Teacher is someone who …

There is always enough light for those who want to see,

and enough darkness for those who don’t want to see.

G. Paskal

I’ve been a teacher for twenty years, and I still feel grateful for this challenging and rewarding profession. Yes, there are many demands on my time… Yes, there is always something new to learn… Yes, many days I come home feeling worried about a troubled child … And yes, every so often I come home “burnt out”. Teaching is not easy…

But I still continue to teach … For me teaching is the art, the art of teaching is all about the beauty of the risk of forming significant relationships. Teaching may be about giving, but it is also so much about receiving. Teaching is a privilege because it is all about touching the lives of children and allowing them to touch mine. Teaching is about caring and wanting and expecting the very best from every child in my class. Teaching is about joy and laughter and singing and playing. Teaching is about growing. Teaching is also about saying goodbye and letting go and saying hello. Teaching is about love…

I’ve always wanted to be a teacher; it has been my cherished dream since childhood. I can’t tell that it happened because of the person who encouraged me to become a teacher. It didn’t happen exactly this way but I can admit that I met a lot of real, talented, creative teachers on my way. I met the teachers who educated, inspired, taught… I think all of us can recall certain teachers – very special, who inspired us to learn. I met such teachers at school, university, at different courses or training courses. My heartfelt thanks go to them and to my mother, father, grandfather (who have never been teachers) as they always remind me of the value of the learning. I’d like to quote the English novelist William Arthur Ward, who mentioned: “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires”.

Teaching students gives me great hope for the future, touches my heart, inspires me and gives me their love which I feel with all my heart. I try to teach them to be part of the big family of the world, not to fight but to heal the world. I want to touch their human feelings, open the real world to them, show the real meaning of the world “life” and teach the values of life. I am sure that there still are teachers who care about their students, who are willing to take time out of their busy schedules to help another person, there are teachers who haven’t forgotten what teaching and love are about.

I try to help my students differ right from wrong, become leaders, not followers, give the pride and self-confidence, make understand what life is about and how important it is to plan your life, believe in yourself. I tell them that they can be anything they want to be if they just put their mind to it. I try to lead them in the right direction. I don’t only teach what they need to know about English but about life. I never forget to take time to talk to my students. And it hurts me when I see that more and more money is put in anything but not schools and education. Once I was given a bookmark. I didn’t pay attention what was there on it. Only after some time I read the poem written there and still now I keep it to remember the beautiful words, written by Jill Wolf.