A Teacher Etched in my Heart

What do you want to be in the future? I cannot recall on how many times people would asked
me about this question back when I was a little child. With full of confidence, I always told them that I want
to become a teacher in the mere future. I do not know, I just feel that I am a teacher at heart.

School is our second home and within the portals of every institution are great teachers who
sacrifice their whole life in shaping the lives of young, impressionable children. There are national and
local heroes and heroines. Some of them are born while others are made. Many are still living, while many
others have long been gone. But behind all these great people are strong foundations that guide, develop
and mold them throughout. I want to become a teacher, and I am so excited that later in life I will become
one. I cant hold my joy whenever I think of it but at the same time, I also felt a bit nervous. At moments
like that, I always asked myself this same question How can I become an effective teacher?.

As stated by Rosenthal, the tangles of an effective teaching involve the teachers attitudes in three
areas which are: attitude toward self, attitude toward the learning process and attitude toward the students.
Recently, I have watched a film entitled The Ron Clarks Story, and I can remember that in the class he
teaches, I can point out his ability to connect with his students, and his ability to connect them on the
subject-matter. For me, teaching depends less on the methods that a teacher can use rather than, on the
degree to which they trust their selves and the willingness on the service of teaching. I do not mean that
teaching methods are just props and just a waste on the process of learning but, I think a teacher attitude
towards her/his self and the students are more important than anything else.

My evidence for this claim are based from my personal experience. As a student, we can always
hear stories from my classmates telling me about their teachers, whether they are bad or good. As I listen
to them, I can tell that not all good teachers use the same techniques when they teach their students. But in
every story that I have listened to, I can tell that a good teacher shares this same trait a good and strong
personality. For me, a teacher can be considered good if he/she can connect herself, the students, and the
subjects that she teaches in this connect-the-dot process.

I remembered two great teachers which are perfect examples for the connectedness that I have
mentioned above. One of them gave us a lot of reading materials for the subject that he would be
teaching, and after a few moments of silence, he would have asked if we had questions and after that he
would dismissed the class. The scene repeated but in the third day, we realized that its a waste of money
if we dont learn a thing so, me and my classmates started to raised questions and making comments
about the lessons he teaches - proving that he is brilliant and can connect with us in his own way.

LAYON, ERIKA M.
AUGUST 20, 2017
 On the other hand, my other teacher was an opposite of the person I have mentioned above. He
keeps on talking and I think silence was not in his dictionary. These two teachers have different way of
teaching yet they both created a connection with their student which is the essential of the teaching -
learning process. They trust their selves and teach based from their true self and identity allowing them
to reveal who they were in front of the students.
As I read the reading material, the different models of a teacher by Thelen captivated my inner
thoughts. As for me, I think that a teacher can incorporate all the traits mentioned on it but there is always
that one remarkable trait which is unique from the others. This should remind me of Burns famous line,
to see ourselves as others see us. A good teaching-learning process comes from the identity of a teacher
might sounds like a clich for the others.
Teaching is a tiresome work we lose hope and heart. I must agree with it but despite of the
demanding situations and long hours of work, they persevere and endure, recognizing the crucial roles they
play in this society. Then, maybe would asked me, why do I want to become a teacher if I know this
profession requires a lot of patience and devotion? Well, my choice of becoming a teacher was not made
lightly. I need a great reflection of myself to what I want to do in the future. As I reflect, I thought that a
teacher has that great opportunity on providing a student like me, a chance and hope in pursuing my dreams.
I want to make my future students to wonder; making them to think critically; and making them to dream
high. I want to become a teacher who do not just explain her lessons yet I want to become a teacher who
inspires. A teacher who would go an extra mile for her students.
I would rephrase what I said above that teaching is not a great opportunity but a challenge for me
and to someone like me. For me, some people became teachers because they are driven by their passion
and the love of helping people to learn. But as the time grows, some loses their heart on teaching, and this
fact needs to be change. Students are always there, ready to learn. But, as a teacher, we must not only know
the subject that we are teaching but we must also teach the students on other things. Things that I know,
would be more valuable in their future than the knowledge itself. This is the reason I want to become a
teacher that leaves a burning sensation that lights up inside of every student -- the future teacher which is
etched in my heart.

Citations:

Tulio, D.(2000). Foundations of Education. Mandaluyong City: National Book Store.

LAYON, ERIKA M.
AUGUST 20, 2017
LAYON, ERIKA M.
AUGUST 20, 2017