Let’s face it, teachers, no matter how educated they are, come in various varieties and abilities. Some teach well but don’t seem to connect with students. Most fail somewhere in between the continuum. So how do we define a great teacher, and how does a great teacher make a difference in a student’s life?
No teacher will reach out in every student no matter how good they are. Sometimes things just don’t click on a learning level or even a social level.
Fortunately, almost everyone has at least one teacher they can point to and say, “ This teacher made a difference in my life!”
Good teachers abound. The majority of them took on the job of teaching, knowing the downside well, because they wanted to make a difference. And in some way, every teacher, makes a difference in the life of every child who walks away from him/her with a little bit more of knowledge than before. A great teacher, however, has a child or children walking away with much more than just a little more information or knowledge. When a student walks away from a great teacher, they have changed in some fundamental ways. They have learned to think in a new way, either about their education, experience or about themselves or both.
Teachers come to a student’s life at different times and make a difference in various ways. They each go out on their way above and beyond the call of duty, to help someone who needed it. This is what all great teachers have in common: they truly care and put that little extra in when they see a student who needs it. They may not be able to touch every student, but they put themselves out there so that when the time comes, they are ready. They don’t do it on purpose – it’s just a part of who they are: they love, they care, they give, they are available . They go beyond mere teaching, and that’s how a great teacher makes a difference in someone’s life!
By: Ronaldo V. Tiangco | Teacher I | Mariveles National High School | Mariveles, Bataan
