SLC | S22W5 : Teachers as examples and role models

A classroom isn’t just a space for teaching, It goes beyond that. It’s a place where characters are molded by teachers. To this young kids, teachers are not just there to teach but they see them as their role model, observing and emulating their every move. That is why, if you insult a kid, he uses the insult on his classmates or friends.

Reading through this week contest, i couldn’t help but think about the weight of responsibility on every teacher because beyond their words, their actions have a major impact on the kids. Before going ahead with the topic of the day, let me invite @basil20, @us-andrew and @lovelystar.

There is this popular rhyme we were taught in primary school while growing up ”Everybody, do as I say, and not do as I do”. But to us, those phrases were just mere songs and it fell on deaf ears! As students, we looked up to our teachers, not just to satisfy our curiosity alone but for guidance on how to act, live and also think.

When a teacher is confident, honest and disciplined, the students also potrays such characteristics in their own life and same things happen when the teacher has a bad attitude like lying or been rude. It sends a silent message to the students that such behavior is acceptable in the society.

For instance, during my time I worked in school, I notice is quite easy for this kids to learn bad habits than the good ones. During one of our time in the field, I wanted to be silly with the kids, so I farted in front of them. We all laughed about it, even though they were disgusted by my act. Few days later, this kids started farting in the class, as if they were doing competition. No matter how hard I try to stop them, they kept using it to catch fun and laugh over it. So, as a teacher , always mind what you do in front of the kids.

Like the popular saying goes; no human being is perfect. We all have our inner demons we try to fight as a teacher and I’ll be listing few of my own here.

• There are moments, I find myself doing what some of our teachers did to us when we were kids. The patience of waiting for all the kids to understand my lessons isn’t there, forgetting that some kids are slow to learning. I just move ahead to the next point expecting them to learn from their classmates .

• Shouting at the kids publicly whenever they are wrong and not minding if they are embarrassed or not. The negative side of this is that, it affects their confidence level and also makes it harder for them to approach me whenever they are in distress, especially the ones in senior class.

• Because of the limited time given to each teacher to teach their students, I am hardly creative in the classroom. I just stick to the lesson plans and it makes classes boring for the kids.

• I try as much as possible to empathize and listen to the kids whenever they are going through challenging times without judging them especially for those in primary school. Since they are still in their formative years, i want to imbibe that act of kindness in them.

• Been resilient has always been one of my strong suits. So, during sports with the kids especially when it seems they’re scared of a particular team or tasks, I always try to do it myself to boost their morale. Telling them, ”if I can do it, they can also do it and that’s okay to fail but as long as they are not stuck there”. It’s very important the kids learn to persevere.

• Been friendly and generous with the kids is one of the best ways to tell you what is in their mind or some shocking secrets that you would never know on a normal day. Although it has its own disadvantages sometimes because of the little disrespects that comes with it, the advantages outweighs it.

The ripple effect of my exemplary behavior on my students can be seen in the way they handle difficult assignments or class work. Sometimes I intentionally give them something harder than the example I taught them in class but this kids never complain. They go out of their way to answer the questions not minding if they get it or not and in some situations, they solve it perfectly.

Students who use to be shy to open up now feel comfortable talking to other teachers and sharing their opinions without been ashamed of any funny remarks that might come there way. They feel confident and share their stuffs with one another.

For me, the biggest benefit is knowing that I’m shaping not just academic success but human character. The changes aren’t automatic, it is something that exhibits itself in the kids over time and they are deeply rewarding.