3053. Our Students' Lives Are in Our Hands!


 
In some way we teachers have our students’ souls in our hands, what a responsibility…, and we can influence on their education and even on their salvation, up to some extent!
We are like their shepherds and influence on their souls’ salvation, through our daily work in and out of the classroom.
Educating is also an art, a fine art, I would say. What a responsibility, because our students and their minds and their souls are in our hands! We’re like potters, who mold them as better students and better persons alike. Whatever we do or whatever we don’t do influence on them. Even our private life, I would say.
Yesterday I found a beautiful text by Spanish writer Eugenio D’Ors, published in 1915.
Pero yo te digo que cualquier oficio se vuelve filosofía, se vuelve arte, poesía, invención, cuando el trabajador da a él su vida, cuando no permite que esta se parta en dos mitades: la una, para el ideal; la otra para el menester cotidiano. Sino que convierte cotidiano menester e ideal en una misma cosa, que es, a la vez, obligación y libertad, rutina estricta e inspiración constantemente renovada. / Photo from: Planes de familia Esquiando en Sierra Nevada. On the photo you can see children, probably with their dad. I live in Granada, close to Sierra Nevada, where you can go skiing now.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1222. This is what I offer to you

Image
Teacher A said to teacher B, “Concerning management of the class and discipline in a vacation course the teacher of English should be at ease all the time: we’re after educating them – their disruptions are not problems of mine, but theirs and their families’.  I hope all the students will improve the way they conduct themselves. Why at ease? I feel optimistic: we are trying to do the best and we count on God’s help – he has a big love, like a mom or a dad.” / Photo from: familyfood hiddenvalley com. food to have at a family cookout      
Read more

792. English as a bridge of communication

Image
One day teacher of English B said to teacher of English A, “In my opinion, definitely it’s a great and essential idea today here in Spain and in other countries (I guess), more and more, subjects different from English should be taught and learned in English. For example it’s becoming more and more frequent today that in Spain students attend classes of History, and Science, with textbooks in English, or by means of portfolios or dossiers made from here and there – complementary topics to one another. This may mean like a change of mind: English is not only a practical subject to actually learn English, but a vehicular language for other subjects. I’ve met teachers of secondary education in Spain that were studying the level of C- 2 in order to facilitate themselves with the instrument, the terms and grammar to teach those subjects. C-2 level? It is the highest level of English within the Common European Framework. Believe me, it’s worth to invest the effort, both by us teachers and b...
Read more

3698. Why do Those Students Participate More in Class?

  I’ve been teaching English for quite many years now, you know. Something I’ve noticed is the following fact. When you ask your dear students questions as prompts, and speaking is one crucial skill to practice in class, and out of class, you may note something specific. By the way, we English teachers do ask a lot in class. A friend of mine – a head teacher himself – once told me that we are all the time asking questions, you know, and he meant that half-jokingly. Well, some students answer those questions. Most students do answer those questions. But some of them add something else, from themselves, so they facilitate real communication in class, and they say more things about the same point. And others, with a lower level maybe, may answer with something short and that’s all.  I mean, all of them are in favor of lessons and the teacher, but you notice there’re some learners who try something else. Usually those latter students work on their own, more than the students who j...
Read more

899. Relax and then see to it

Image
One day teacher of English A said to teacher of English B, “Some teachers think their last class was a complete mess, a complete failure, and all the students were disruptive and all went awful. This may happen particularly the first days of the school. I’d tell that teacher to try to think about all this mess later; now, let him do something else, like planning another class for other students – let him try and relax. Within a couple of days or even the next day he can think about what really happened. That teacher will be more capable to specify problems, the people involved, the root of the problems. Misbehaving students’ bad stuff that awful day is usually less significant than what the teacher thought. Now, after few days,   the bad student’s response to a correction is going to be more positive, for sure. And talk to them one by one. And please listen with an honest interest.” / Photo from: drinking coffee at work. 65 percent of workers drink coffee in US ...
Read more

978. "Thank you!"

Image
One day English teacher A said to English teacher B, “Management of the class and discipline is something the student has got to acquire by himself. The best discipline in the classroom is one's self-discipline, and is learned and acquired by students.  One way is to be grateful, to show gratitude.  If you, teacher, thank your students for a well-done small job for example, this action serves to keep more discipline.  Some students can be rude, right, but I guess that if you thank one of them in a repeated way, day after day, he will behave a bit better. If you teacher are polite and serious and a bit conspicuous, plus you don’t lose your temper, the class will develop better and better.  Teens feel insecure and they’re growing their personality, so if you treat them in a polite way, they will grow up fine. It’s just because they see you consider them as real persons, and you trust them. They realize they can do useful things – you consider an...
Read more