Being a Teacher: What Inspires You as an Educator

Students who are preparing for graduation and expecting a degree in Elementary Education should have an accurate idea on what is meant to be a teacher. Of course, it all depends on what perspective you are looking in. Most students who are engaging in becoming a teacher have specific ideas on how to teach, but I noticed there are some that lack the knowledge of what is meant to be a teacher. Without the right information of both essential knowledges, it will be difficult to engage a student to learn. I will be discussing different perspective on being an educator.

Being a teacher has great responsibility and has great consequences if those responsibilities arent met. Let us define the role of a teacher in any student(s)-teacher relationship is to give to the student the knowledge he or she desires. If this is true, it is necessary that if the teacher is to teach the student(s), the teacher must own a superior knowledge of the subject the student is pursuing. Also keep in mind that having that superior knowledge is necessary but it is not sufficient. A teacher must also be able to aid or facilitate the student in his/her pursuit of that knowledge. This changes our first definition of being a teacher. Now, we can say that the teacher is someone who enables the student to acquire the knowledge in the most efficient way.

My best friend once told me students are their own best teachers, which makes it applicable for this essay. My best friend was implying that the most efficient way for a student to obtain a particular knowledge of something is to teach it to themselves. For example, students A, B, and C are taking a college level, general biology class with their intent of being hungry for knowledge. Although there is one person who is referred to as the teacher (the person giving the lecture), he/she is not the only thing that these students can gain knowledge from.

Order custom essay Being a Teacher: What Inspires You as an Educator with free plagiarism report

450+ experts on 30 subjects Starting from 3 hours delivery

Get Essay Help

They can easily gain knowledge through the use of the Internet, reading his or her textbook, or by interacting in groups. Of course, the textbook and the professor give out more biological knowledge than the students do, but often times there are other students who have previously studied a form of biology and possess an amount of knowledge that these students lack. The point is that any of the three sources are capable of teaching the students (the professor, the textbook, and/or other students).

However, it also depends from which source the student acquires more knowledge. What method is used for each student to acquire the most knowledge? It is dependent upon the student. I had a roommate in High School where she had trouble learning through lectures. She was bad at note- taking and carried a small tape recorder to record each lecture. Even this wouldnt be enough. She needed the assistance from classmates to explain certain sections of the lecture, and often needed additional help in her assignments.

On the other hand, I had a classmate in my first year in college who took a blank sheet of paper and doodled, starting around the edges and working her way in. She mad her drawings while the professor gave her lecture, but it didnt take long for the teacher to ask why she must draw every class period. The student simply replied This is how I memorize your lecture. Some take notes (written words) to learn lectures, I draw and remember everything you say by drawing on paper. It was amazing to know she has a talent to look back at any point of her drawing and repeat what the professor said at the exact time the student drew. Therefore, it is left to the student to decide which teacher (professor, text, classmates, or drawings) will best enable them to learn.

Teacher is not just giving out information and expecting each student to learn. Finding the distinctive ways students learn, method(s) to motivate each of them and being a mentor as well, is essential to an instructors profession. In discussing different perspectives of what is meant to be a teacher, I hope that those who are ready to graduate, with the intentions of becoming a professor, have thought through on how important it is to know the meaning of being a teacher.

Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade

Run a free check or have your essay done for you

Check my essay Hire Writer