What is a Teacher?

School Principal/The Author

(The following are my thoughts I have shared this afternoon to my 13 elementary school teachers in their 2nd day in-service training while their pupils having their summer break.)

A PERSON who teaches the children how to write, how to read, and how to do math and much more;

A PERSON who explains things to children how do they work, how do they operate, and how do they become useful for them and other people;

A PERSON who analyzes situations especially difficult ones for the children to easily understand and be able to come up with the practical solutions;

A PERSON who cares for the children as his/her own children; thus never neglecting them but yet making them learn and appreciate the value of being educated and comes to school always prepared with every needful things ready for the children to study, to manipulate and to appreciate;

A PERSON who helps the children especially those who are handicap like hearing impaired, mentally retarded, visually impaired and physically disabled and hones them as a special human beings;

A PERSON who encourages those children who are problematic, habitual absentees and truant to be optimistic to improve themselves academically and expresses generous praises to those who are honest, diligent and achievers;

A PERSON who reports to school on time and never mixes work with play and play with work and also reports to the parents on the performance of their children, and to his/her principal about his/her performance too;

And that PERSON is a T. E. A. C. H. E. R.

Earlier, I had asked my teachers on how they define teacher. Everyone gave his/her own definition based on their experience. For Miss Lelanie Suyo, a grade one teacher, she defined a teacher as a person who serves as a model for her pupils. Mrs. Melanie Reyes, a grade four teacher, for her a teacher is a mother, a baby-sitter, a janitor.Mrs. Mary Ella Amar defined teacher as an individual who is accountable for her/his clientele's progress in academic and success in life.

Moreover Mr. Mario Malacaman, a grade three teacher, for him a teacher is a person who is patient, long-suffering. And for Mrs. Herlene Bravo, a grade three teacher and Miss Vivian May Doloso, a grade two teacher, they regarded a teacher as a tutor who is effective, authoritative, compassionate, "high-blood", efficient, responsible for her/his pupils' learning.