In the beginning
At the age of 7 years old, I had speech and learning difficulties.
I could still remember when my teacher decided to have each student to name a colour in English as she took out a colour pencil to qualify for recess but I was unable to do so.
I was always getting complaints from the teachers and I was considered the one of the worst performing students in the class. Getting punished was just another day for me.
I could still remember when my teacher refused to let me go to the washroom as he did not believe that I really needed it.
The teacher told me that I could use the cup from my water bottle if I was really very urgent.
As a young boy, I did not hesitant much as my teacher was having his lesson, I told out my cup and eased myself of my urgency under the table.
After I was done, I showed it proudly to my teacher not knowing what embarrassment was.
My teacher had a great shock and told me to pour it away in the washroom.
I was not motivated to learn especially I was not doing well for every subject for Primary 1 and Primary 2.
My teachers were simply teaching without activities. Lessons were just boring stuffs for me.
My turning point
When I was in Primary 3 (age 9), I was already in the low progress class.
The change in my learning came when I had a humorous teacher who would joke to make lessons more enjoyable for us.
We had opportunity to act out stories and we had lots of fun in her class.
It was truly a memorable year when a teacher was able to put in effort to teach the worst class without giving up.
I was even appointed as the class monitor to look after the class when my teacher was not around in class.
My results started to show improvement in Primary 3.
At age 13 to 17
In my teenage years, I started to be more hardworking in my studies but I still had speech difficulty.
During my era, my parents were not aware the need for speech therapy.
I decided to work on my spoken language.
I bought a cheap microphone to speak into it so that I could hear myself.
I imitated the newscaster and I slowly adjusted the way I spoke.
I even did my own mouth exercise.
I took me almost half a year to correct and change my speech habits.
Later on, I actually discovered that I had shorter tongue than the rest which could be the main reason why I was not able to speak normally.
With determination, nothing was impossible.
I would never be able to become a teacher if I had not decided to work on my spoken language even though I do not teach English but Mathematics. Good spoken language is still necessary for pupils to understand what I was teaching in class.
Decision to become a teacher
I had some setbacks as a young adult in the commercial world.
I did not really know what career path I could take when I was pondering about the need for a change of job.
As I was making my decision, my Primary 3 teacher came to my mind.
I felt inspired to become a teacher.
I managed to have a successful interview to become a teacher.
I am a living example of children learn best when they are having fun.
It is important for teacher to make their lessons engaging with lots of hands-on activities.
Bring in some jokes to make the children laughed.
If we can get our pupils to learn, I don’t mind being a clown and act silly.
In conclusion
You may think that your pupils are too young to remember what you have done for them but you will be surprised when these little ones coming back to you as adults to tell you how much impact that you have in their lives.
Teachers can be the lighthouse that inspires them to continue to get educated even when they are in their adulthood.
Learning can be a continuous process that never end.
You can be the one to ignite the passion to learn.
Inspire and mould the next generation in a great way.
With this, I believe you understand why I used the username of @fun2learn in the steemit platform.
Disclaimer: This is my personal reflection and I am not in any position to instruct anyone what they should do. I am not responsible for any action taken as a result of this post. My post can only be a reference for your further research and growth. By reading this post, you acknowledge and accept that. All images and pictures were taken from google images that are free from copyright under labelled for reuse.
Participating entry in the writing contest by averageoutsider
I can imagine many students coming back to you in the future to thank you for all you do... :) Cheers and have a great weekend!
A very inspiring story...Thank you for entering it in the 'Pick a Topic' writing contest at @averageoutsider ... Best wishes to you.
Thank you for reading the story.
Great Post. I always remember my art teacher and my choir teacher because they made class fun.
Thank you so much for your visit and your encouraging words!
I absolutely appreciate your story. A teacher can be the difference between a student enjoying their education or not. It is unfortunate that you had that rough start to your education. Sadly, there are teachers in the world that miss the importance of making connections with their students. I am glad that you found a teacher that helped you find some joy in your learning. These are the experiences that help shape who you are as a teacher. Thanks for sharing your story.
Thank you for your great encouragement! You are very right to say that these experiences have shaped the way I teach in class. I enjoy making jokes and having fun with pupils while having lessons. I would even create rap just to help them to remember the concepts better.
Great story. That's so awesome that it pushed you to become a teacher. I really respect that. Also you are definitely the front runner on winning 1 share of Steembasicincome... Thanks for posting on my contest.....
Thank you for reading my story. It is really a short story that I did not write in many details as it would be very long if I do so. Thanks for the encouragement as well. I have been a teacher for 18 years now. Not planning to quit until retirement!
That's good because the world needs teachers like you. I'm sure we can write a book on our younger years for sure. I'm 40 and my schooling went from U.S. to Philippines to Spain, to Japan. I have many stories but not so good in writing and grammar but I try.
WOW ! Just so inspiring ! I hope you don't mind If I resteemed, I really enjoyed your personal story!
Not that I don't normaly enjoy the rest, but it will ring a bell with a lot of people trust me !
Thanks for leading the way !
@edprivat. Thanks for helping me to resteem this story! Hopefully it does inspire others.
beautiful story @fun2learn. By reading... it feels like I am in the class with you too.
Everyhing is possible if we want to.
@elvielins Thank you for your comment. Everything is possible if we don't give up. The fact is that we can have no regrets since we give it a try.
Nice story when I was in secondary my Geography teacher do say that once you hate a teacher you can never under his or her subject and when you look into it you will notice that its the teachers way of teaching that will determine if the students understand or not
at that time every one in my school love this teacher because he always mix his teaching up with song we form song with most definitions or outlines and uptill now those thing are still in my memory
You definitely have encountered a great teacher who took the effort to help you remember lessons in a fun way!
yes his name is Ruben and I will never forget him
When I see someone is following me I am checking what he or she is posting. That is how I come across your post. Your story is truly inspiring.
The role of teachers, especially in the very beginning of the education, is so important that can impact the future choices we make as adulds. And you are the living example.
I am glad to have followed you. Really appreciate your visit and your encouragement!
HI, @fun2learn! I'm city29 from Indonesia. Nice to meet you. I do agree with you when you said that student motivation to learn sometimes depend on the the way of the teacher teach; teaching methods, media, resource, humor, etc. There are so many researches discuss about it especially when the teachers can deliver their subject in fun or interesting ways. I try to imagine how you changed your ability and spirit in learning because of the effect of fun class n good/humorous teacher. What a nice experience in life! I also found some of my students, including me myself too, who have similar such learning experience to you.
Thank you for your response. As we moved into the age of technology, students are constantly using mobile phones, internet etc. They get bored more easily as our lessons may not be interesting enough to excite them. It is great that your students can learn in a fun way with you!
Yup,,you can say that again @fun2learn. I just think again and again that even though we live in different country, like west and east, the problems in the classroom are still the same. It's really good then if we can find some solution just by reading others experience in solving the problems.
Related to the using of technology, I do agree too. the role of the teachers also change because of the effect of technology. Nowadays, they can learn independently by accessing a thousand of resource on what they are learning without any limits. Teacher' challenge is to have innovation/creative ways in facilitating their students to learn.
You are a good exemple. It's what i love in this job. We can change a life. And it's wonderful when a purpil came to see us and say : thanks to you and understand the addition! What a pleasure!! I love this job. But i hate the sides : work at home until midnight, no liberty to change school... (I was in france). I lost my path😪
Teaching may not necessary be rewarding in the physical side but the mental reward of every successful child we taught really brings greater value that no money can buy.
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Thank goodness for your teacher who made it fun for you and others to learn and who inspired you to become a teacher. I bet you make it fun to learn for your students too. I was very impressed on how you managed to overcome your speech difficulties. Like you said, "With determination, nothing was impossible."
When I was in grade 9, I had a terrible Spanish teacher and all of us failed her class. There was another group of students who had a fun Spanish teacher and they did have fun, learned how to speak Spanish very well, and loved the teacher.
Thank goodness for teachers like you! : ) I am not able to upvote your post because it is past payout, but I am able to send you this Tip!
Hi @fun2learn! You have received 0.1 SBD tip from @whatisnew!
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