Win one of these 2 T-shirts!
It's Teachers' Day again and if one is cynical, one can just treat it as a day for catching up on marking, completing administrative chores or setting exam papers. But wait! Why do that? If we have a day to call it our own, we should celebrate it. After all, how many professionals have a day to call their own? And when I say celebrate it, I don't mean go shopping.
We should celebrate it by reflecting on what makes us special. Yes, we are special, and I am sorry that nowadays, many people try to take that away from us. I say, don't let them. Instead, affirm our work. Take time off today and sit quietly for a while and reflect on why you are a teacher and what you want to do as a teacher. Think of the 40 faces you are in charge of every day and project ahead and imagine them ten years down the road. How can you make that road easier for them? Like it or not, they are your family, and your desire to do your best for them makes you special. Some, among the 40, won't have another person who will want to do that for them. You are super special to them.
At Teachers' Day lunch today, I asked some of my young teachers what makes teaching special for them. A young male teacher told me this without even pausing to think.
You get to watch your kids grow up, over and over again through the years. You don't feel you have to let your kids go, as parents do when their children grow up. For teachers, the gap is filled up almost immediately by a new batch of pupils.
Other responses include:
And there could be many more meaningful reasons like these.
Why do you teach and what meaning do you find in the profession? Send me a short paragraph or post it on my Facebook account. The most interesting responses/stories will win prizes! Two T-shirts that you see in the pictures here and I am happy to give away copies of my books, The Learning Teacher 1 &2 to other good submissions. All entries must be in by 11 September. Either post them here as Comments or on my Facebook account. Or email them to learning@pacific.net.sg.
No energy to write? Enjoy this video instead.
http://www.heartofateachermovie.com/At Teachers' Day lunch today, I asked some of my young teachers what makes teaching special for them. A young male teacher told me this without even pausing to think.
You get to watch your kids grow up, over and over again through the years. You don't feel you have to let your kids go, as parents do when their children grow up. For teachers, the gap is filled up almost immediately by a new batch of pupils.
Other responses include:
- Teaching helps you keep in touch with things and you rediscover your youth always through teaching your pupils.
- Teaching helps you stay alert to things in the world.
- Teaching is a job that allows one to witness the turning point that can suddenly transform your kids. Granted, this does not happen to all kids, but when it does happen, you, the teacher, are there to witness it.
- Teaching keeps one honest as it's difficult not to be honest with kids around you.
And there could be many more meaningful reasons like these.
Why do you teach and what meaning do you find in the profession? Send me a short paragraph or post it on my Facebook account. The most interesting responses/stories will win prizes! Two T-shirts that you see in the pictures here and I am happy to give away copies of my books, The Learning Teacher 1 &2 to other good submissions. All entries must be in by 11 September. Either post them here as Comments or on my Facebook account. Or email them to learning@pacific.net.sg.
No energy to write? Enjoy this video instead.
Happy Teachers' Day again and Happy Holidays.
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