Great Teachers

GREAT TEACHERS DON'T TEACH

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”
Teachers - those dedicated people who educate, encourage, support, discipline and prepare us for the road ahead. They are the masters, the leaders. They are the artist that takes each class to a higher level. Their dedication has always resulted in producing something new. If I think about them humbly enough, they contribute to a great evolution, they are players in the great ocean.
Teaching is deep. It's more than just imparting information. Anyone can do that. Google can do that. Wikipedia can do that. But great teachers do it differently. Great teachers have always understood that imagination is more important than knowledge. They go beyond the text book and have that intangible characteristic that can inspire students to do great things and become great people. Instead of just teaching major revolution in history, formulae in maths,verses in english, maps in geography, laws in science and jeevni in hindi, they will make us think and force us to look at the world through the eyes of the people involved in a subject. They will challenge us to think critically and analytically. They share their insights and knowledge that allows us to explore the infinite amount of knowledge. They will engineer learning experiences that maneuver the students into the driver's seat and then the teachers get out of the way. Because they understand that students learn best by personally experiencing learning. And as the proverb goes "Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself.”
One such great teacher I met was Meenakshi Bhardwaj, my Intermediate English teacher. She was no academic. She was not hot on action research, she had her own peculiar style or way of motivating her students. She taught the most important skills within the most important subject. She reminded us of the power of language and the delights of literature. She encouraged us to ask questions,for being prepared to argue your case, and doing so in a style that is powerfully appropriate. She relieshed the eccentrics in the class , the naughty ones as well as the paragons. The naughty one often only behaved for her ( I was among the naughty ones :P). She had something individual to say to each student. She said when she was disappointed about something a student has done, but mostly she celebrated success. Her art of teaching was so compelling that I once broke down into tears in the middle of the class reading "A Doctor’s Journal Entry". Personally, she had a powerful emotional impact on me. I used to walk out of her lessons feeling I can do things - can read better, write better, think better, learn better. Her purpose was basically the same as any good leader, to provide purpose, direction and motivation. She is simply a great teacher. I owe her a great deal - not least, my gratitude. She is more important than she'll ever realise.
Thus a great teachers are the ones who are differentiated from the rest. They have the qualities of patience, kindness, resourcefulness, and open-mindedness. They listen , make their students feel secure and pushes them to succeed. A great teacher always has a sense of purpose, a positive attitude, a smile on her face and an encouraging word for her students. She explains that career choices and options are many. But your decision on career should be what you enjoy doing for the rest of your life. She motivates her students to chase their dreams and to always put their best foot forward. She will motivate and encourage to reach for the moon, so that if you miss it, you will atleast land among the stars.