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Good for you. I spent a few years teaching in a teacher certification program. I had a reputation as a no-nonsense, hold-students-feet-to-the-fire instructor. I had more than one colleague ask why I was so tough on my students. I told them that the future of our country is our children. We were going to inflict the public school system with these students. They’re going to be holding the future of our country in their hands. So, yes, I could and would hold them to a higher standard. Fascinatingly enough, students loved me. I treated them, not like perpetual students, but like they were going to be teachers one day, and gave them the tools they needed to succeed in that capacity.

I found the same thing. We had a pushover teacher and the kids hated him. When I was teaching the Intro to Econ course, there were 3 different instructors. Their average grades were just under a full grade point higher than mine. The students gave me the nickname “Killer Jack” because I was a tough instructor. However, the word was to take me for Intro if you were going to be a business major and I won the Outstanding Teacher Award one year, which is sponsored by the Student Government and carries a $5000 award...it was nice to win. I think it goes to show that most kids want to learn and respond to solid instruction with hard work.