tearing up classroom supplies, and treating each other with biting sarcasm. She’d tried everything: stricter rules, clearer consequences, even calling home. But nothing seemed to stick. And it wasn’t just one class—it was all of them. She found herself thinking, What’s wrong with kids today? But somewhere deep down, she wondered if there was a better way.

So this year, on the fifth day of school, she tried something different.

She wrote one word on the board: Respect. Not rules. Not policies. Just one word—and a question: What does it mean to hold someone or something in high regard?

The class spent four days answering that question together as they built their class Respect Agreements.

First, they worked in small groups, discussing what respect looks like when it’s given from 1) Teacher to students, 2) Students to teacher, 3) Students to each other, and 4) Everyone to the classroom environment. Each sentence they added to their group lists came with something else: a personal story. A time when respect was missing.

Jasmine, usually quiet and guarded, told a story about being laughed at for mispronouncing a word in middle school. She offered this phrase: We listen without making fun of others. Darius, who often challenged authority, shared how it felt to be called out in front of the whole class last year. He added, The teacher speaks with dignity, even when correcting us. Each story deepened the meaning behind the agreements.

By the end of the fourth day, a colorful poster hung in the classroom, filled with student-written phrases and signed by every hand. These weren’t Mrs. Torres’s rules. They were theirs.

At first, it felt strange to revisit the agreement when tensions were high, or even when things were calm. But over time, it became a rhythm. A touchstone. Students began to say things like, “Hey, let’s check the agreement! We’re off track,” or “This feels like we’re in agreement today.”

In a world where so much is dictated to students, this classroom became a place where their voices mattered. They didn’t just follow expectations—they helped create them. And that kind of respect? That’s something worth holding in high regard.