I see teaching as a very challenging profession, because in this field it is not just about you doing your work of imparting knowledge, it is about you motivating the students not only to learn, but teaching them how to learn, it is about pushing your student to develop their totality as a person. Teaching is not merely teaching facts in life, but also teaching what is essential in life. It is also nurturing and developing the mind of the students.One of the philosophy that I strongly believe in is the philosophy of being just, giving equal chance for every student.“Give what is due to whom it is due”
Every student has the right to be given equal chance when it comes to education; fairness and being just has to be given emphasis. I heard a quotation before that“One has to give what is due to whom it is due”. This has to be exercise especially in giving grades to the student, you have to give the student the grade that she deserve, regardless of the students class standing, doesn’t matter whether the student is the top or the bottom. One has to give them the grade that each one of them deserves. Also teacher has to treat every student with all fairness; favoritism should not be exercise, because in some point students’ participation and performance are being affected.
Then I realized the importance of teachers, how they can change lives in very simple way. I begin to understand that being a teacher is really a vocation, that it is a selfless job. You have to give everything you could for your students’ just to make sure that they learned from you. When you say learning, it’s not always about the subject matter that you teach but also the values that you are exemplifying. That as a teacher, you should be setting a good example to your student.Because at the end of the day whatever you do will also reflect on your students.
They say that education is a lifelong process. It is a continuous process of learning. Through such learning that we tend to discover new more things, that previously we claims to know but turned out to be something else and certain areas that we tend to overlook or ignore. One good example is a teacher – student interaction, it’s not just the student who learns in the process but also the teacher. It’s a two way process wherein one learns from the other and vice versa. It only means that you should not close yourself to new ideas or information that will help you grow and be a better mentor. Always consider new things that will mold you to be a better person and a mentor.
According to William Durant, “Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.” We continue to study,to learn what is there in life. As we grow we become curious to a lot of things. As the saying goes it’s better to be curious than to stay ignorant for your whole life. In teaching, you have to discover new things, new techniques and methods and how you will teach your students. You should try different things that you think will help you to make them understand the subject. It’s a trial and error. Don’t be afraid to explore different methods that will best suite your clientele’s level of understanding until you reach your goal, “learning.”
In a classroom setting, when a teacher asked a hypothetical question, there is no such thing as right or wrong. You have to consider every student’s answer as right. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion on how they view it on their own perspectives. At the end it’s in the teacher’s hand on how you will explain it in a more detailed manner for them to easily understand the meaning of the topic. By using your student ideas or perspective you can attack the subject matter in an easier manner that the student will easily understand it. It’s a matter on how you used your resources on your advantage. Being a teacher you need to be resourceful, especially here in our country not everything is being supplied by the government. You need to be creative with the limited supply that you have.
When you face a class, you need to have a full understanding of the subject matter that you are about to introduce. It’s like being ready to face a battle. You should be fully equipped so that you won’t lose in it. So thatwhen yourstudent throws a question you can easily answer them all. As teacher, it doesn’t apply that you only need to understand the subject but rather you have to obtain some ways on how you will introduce the topic to the class. There is more to teaching than simply knowing the subject and talking about it which is the easiest part. The difficult part is finding words, metaphors to represent the ideas of the subject for those who don’t understand it. In short always be preparedbecause not everyone in a cluster of student has the same level of understanding.
According to the reference manual, entitled Keys to College Studying, “Being a learner for life means that you are able to learn who you are and define what you want to, keep pace with rapidly changing workplace technology, stay aware of the world development and how they affect you, and continue to grow as a person.” As a teacher you need to have a continuous education. It’s a lifelong study. Because we continue to grow and our needs also rises that’s why we need to feed ourselves with more info that we can obtain with studying that we can apply in our chosen field of work which is teaching.
Teaching is not only confined in the four corners of a classroom, it can take place everywhere. The important thing is learning, you just need to make sure that every word you say goes directly on the listeners’ heart that they can used it in their everyday living. That in some way you manage to change their views, that you have imparted your knowledge the best way that you can that will greatly affect their lives for the better. As they said you should practice what you preached caused whatever you say the end product is your students.
By: Giniely V. Venturina, MNHS-CABCABEN Teacher 1
