“The best teachers are those who show you where to look, but don’t tell you what to see,” quoted in the words of Alexandra K. Trenfor. Teachers are referred to as a second God. Being a teacher is in itself a matter of pride and self-motivation. It takes a lot of patience and courage to choose such a profession and go ahead with it.
A teacher is known to be a selfless figure who puts in all the efforts to teach their students all the knowledge that they have gained in their entire life. Thinking of spending even a single day in the life of a teacher is in itself quite challenging and a task to be accomplished. The profession of teaching brings along numerous responsibilities. A teacher is someone who is indirectly responsible for the future of his/her students, for planning and then evaluating student performance. They are then responsible for promoting growth through providing additional assistance and meeting with parents and school staff to discuss student development and ways to improve current teaching methods to better suit students. It is a teacher’s daunting task to add life to their student’s school day by generating interest in all subject areas, even those that can be tedious for most students. They work to create lesson plans tailored to their students’ level of cognitive abilities and interests.
It is most rewarding for teachers when they really make a difference in a child’s life; when they are able to ignite curiosity and growth in their students. But as much as teaching can be rewarding, it can also be frustrating and stressful when dealing with unmotivated students, large classes, and heavy workloads. Most significantly, teachers will sometimes have to deal with unruly behaviour and violence from students. Despite the seemingly short workday teachers put in, they tend to work longer than the average 40 hours a week clocked for most occupations. This is due to the preparation, paperwork, and grading that must occur outside of normal school hours. Many teachers work part-time, especially those who teach in preschool and kindergarten. While most teachers work a 10-month school year with two months’ vacation in the summer, some work at summer programs or at other jobs to meet their necessities.
Just as they wake up, they have to run for the early morning race. The race with time and self. Waking up too early, getting dressed perfectly, reaching on time and never losing temper; the few most important things that one needs to abide by at all times. A teacher should be one such being whom the students can look up to. A teacher should be a role model for his/her students. Being the holder of such a position, one does not have an alternative other than to fulfil its demands.
Reaching the school on time, a teacher has to keep track of the syllabus and the schedule for various different classes that he/she has been allotted. Teaching students moral values and possessing them on your own are the few things that inform the tasks of a teacher. Talking practically, it becomes difficult to handle a notorious child even for a while. Hats off to the teachers who are expected to handle an entire class of a huge number of students, all at once. Just like the fingers of a hand are not of the same size, neither are the students all similar. Fortunately, a teacher might get a few sincere, innocent students in his/her class, but the majority will always comprise of naughty ones. Handling such students of different age groups is a task almost next to impossible.
Along with being friends with patience, a teacher needs to have a good throat as well. Giving lectures to students the entire day, shouting at the mischievous behaviour of the students and then having conversations with fellow teachers and the parents of the students, all demand a marvellous throat. One cannot be tired or refuse to answer any question, irrespective of what the teacher is going through. It is only in the lunch break when a teacher can feed himself/herself. Even if by chance a teacher gets a free period, he/she is not spared by the school authorities. There are such a number of papers to be graded and assignments to be prepared that the teacher is left with no time to breathe.
During the last few hours of the school, both the students and the teachers get so tired that neither of them wishes to get back to all the hard work again. But a teacher cannot afford to wish for any leisure time. Regaining all the courage, and accepting the tiredness of the students, it becomes a lot more difficult to gather the attention and the interest of the students. Students get the golden opportunity to rush back to their homes once the school hours get over and take a sigh of relief; while the teachers are never fortunate enough. They have to finish up with their extra classes and the extra duties they have been assigned.
After finishing all the work, teachers are allowed to get back to their place of peace in the late afternoon. Although they are allowed to take a sigh of relief but the work never gets finished. The concept of “Work from Home” continues to run behind. Teachers have to prepare the subject matter for the next day. After finishing the tasks of today, teachers have to begin with the preparations for tomorrow. And then, after a short sleep, comes the next morning full of similar activities of the previous day.
Even though the regular days of a teacher are quite monotonous, teachers seem to enjoy each day of their life that they selflessly dedicate to knowledge and learning. The innocent activities of young children, the small fights that youngsters cry over, the sincerity and honesty in the eyes of the students, all make up for the frustrations and tiredness of the regular days.
Hats off to all the teachers!!
Let’s make it a habit to salute and respect all our teachers who have put in all that they ever could, to make us what we are today. Let’s thank all our teachers for making us all able and confident enough to stand high on our own feet.
Happy Teacher’s Day!! 🙂
Check out this hilarious account of a day in a PhD students’ life here.
