The Essence of Teaching

 

The Essence of Teaching

A young man meets an old man and asks him:

- Do you remember me Sir?

And the old man says NO.

Then the young man says that he was his Student.

And the Teacher asks:

- What are you doing, what do you do for a living?

The young man responds:

- Well, I became a Teacher.

- Oh, good, like me? - said the old man

- Yes. Actually, I became a Teacher because you inspired me to be like you.

The old man, curious, asks the young man what moment inspired him to become a Teacher.

And the young man tells the following story:

- One day, a friend of mine, also a Student, arrived with a beautiful new watch, and I decided I wanted it for myself and I stole it, took it out of his pocket. Soon after, my friend noticed the theft and immediately complained to our Teacher, who was you. So, you stopped the Class and said:

- Your friend's watch was stolen during Class today. Whoever stole it, return it.

- I didn't return it because I didn't want to.

So you closed the door and told us all to get up and you were going to rummage through our pockets until we found the watch. But, he told us to close our eyes, because he would only look if we all had our eyes closed.

So we did, and you went from pocket to pocket, and when you got to mine, you found the watch and took it.

You kept looking for everyone's pockets and when you said: - "Open your eyes. We already have the watch."

You didn't tell me anything and you never mentioned the episode. You never said who stole the watch. That day, you saved my dignity forever.

It was the most shameful day of my life.

But it was also the day my dignity was saved from becoming a thief, a bad person, etc. You never said anything to me, and even though you didn't scold me or call my attention to give me a moral lesson, I got the message clearly.

And thanks to you, I understood that this is what a true educator should do. 

Do you remember that episode, professor?

And the Teacher replies:

- "I remember the situation, the stolen watch, which I was looking for in everyone, but I don't remember you, because I also closed my eyes while looking.

This is the Essence and Joy of Teaching:

If to correct you need to humiliate; you don't know how to Teach.❣️

A good Teacher is like a four-leaf clover: hard to find, lucky to have. 

Everyone who remembers his own education remembers Teachers, not methods and techniques. 

The Teacher is the heart of the educational system. 

Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one Teacher can change the world.

The mediocre Teacher tells. The good Teacher explains. The superior Teacher demonstrates. The great Teacher inspires.

Good Teaching must be slow enough so that it is not confusing, and fast enough so that it is not boring.

In an effective Classroom, Students should not only know what they are doing, they should also know why and how.

Good Teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater.

The important thing is not so much that every child should be taught as that every child should be given the wish to learn.

The need for imagination, as a sense of truth, and as a feeling of responsibility -- these are the three forces which are the very nerve of education.

Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as a hard duty.

Teaching is an instinctual art, mindful of potential, craving of realizations, a pausing, seamless process.

The Teacher’s task is to initiate the learning process and then get out of the way.

A Teacher affects eternity; he [or she] can never tell where his influence stops.

In Teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day’s work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years.

The greatest use of a life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.

Thirty-one chances. Thirty-one futures, our futures. It’s an almost psychotic feeling, believing that part of their lives belongs to me. Everything they become, I also become. And everything about me, they helped to create.

Teachers are people who start things they never see finished, and for which they never get thanks until it is too late.

Teachers, who educate children, deserve more honor than parents, who merely gave them birth; for the latter provided mere life, while the former ensured a good life.

What greater joy can a Teacher feel than to witness a child’s Success?

#lifelessons #Teachers #greatlessons