Let’s face it, teachers no matter how educated they are, come in various varieties and abilities. Some teach well but don’t seem to connect with students. Others connect to students, but fail to teach them well. Most fall in somewhere in between the continuum. So how do we define a great teacher, and how do great teacher makes a difference in a student’s life?

        No teacher will reach in every student no matter how good they are. Sometimes things just don’t click on a learning level or even a social level.

        Fortunately, almost everyone has at least one teacher they can point to and say. ”This teacher made difference in my life”.

        Good teachers abound. The majority of them took in the job of teaching, knowing the downside well, because they wanted to do a difference. And in some way, every teacher, make a difference in the life of every child who walks away with him/her a little bit more knowledge than before. A great teacher, however, has a child or children walking away with much more than just a little more information or knowledge. When a student walks away from a good teacher, they have changed in some fundamental ways. They have learned to think in a new way, either about their education, experience or about themselves or both.

        Teachers same to student’s life at a different times and made a difference in different ways. They each went out on the way above and beyond the call of duty, to help someone who needed help. This is what all great teachers have in common; they truly care and put that little extra in when they see a student who needs it. They may not be able to touch every student, but they put themselves out there so that when the time comes, they are ready. They don’t do it on purpose, it’s just part of who they are; they love, they care, they give, they are available, they go beyond mere teaching, and that’s how a great teacher makes a difference in someones life!

By: LORNA P. DUNKEN | Teacher-III | English Coordinator Cabcaben Elementary School