The classroom part 1-The joys of being a teacher......

i love it when they put up their hands!

I vividly remember when I was only 6 years old, I used to pretend that my bedroom was filled with ghost students and I used to teach them. Yes, I loved my grade 1 teacher so much that I used to mimic her in my bedroom. I use to tell my ghost students "sit down", "shut up", "write like this" and "why didn't you do your homework". I know it sounds scary.....doesn't it?

Well, I didn't know that I will actually become a teacher!  My mom keeps telling me that she could see it at an early age.  I hate to quote Operah, but she did point out that a study has shown, you are most likely to become the person you are when you were six. So, the behaviour you displayed when you were six, the chances are great that you will become that person. 

Well, being a teacher is really not the same as how I have imagined it,especially when one is a foreign language teacher. A teacher's job doesn't end in the classroom and the blackboard. No, being a teacher is the same as being a mother, but more in an intellectual fashion. 

After class my throat often hurts and I get a brain freeze of probably repeating myself. For example "sit still!, "why are you talking while I am talking?", "why can't you just do as I tell you"?, "no, don't do that", "do this", "try again" "again", "are you kidding me", "this is becoming very disastrous","why don't you care, because I care". I look at this, and I realize that my mom used to say the same words let alone my teachers.

The struggles that a teacher goes through aren't just the marking, giving attendance, giving participation, giving lessons, planning lessons, helping them to learn a whole new language and more. No, a teacher's struggles are also impeded in her fear of letting the students down and wanting them to realize their fullest potential. Most of the time , before entering my classroom, I do a small prayer "Please God let them be excited to learn something new." A teacher often cares about the welfare of the students, to help them gain confidence, to pursue their dreams and aspirations. 

A teacher is responsible for shaping these young students and to prepare them for what is lying ahead and encourage them to do their best. I look at my students and I feel a care for them in every sense of the word. Yes,sometimes they drive my insane asking me to play "games" with them,and I keep asking them "how old are you?" However, whenever an exam or a test comes I hope that they will all remember the work they have studied. I have flashback of the ones who have a problem with this or that,  and wonder if she will be able to fix that problem in the test. 

Another teacher's quality is having a fantastic memory. Believe me, no one can screw with my memory. I remember each student's name, second name and tribal name and I remember their personalities. I thought that I would forget my first class, but somehow I remember all of them. I even have the class list imprinted in my head, who's name comes first and who's name is last. Yes, that is how much brain activity a teacher has. 

Another wonderful thing a teacher has is the ability to adapt to any student's personality. You can scan the personality, adjust your answer in a particular way,  even when the answer is just "no". 

I have taught students in Turkey and now I am in Saudi Arabia, teaching young girls who want to become things in their lives. I get excited when they tell me about their dreams and the things they would love to do and see. It is the best part when we all have a small discussion about the world and how they would love to change it.

I always end my class by telling them that everything in life is possible if you keep your head up high and walk forward.

By far, the saddest part of my day is when they run off , because the lesson is finished and I am left behind with an empty classroom. Sometimes the air conditioner is on, and the chairs are left empty with water bottles underneath them ,and all I do is sit and enjoy the silence for a few minutes before I become bored and want them back in my classroom. 

As I wipe the board off and putting everything away,  ready to lock up, I realize that today they have learned something, even if they didn't realize it. My students are special and kind, I appreciate all of them for who they are and what they want in life.

Now that I am a teacher, I realize how important teachers are. They are there to see how a child spells his/her own name  for the first time. They are there when the tears are rolling down when it is the child's first step into the big world, they are there to discipline and to incorporate good social behaviour. Most of all teachers are there to shape children. I appreciate all of the teachers that have taught me, and have given me the guidance to  seek my path in life.

Being a teacher is really more than the blackboard and the books. So appreciate your teacher once in a while......