A said something pretty remarkable to me the other week. “Mom, I’ve never had a bad teacher.” Of course, my initial reaction was that we have one more year of high school to go and I hope he didn’t tempt the Fates by saying that. But once I got over that, I started thinking back to his preschool years and cataloging every one that I could think of, sure that I could find one bad one along the way.

I pointed out some that I know he had a personality conflict with, and others that I specifically remembered assignments going poorly for, and time after time, he said, “Well, just because I didn’t like them, or I didn’t get along with them, didn’t make them a bad teacher. I still learned from them.”

Given the circumstances, A is wise beyond his years, and he is also the kind of student who will find a way to learn regardless of any obstacles in his way, so it’s easy to say, sure, a kid like that probably never had a problem with a teacher.

The flip side to that, however, is that A has a very high standard when it comes to what he expects from his teachers. He has, on occasion, found fault with teachers who don’t give enough work, or who don’t follow through with schedules, or any other habit that disrupts the flow of knowledge.

In A’s universe, a teacher who had many traits that might appeal to his slightly less ambitious peers, would be considered a bad teacher.

As I continued to rack my brain to remember every teacher he has had along the way, I threw out names I could remember and asked him to specifically tell me why they rated as a good teacher in his book. What I found interesting was that time and time again, his opinion of a teacher rested on “how much they cared.” Frequently, he answered that “you can just really tell how much they care.”

As our conversation continued, I realized that it wasn’t necessarily that they cared about their subject matter, or about a particular group of students, or one class more than another. It was the understanding that A had that what went into that teacher’s class wasn’t just what happened between the bell that started the period and the one that ended it.

He related stories of teachers bringing in experiment items from home to teach science, or times he’d seen a teacher outside of school and they took the time to approach him and talk to him. It was about teachers who took the time to be present after school, and who made every class as interesting and topical as they could. He talked about teachers who weren’t just teaching what was in the textbook but were taking items from the headlines or daily life and incorporating them into daily lessons.

One particular incident that stuck with him as “most educational” was an exercise in a class where he had to pick a hot button topic, one that he had particularly strong opinions about, and argue for the opposite side of the argument. I also remembered that assignment, because of his frequent outbursts while he was researching the opposition.

While it ultimately had no effect on his own personal beliefs, the value of trying to see something from another viewpoint was not lost on him. Since that exercise, I’ve noticed that he now frequently responds to our heated arguments with statements like “That’s a fair point.” He then usually goes on to obliterate my side of the argument, but at least I’m left feeling that he at least heard me out.

Another episode that has me intrigued is A’s sudden interest in chemistry. As a scientist myself, I have always encouraged (and hoped) that my kids would follow me into the sciences. I mean, how can you not be pulled in to understanding how everything works, down to the molecular and atomic and even subatomic level?

While A has always enjoyed science, he has never developed any passion for it, and at times, seemed to even be a little bit bored by it.

That all changed this year, with honors chemistry. Suddenly, my little poli-sci, history, English comp nerd is talking all about minoring in chemistry and shifting his potential future in law into something science related. I must admit, I am a little bit jealous that just a few months of seriously difficult course work has managed to stimulate an interest I couldn’t with 16 years of kitchen experiments and field trips, but nevertheless, I’m glad it’s finally happening.

Although A can’t quite put his finger exactly on what changed, I know it has something to do with how invested the teacher is in the class. I’ve read comments that have been written on A’s work, and I know this teacher is going above and beyond to engage students in the class and the wonderful world of chemistry.

So, what is the point of all of this? Well, for sure in this household, and many others, we are at that point of the school year where it seems like it’s never going to end, and every test, and assignment seems to be harder and harder to complete by the students and even harder to thoroughly be assessed and graded by the teachers.

The next few weeks will be even more chaotic than usual, as standardized testing takes over class time, field trips and end of the year activities, while fun, also take away from routine and class work. We’re at that point in the year where I feel like I’m silently screaming to myself every morning that we’re running late, again, “how is this not over yet?” And, that doesn’t even take into consideration all of the other forces at play that are driving many teachers right out of the profession.

Take a breath, my teacher friends and acquaintances, and know that you are appreciated, and you are making a difference. And 5, or 10, or even 20 years from now, some teenager somewhere, is going to fondly remember the smallest thing you did, or the biggest thing you did, and it will mean the world to them.

Liz Pinkey is a contributing columnist who appears weekly in the Times News.