I teach English. In the class of mine, I ask students to call me Helen instead of Miss. Wu, because I thought in foreign countries students are supposed to be equal to teachers. What's the situation in your country?
In many Western countries pupils call the teach by his/her first name. It depends on the school and on the age of the pupils. I personall prefer a little distance and when I taught in China I loved the way the students were so respectful and polite to me, unlike my students in the West. So it really depends on you and on your school.
However, as an after-school activity, I also used to go to a specialized language school to improve my English. Teachers there were not so formal as they taught small groups of students. I ended up addressing them all by their first name. This did not mean I disrespected them in any way!
As an online English tutor, I noticed my students usually call me "David" or "teacher David" and I'm fine with this. Personally, I don't think formalities are that important when having a one-on-one lesson.
Everything is changing. I am a little bit old style and have to adapt. In a private group class for learning Arabic, in a French speaking country, I used to adress myself to the teacher with a you PLURAL in sign of respect.
I grew up with this notion that teachers deserve respect. But my Lebanese teacher felt offended because she is younger then me and Arabic doesn’t have this plural form to say you. When I understood her feelings I promptly changed. I didn’t want her to think that I was trying to dismiss her.
So now I try to adapt to the circumstances and “when in Rome do as the Romans do”
