Teacher’s day diary (g.f.xavier)

"Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself." (Chinese Proverb).

It’s very special for me to celebrate teacher’s day. Teachers are important and make a difference. Among the teachers I still remember some special ones who cared for me above all my limitations and naughtiness.

My mother was a teacher. I have seen the students’ love and respect towards her. She was sometimes a teacher to me also. I closely observed the life of a teacher first in my mother. Teaching is a tedious job. I am experiencing the same now. According to Comoneius, a famous educationist, in order to make teaching successful, the three things are vitally important. These are Good teacher, Good method and Good books. Indeed, a good teacher plays a vital role in making teachings to the students successful.

My first teacher as I remember was Krishnamma teacher and then another teacher often came home to give lessons. During my days in the Rose Dale School, I found that some students were pets to some teachers. I still remember that in my lifetime as a student I could never please a teacher to get some extra marks.

But I still remember one teacher particularly, Miss Renu. She taught me in UKG and she appreciated me very much. Even after passing out of UKG, she used to encourage me very often and used to inquire about my marks. I was never a topper anywhere in the classrooms, neither in academics nor in sports and arts. I don’t remember that I ever entered the stage for a programme at least for presenting a bouquet. Those days students with artistic talents were often the specially chosen ones. But still she smiled and that was enough for me. I was a good student for her. She often said that I can study well. The successful teachers have positive attitudes that aim for their students to love learning. They want their students to enjoy the lessons and discover their own capabilities. Teaching is also a vocation. Thank you Miss Renu.

After joining St. Aloysius High School the study system changed. I still respectfully remember my Principals, Mr.Bastian William and Mr.Rapheal. I remember my favorite teachers were ones that were patient with me, did not yell, and were passionate about teaching children. I specially remember teachers Mr.Mathias, Mr.Bahulayan, Mr.Varghese, Mr.Philipose, Mr.Raymond, Mr.Vishwanathan among all other people who taught me.

I am not going to elaborate on the names. There come several others in my formative years also. The cabinet of my Deutsch Sprache teachers took a special place in my mind.

Now I am a teacher. I have taught students in the school as well as our Philosophy college. I have learned lots of lessons. I have no original idea about how to teach. But I glance my memory and go through all those good teachers who inspired me and I take a style which is a mixture of all. Whenever I encounter a situation in my teaching career I sit quiet and try to remember how my teachers handled it. Then it becomes easy.

I believe that a teacher is not just teaching lessons but life. An American definition of 'Teaching' envisages that ' Teaching is the consistent and effective transfer of appropriate behaviors which lead to the achievement of predetermined and specified results'. The teacher who cannot inspire a pupil in his/her life is not a teacher. The student models him after a teacher. S/he doesn’t create a new pattern but s/he forms one pattern in life which is an amalgamation of all experiences. So the pedagogy is just experience sharing.

My recommendation to a teacher would be that Parents, students and colleagues have to feel that they can approach teacher. You basically must be able to maintain positive and productive relationships with people in this job. Your position as a teacher depends on working closely with others and you must be able to build mutual trust, respect and admiration to be successful. I have constantly reminded myself to look personable. I tried to smile and look at people often when I feel that I am hard. I started observing and evaluating those teachers whom I did not like. I started chipping out all that was disliked by me but later found in me. Now I am very aware of being sure I not only am personable, but I look approachable as well. Bertrand Russel said “No man can be a good teacher unless he has feelings of warm affection toward his pupils and a genuine desire to impart to them what he believes to be of value.”

“The test of a good teacher is not how many questions he can ask his pupils that they will answer readily, but how many questions he inspires them to ask him which he finds it hard to answer.”- Alice Wellington Rollins.