Regardless of how mean some teachers might be, most of them treat the students with a sense of respect, and try to help out whenever possible, (maybe not necessarily like what happens in Gokusen) but you get the idea.

So, what have you done to show respect to your teachers, and why

I shoot the breeze, as it were, with my teachers and even on more than a few occasions I've helped with the transportation of artwork and so forth.

Just be helpful and courteous, and not disobedient is respect enough. You don't have to become a teacher's pet to do that I think.

In Eastern cultures students are generally much more respectful towards teachers than in the West. Considering how important a job it is within a society, it's surprising how some people treat teachers. After all, you would treat a doctor with respect if you needed their help, and teachers do a job almost as important for their students.

I have a dual status: student and teacher. Even though it's been three years since I truly attended a course as a student.

I guess that respect can be shown in different ways. But as a whole they are quite easy to guess. Try to listen to what your teacher says, not to disturb others and try to be polite. In many languages you have at least two levels of politeness...

By the way, Shujaa, the differences between Eastern and Western cultures remind me of a story I heard last year. I'm in an engineering school, in Europe. in that school, there is a special section for students coming from Asian countries, mainly China and some from Korea.
One of their teachers told me how frustrating it was for him to give courses to them. Well, first of all, he had to give courses in English and French people are not really famous for the fluency in English. Anyway, what was the hardest part for him was the obsolute silence in the classes... I mean, usually, in computer programing courses there are quite a few notions that are not always easy to grasp. You often need to provide at least two points of views so that people could understand the weirdest concepts more clearly. And French courses are quite often made so that the students have 90% of the ideas but have to sort them out and eventually read a few stuff to find the missing 10%.
At the end of every course, the teacher asks if there are questions, or if someone needs further explanations. On this aspect, French teachers are usually ready to spend as much time as needed so that the students understand. But during these courses with these Asian students there almost never any question. The teacher knows there are lots of students who haven't understood, but nobody wish to admit this. So of course, when it's time to grade the tests... ouchhh...

Well, gnoel, that is partially true. someone would rather study 10 times as hard rather than asking that question, reasons why asians have higher grades

Yep gnoel I understand that problem too, Eastern teaching methods seem to discourage discussion and debate, and interactive style of teaching, and so most students are not used to discussion or asking questions, they're simply used to "doing what they're told". Which is a problem in itself. I guess the best way is to find a balance between the two.

I'm sure this leads to higher grades in fields where memorizing things are important, but for things where you need a mix of knowledge and imagination, as computer programing, I'm not sure. Honestly, I have met some of these students, and they were definitely driving other teachers crazy. Really nice, hard workers, but damn too stubborn / polite to admit they needed some explanations. Call it culture differences, but this definitely prevented them from reaching the first ranks in the tests...

I guess teachers over there prefer a student who says: 'sorry, I tried to understand your course, but right now I feel completely clueless' than a student who shuts up, nods the head when asked something and then gives back average or bad test sheets. Of course, this is certainly linked to culture differences, as well as language problems (English is rarely their first language, as for French...).

Just another question... I don't want to offend anyone but actually, I met a Korean girl who did her PhD with the same advisor I now have (come to think about it, I'm the only 'local' in my office). She told me that even though she really liked her country a lot, she didn't felt like going back there. People, and specially schools were extremely 'competitive.' In France, we may be slightly less effective, but we take more time to simply live. By the way, she got married last year with a French scientist. So the question is: how do you feel about that?

So, back to the topic... I guess there is no perfect, universal answer to 'how to show respect to your teacher.' Is it by having good grades? No! I've met really nice students, polite, really hard workers and so on but who didn't understand anything about computer programing. I've met others who were complete jerks but who were naturally 'gifted.' Do you show respect by spending all your time working? No! I've met students who spent all their time working and who mis-judged their fellow students.

So I guess, the best answer so far, at least to my opinion, is to behave honestly, not to forget that you are part of a group of students, human beings, and that the teacher is a human being too (who usually spent longer than you being a student).

Therefore, it's quite nice to try maintaining a nice group atmosphere (I met a class of students who were really respectfull but who also were the number one organizers of parties in the school). Be polite, but don't force yourself too much. Be honest, if you see someone who needs help... Do what you can. Simple social rules...

I generally think respecting teachers is lacking until you reach the University level. Before then, I think many students are immature and don't care about going to school. When you're actually paying to attend school, you want to try your best. Plus, university professors usually have proven themselves worthy of teaching.

today school is something ordinary. The lack of respect shows it's self not only in school. Most people have no respect to older people in general. The youngest in my old school bully the older one, who don't know what to do cause they never had that problem before. ( i glad i in university) . But uni is not as different as school for me. Usally it is, but it depends on the subjekt you study. The more you get to know the professors the more you lose respect. ( or gain respect)

i showed respect to my teachers in being polite and seeing them as humans. My mum is a teacher and so i know that they are not as bad as they seem to us.
A friend of mine told me, she doesn't want to know a certain teacher more deply cause she doesn't want to lose the image of a severe teacher.

A few years back, in engineer school, I was part of the role-playing games club (not such a weird activity in an eng. school). Anyway, another member actually was a PhD student who was in charge of some course on statistics or something like that. I never had him as a teacher but I know that some of his fellow players and game master were in his class. Fortunately enough he has never been the "I'm the source of knowledge so kneel before me, little student" kind of guy. But it was extremely hard for his friends to call him 'sir' and extremely hard for everyone not to use nicknames. As a whole, I heard this last point failed quite regularly... It was a bit embarassing for him, but at the same time, it also made him more 'humane' to the other students.

Everybody needs respect. Professors and teachers just as much as everybody else. But some teachers have built their authority on some notion of hierarchy, a cold hierarchy that is somehow proved by the deference shown by the students. They have to appear as strict, severe, the sheer strength of pure knowledge and so on... This kind of people absolutely need that the students acknowledge their 'superiority' in the hierarchy. Others have built their authority on other ideas. They may appear more as some kinds of guides, of people who want to share what they know and to help people working on their own. They don't want to appear as perfect, but they want to show the way. This strategy can be quite effective with people who are mature enough to understand that they study for their own future, not for the teacher. Otherwise, it can lead to horrible results. But if the students understand this, then it can relieve some pressure from their shoulders and they can study a little bit more 'light hearted'. This second kind of teacher does not always need a strict respect of the hierarchy. But they still need respect as human beings of course.

very simple answer to that question: i let them be, they let me be and vice versa. that's normaly the way i treat everyone i meet. i certainly do not like people who think their authority gives them the right to suppress me but i do follow their rules as far they dont go beyond my logical understandings or morals.

well and until now (and i'm in my 13th year of education) i've never had any problems with teachers. so you either respect them or you dont. i mean it would be silly if i would have to pretend that i respect my teacher only to get better grades, wouldnt it? at least that would be quite degrading for myself.