What is a Teacher?
"What is a teacher? I'll tell you; it isn't someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to give of her best in order to discover what she already knows."
- Nabil Alaihi
in The With of Portobello by Paulo Coelho
Am I a teacher?
For the past seven months, I have lectured, and cajoled, and bullied my students into trying to understand the concepts of Grammar and English composition. We played games, held contests, sang songs, written personal and business letters, drawn posters... we have done almost everything that we can humanly do inside a classroom to make the lessons more interesting, more understandable, more memorable.
Every day, since school started, I have spent at least 3 hours a night making visual aids, researching on how to present concepts better, writing exams, checking papers, etc.
I have constantly talked to my students AND their parents to try and find out how I can prepare them for their future... a future where they will no longer be shielded by their parents' money or presence. A strict, no-nonsense, cut-throat future that they are utterly, utterly unprepared for.
I shared my life stories, both the happy times and the numerous failures. I have told them what I did wrong and how they can avoid committing my mistakes. I have given them reminders, tips, shortcuts, even ways to copy and cheat without getting caught (hey! In this world, it's either you're matalino or matalinaw, right?)
Am I a teacher? Did I inspire anyone? I certainly hope so. Am I a good teacher? Ah, that, I still have to work on. I know that I can do better. There are avenues that I have not explored, methods that I have yet to maximize. Wells of patience that I still need to discover. I am not done, not by a long shot.
in The With of Portobello by Paulo Coelho
The end of the Christmas break is here. I'm back in my "house of loneliness" preparing for my class this coming week. I just finished reading Paulo Coelho's "The Witch of Portobello," and the line above is reverberating in my brain. It made me reflect on my past seven months as a "teacher."
Am I a teacher?
For the past seven months, I have lectured, and cajoled, and bullied my students into trying to understand the concepts of Grammar and English composition. We played games, held contests, sang songs, written personal and business letters, drawn posters... we have done almost everything that we can humanly do inside a classroom to make the lessons more interesting, more understandable, more memorable.
Every day, since school started, I have spent at least 3 hours a night making visual aids, researching on how to present concepts better, writing exams, checking papers, etc.
I have constantly talked to my students AND their parents to try and find out how I can prepare them for their future... a future where they will no longer be shielded by their parents' money or presence. A strict, no-nonsense, cut-throat future that they are utterly, utterly unprepared for.
I shared my life stories, both the happy times and the numerous failures. I have told them what I did wrong and how they can avoid committing my mistakes. I have given them reminders, tips, shortcuts, even ways to copy and cheat without getting caught (hey! In this world, it's either you're matalino or matalinaw, right?)
Am I a teacher? Did I inspire anyone? I certainly hope so. Am I a good teacher? Ah, that, I still have to work on. I know that I can do better. There are avenues that I have not explored, methods that I have yet to maximize. Wells of patience that I still need to discover. I am not done, not by a long shot.
posted by abi @ 1:32 AM
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