Teacher’s (Day!!)

 

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” –William Arthur WardHappy Te

 

I remember Teacher’s Day during my school years. Everyone made such a big deal about it. And why not? We were all excited to show our teacher’s how much we loved them and cared for them. But somehow, after I joined college, by this I mean 11^th onwards, the importance of Teacher’s Day just diminished.

 

I recollect the night before Teacher’s Day when I used to sit and painstakingly make beautiful cards for my favorite teacher’s. The not so favorite ones would get store bought ones of course! 😉 But I did give most of my teacher’s some token of my appreciation, even if it was just to remember me by. And never once did I regret spending endless hours making the perfect card or hunting for one in Hallmark or Archie’s. The words to be written inside the card were also very carefully chosen and represented each teacher individually. I loved Teacher’s Day.

 

But now, Teacher’s Day is just another day in my life. I wonder why this is so. Has the importance of teachers gone away for me? Perhaps it has. For I never really felt it the way I used to feel when in school. I never really care now about the happy smile that light’s up my teachers’ face when I present them with the handmade card. I just never bother anymore. Maybe it’s just because I’ve grown up over the years and don’t have the time and space in my life for teachers as I did before. Or maybe it was just the fact that the teachers in school were a lot more connected to us than they are now and I cannot say that I blame them. I mean a class of thirty-five students and a class of sixty students has a vast difference and one really cannot expect personal attention from the teachers!

 

A teacher has to be the one person who can take the place of your parents when they are not around. He has to be that driving force that pushes you towards achieving your goals. A teacher has to be a mentor as well as a friend to the student. Only then can the teacher-student bond be strengthened and maintained. But sad to say that after my school days, I have met so few teachers who fall in the category of friends as well as the guiding force. Those I can honestly count on my fingers.

 

Snubbing the students, ignoring them, yelling at them for no apparent reason and labeling any answer given to the teacher (when in a bad mood!) as a back answer is what I have noticed in the teachers of my college life. There are very few who can be the friend that a teacher needs to be and I can without a doubt say that most of my teachers, not all of course, from my school are that type of teachers and the teachers from my college days are without a doubt not like that! Again not all but most of them! I know many people reading this may seem like I am bitching too much about teacher’s and probably expecting a lot too but I don’t agree. If a teacher really wants to be that ideal personality, it is not an unachievable feat. If some can do it, why not the rest? Just the way the teachers expect the students to excel and do well, we students also do expect a little friendly behavior in return for all the hardwork we put in!

 

And the one really horrible thing I have noticed about some of the teachers is the way they just don’t hesitate to say something bitchy about the student behind their backs but heaven forbid if the same thing is done by the student and the teacher somehow hears of it!! That student will be suffering with bad grades for the rest of the time the teacher teaches that student probably! And yes, some teachers do love to take out the pent up frustration on the poor students and I must say find a vindictive pleasure in doing so. I have seen the sadistic smile on a teachers’ face when she belittled one student and reduced him to the verge of tears. It really is not the kind of behavior one expects from a teacher!

 

But well, what can I say or do? And what good is my saying anything going to help? I’m sure the ones who are open to criticism will not mind and will do all they can to be better teachers but the rest will probably just flunk me! 😛

 

I know what you all are thinking! She started from the topic of Teacher’s Day and reached God knows where!! But that’s the way it is! And I am pretty sure that a majority of the students reading this post can very well relate to what I have written and are probably nodding their heads in approval right now! 🙂

 

So on the whole, I believe teachers are important in our lives, some play a most remarkable role and influence our lives for the years to come in a good way and some are always in our minds as a bad memory. But till now, I can say I have had pretty good teachers with the exception of a few, well actually exception of quite a lot! Hell, I can’t complain as I do not know what it is like to be in their shoes, the things they have to go through everyday. But all I can say is that a good teacher is always good whether in her good days or the bad ones!

 

A belated Happy Teacher’s Day, to all my teachers.Happy Te