It takes real
courage and great patience to be a teacher. As teachers, we do not only focus
on teaching our students whatever subject we majored in college. Our goal is
not only to make them book smart, we also aim to shape them to become a better
person. We don’t just treat them as our students, we also treat them as if they
are our own kids. We know how effective it is in their learning process if we are
able to get their trust and affection. That’s why we try to like kpop because
they do, we learn the language that they use, and sometimes we even try to
understand what their dramas are all about. All these things we want to do
because we want to get to know them, as an individual.
Every day, we
should wake up looking forward to see them, to take them into a new world in
which they could explore and learn new things. To make them love learning. To
guide them to read because reading is important. Because it will take them to
beautiful places. Because it will teach them lessons that they could apply in
the real world. Every day, we should prepare lessons that will allow them to
use their imagination and critical thinking skills, at the same time let them
have fun during the activities. A whole day will get by, then at night before
we sleep, we find ourselves planning for tomorrow’s discussion.
As teachers,
we don’t have much time for ourselves. We are always busy planning interesting
and meaningful lessons for our kids. We look for new strategies that will make
them interested, and that includes reliable and interactive websites. We are
always busy with choosing what kind of stage we are going to prepare for them
on a certain day. Sometimes we get even busier because we train them for
contests, looking for the most effective strategy and the best practices. Let us admit that during those trainings, we
feel the tension and the stress, but we don’t show it to them. Instead, we
build a relaxing atmosphere and we don’t pressure them into winning. We just
tell them that whatever happens, they are still winners because they tried. Yes
we are teachers, we serve as role models to our students, but then, we’re also
not perfect. We spend hours on facebook, we play candy crush, we go out with
friends or family, and at the end of the day, there are things we forget. And
that’s why we need to learn how to manage our time, putting our priorities at
the top of our task list.
Of course we
could not do everything for our students. We should also seek the help of their
family. Let us encourage the parents to be a part of their kids’ school life, those
are: to participate in the school activities, inform them of their kids’
academic performance, consult them about the needs or problems of their kids,
etc. Because we all know that having the parents/guardians involved in this
matter would be a great factor in our students’ behavior towards studying.
Let me just end this by quoting John
Steinbeck, an American writer, when he said “I have come to believe that a great
teacher is a great artist. And teaching might even be the greatest of the arts
since the medium is the human mind and the spirit.”
