‘Explore the Teacher in You’

“Teachers can change lives with just the right mix of chalk and challenges.” ― Joyce Meyer.

5th. September marked as the Teacher’s Day set me think awhile. Are teachers earmarked?

Most people would agree that teachers and education should be about teaching for understanding, but fewer would say that our schools are regularly achieving this goal because they are bound to the curriculum.

With creative thinking being the new educational buzzword due to its inclusion in numerous curriculum  around the world, one has to wonder how educators are adjusting to its inclusion.

Winston Churchill once said, “Personally I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.” If only we could learn without actually having to learn. It would be the  equivalent of having your cake and eating it too.

We can’t plug learners  into a computer terminal and instantly teach them everything they need to know. It is a gradual process, if we approach it the right way, we can even make it fun. Fun has a positive effect on learners’ determining what we learn and how much information we retain. This is important. Learning is not a one-off event. It requires repetition and dedication. Making the experience fun helps to keep learners engaged.

 Remember the time we were herded to school like cattle, sat into uncomfortable chairs, teased each other, saw bored classmates and lectured to by our teachers. But think about the teacher or role model who sticks out most in your memory. Was it the teacher who read lessons to , or the teacher who brought a joyful atmosphere, made the learning experience fun and actively engaged students.

So refuse to be teacher who sticks only to the curriculum. Teacher’s burn out isn’t a myth,it’s a reality. Create magic moments in the classrooms .

Teaching the child the joy of learning is an incomparable and invaluable gift that we can offer, and we can enjoy the process as well, as vibrant teachers who enjoy the business of teaching and guiding…and learning. The sharing process of learning is limitless…to explore, to discover, to learn, to be surprised, to be curious enough to continue learning throughout one’s life.

Different students have different interests and strengths, and learn best in different ways. Our education system has, in recent years, opened up many new pathways for our students.

 An example ---to acquire a language, students need many opportunities to practice and apply what they have learned in class. The English language classroom often poses challenges in this area due to rote teaching methods, dull curricula etc. Language targets can be fulfilled with movies, music, books etc.

Teaching is not indivisible from learning. We can be good teachers only if we know what we mean by learning because only then can we know what we expect our learners to achieve. The best way to do this is to make it as fun and entertaining as possible for yourself instead of trying to fight it and beat yourself into submission with discipline.

 A student may be unmotivated for a variety of reasons: They may feel that they have no interest in the subject, find the teacher’s methods un-engaging or be distracted by external forces. It may even come to light that a student who appeared unmotivated actually has difficulty in learning. 

If a student does not believe that what they’re learning is important, they won’t want to learn, so it’s important to demonstrate how the subject relates to them. Really amaze them by telling them that they may use it in their career. Showing them that a subject is used everyday by everyone ,everywhere.

Achieving flow in an instructional setting can be accomplished by using some instructional strategies that will help student get caught up in the learning experience. Fun is one such strategy. It means engagement, doing and learning what has meaning and purpose, and it means being challenged. Embracing this belief should have a profound effect on what and how we teach. Let me put in one of my own experiences.

 I was teaching a proficiency language class. There was  a marvellous group in front of me, apart from one thing: almost all of them said, “What means.this..?” instead of “What does this...mean?” I felt I had to do something but nothing seemed to work.

One day, after hearing the mistake yet again, I said in desperation, “If I hear “What means?” again I really will have you’ll write it 100 times’

Almost immediately a voice piped up, “What means will you use it, to punish us?

I couldn’t stop laughing and have never forgotten that very clever retort! It worked, too. I never heard the mistake from that class again.

So teachers give your best, be the best, for as the saying goes we mould the world. Every other profession is born from us. Most of the eminent teachers uphold human values, love their wards and remain in their hearts for a life time... Young ones, as they grow, realise that they truly adore them...