When can a teacher say s/he succeeded? For me, it is when the students understood what the teacher is teaching. Others might say that a teacher is a successful educator if his/her students remember him/her even after the long run. For someone who had a hard time connecting and building relationship with others, I think a teacher’s success can never actually be measured because everyday that they are in a classroom teaching and the students learned from them, I think they’re already successful. As teachers hold the future of their learners in their hands, their job is nowhere near easy.
This week is like a wake up call to me on how my personality does not seem to fit the teaching profession. To start, I find it hard to connect to people and build relationships. Moreover, I as much as possible do not engage myself when I know I won’t be needed. In addition, I am so used to bottle up frustrations, anger and even distress that even if I have the authority in a classroom, it is hard for me to show signs of anger. There are more to my personality not fit for a teacher and as of now, I am unsure of this profession.
But, when I hear my students having a fun time just chatting with me, joking around with me or feeling comfortable with me, I felt like I belong in the teaching profession.
Building new relationships is not bad, I just need to just be myself and go with the flow. I just need to be honest to myself and to the people around me. I cannot possibly change my personality because that’s who I am but I can bend it to suit my current state. It is hard that I always feel insecure but what I think now is that, if my students understood my teaching or my lesson, even if we are not ‘magka-vibes‘, that’d be enough for me.
Although in the long run, we never know, that might change but as of now, that’s what I think.
An entry of a Student-Teacher 