Miss Tong popped in during Current Affairs to give us our weekend homework and packets of jellybeans each for Youth Day. Everyone was elated and we ate the jellybeans in class, fighting for the extra packets and sharing them with classmates.
It reminded me of the past, when the occasion we looked forward to most wasn't Youth Day, but Children's Day.
I fondly remember how we always remarked,
"Miss Lee is a good teacher because she gives us lollipops!"
"Mr Tan is a good teacher because he gives us stickers!"
Small incentives like these were necessary for a teacher to get into the good books of a student.
When the occasion we dreaded coming wasn't SA2, but PSLE, and homework quickly piled up, the remarks changed to,
"Miss Lim is a good teacher because she doesn't give homework!"
No longer did we hanker after sweets and stickers and stamps. Instead, homework was a bigger deal.
But as we head on to the next stop of our education, we grow and mature.
Now, a good teacher is a teacher that really cares.
Really concerns. Really teaches. Really understands.
Really communicates. Really learns.
Really lives with the passion to teach.
Very few teachers meet the requirements today.
I would like to acknowledge that Mrs Teo Chin Chew was a great teacher.
I agree with you that only when our maturity had grown did we finally realise that the true teachers are concerned for us , obviously not by not giving us homeowrk but spending the time and effort to nurture us.
ReplyDeleteYes , Mrs Teo Chin Chew was definitely one of the best teachers with a true passion to teach that I have experienced so far.