The community college I went to was pretty laid back with most instructors being called by their last name. The other community college in the district was more uptight with instructors insisting on being called "Instructor" before their last name. Never understood that stick-up-the-wazoo attitude, as they were teaching the same material and getting paid the same rate.
I'm a full time engineer who has taught a few classes. I felt like things worked better when I wasn't really positioned above the student. I taught the classes as I'm an engineer and I'm going to try to bring you up to the same level of knowledge. How you e-mail me, how you address me, I don't really care as long as it isn't offensive. When we get to homework or projects, I will tell the students up front it better be written up properly or it will be graded down. But there is time for being formal and time where it just doesn't matter.
I agree. I teach IT at a community college. My students generally call me by my first name. Some opt for Mrs... a few title me with "professor" (which I am not) and I have a few military students who call me Chief. Apparently, I am tough but fair. I like to be approachable. I want my students to feel comfortable asking questions. I am not the sanctimonious type. I do not feel that I am any better than any of my students. I was once in their position. The key to managing a classroom is making your expectations clear from the very beginning and actually read their homework. I spend a lot of time reading homework and grading hard, especially at the beginning of the quarter and most especially with entry level courses. As for poor email communications, I will reply with, "This is unintelligible. You need to use complete sentences, punctuation, and real words." Student love the speech to text features of their phone, but the resulting messages grate on my nerves. I am part of a liberal FB group that posts stories of inequality or triumph over inequality. One female teacher posted a story about a male colleague who was complaining to her that a student questioned his decision about an assignment and then argued with him when she didn't like the answer. The female instructor told him "welcome to my world where students argue with me all the time" I am floored by this. You get the respect you command. If you respect your student's time and abilities and are prepared and flexible at times, the students will be respectful of your decisions. I very rarely have had any trouble with students in the last 10 years of teaching. There is always troublemakers, but they are few and far between. Now if I could just get the students to understand critical thinking and not be so concerned with being "right" all the time....
The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it. -- E. Hubbard