Sunday, June 25, 2006

Teacher With Heart

Last night I sat down to write an essay for college. It had to be nonfiction, and I wrote and discarded two pieces before I completed this one. I wanted to write about somehting close to my heart, but I did have a hard time epressing myself fully. I decided to post the piece, hoping to get feedback from all of you.
The paper is due July 14, but I will probably send it in a week early. It's not completely finished yet, there are a few bumps I still need to smooth out, but I'm excited about it, so I'm posting it now.
Enjoy reading and leave feedback please!

A Teacher With Heart

Most people do not have what it takes to be a teacher with heart. Truthfully, every teacher must have heart because the profession of education has nothing else to offer. There is no money in teaching, lots of tough situations, hardly any respect, and the good parts are few and far in between. Teachers without the requisite dose of heart are weeded out fairly quickly and even some of the ones with heart are turned off as well.

Many young girls in my community look towards teaching as the ideal job. Working in a school means an insecure girl never has to leave the environment she knows best, the environment in which she has spent the majority of her life so far. Teachers come into the school year excitedly, never dreaming this sort of job requires days as well as nights of preparation, giving up any other life one possibly may have had up until now, constant aggravation from students and staff, and of course, heart.

By heart I mean it literally. It is not enough for a teacher to prepare outstanding lessons and do her very best work if her heart isn’t in it. Truth be told, it is much the same in any other profession; the most successful are always the ones who have put heart and soul into what they’ve achieved. Teaching though, requires more heart than any other job.

We come back year after year because when the job pays off, it pays off in big ways. Nothing can replace the smile on a child’s face after she has grasped a difficult concept. There isn’t anything that can tug at a teacher’s heart more than a little note of appreciation from a student. And the uncommon kid who ends the school year with a grateful hug is what makes us want to do it again.

A teacher will need an understanding heart, a heart that will not lose patience with the ever struggling student, trying to do well, yet continually failing. A teacher will need to put in the time to sit with a struggling child, comfort her as she cries, and stay with her as she tries again. She will know that a failing student is not necessarily a mark of poor teaching skills on her part, but she will try with all her might to help her succeed nonetheless.

A teacher cannot be considered a success, without an accepting heart. Over the many years a teacher spends in a classroom, she will encounter different capabilities, backgrounds, problems, and types of kids. One must learn to accept them all equally, as every new concept and idea forms her into a better educator; able to better help the students she so dearly loves. An accepting teacher is the one who will congratulate the learning disabled girl on her passing grade as much as she will cheer for the child who won a scholarship award. An accepting teacher will never see failures, only learning experiences.

In this profession, a strong heart is a must because of the hardships one will inevitably face. It’s tough; constantly feeling underappreciated by students, parents, and the school in general. Along with those, a teacher will deal with having her heart taken by every single child, and feeling along with every one of their concerns. A teacher will ride stormy seas with her charges hopefully steering them to a better shore over the period of a school year. A teacher’s heart must be strong enough to ride the waves with her students while making sure to keep them, as well as herself, from drowning. A strong heart will put up with criticism, hardly any pay, and the occasional class that will try her patience to the limit.

A warm heart is required to ensure the students all feel the love their teacher has for them. The warm hearted teacher will praise the brilliant child while still finding the time to encourage the slower ones. A warm teacher is one with no reservations about sitting on the floor and reading to her seventh grade students, or playing a game of catch with students that may not be her own. A teacher like this leaves each student at the end of the year feeling successful and cared for. Warm hearted teachers may not always be appreciated, but their difference is always felt.

There are many traits a good teacher must have, but the one most needed by an educator is a heart with the resilience of a child. A teacher’s heart must rebound after the sting of a student’s sharp remark. A young at heart teacher can stand up and try again to touch the child afraid to reach out. She needs to keep going even when it feels like no one cares. A resilient attitude is important so that when a principal finishes bashing one lesson, an educator can go home and prepare a better one.

Every teacher needs to have a bit of a child in them to better understand the little people they are constantly dealing with. People in this field must remember what it’s like to be twelve, or even seven. They must put themselves in the shoes of the students who desperately need them to understand where they are coming from. Most importantly; a heart with the versatility of a child is needed so a teacher still has strength to keep coming back and make a difference year after year.

Teachers with all the right requirements aren’t easy to find. In my community there is a big turnover of young new teachers every year. But every once in a while a student is lucky enough to land in a class where a teacher is there to make a difference. Once in a while students are privileged to sit on the floor or play ball with the teachers they come to love; the teachers with heart.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This esay is very well written. Some teachers dont have (a) heart or do but to a very small degree. Your students are very lucky and priviledged to have you as a role model,educator and a teacher. I could tell you had a tough year, you made it through, and goog luck at tour new job.