I BELIEVE…

MESELEMIA M. PAMINTUAN

I believe that the success of each student is the goal of every aspect of teaching. An important part of establishing that success is providing students three essential elements: (1) a positive learning environment, (2) allow students to develop their own learning, and (3) encourage respect for others.

Students are successful in an environment where they are comfortable with the content they are learning, but also with the manner in which it is delivered. I believe that we have to provide students with this culture of learning. An environment where each student voice can be heard in a judicious approach encourages students to feel free to express their ideas.

Allowing students to develop their own learning is another important element of education. The words of the song say “teach them well and let them lead the way”. Students can only lead when they have given the opportunity to learn how to lead.

The Chinese Proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”, defines what education should exemplify.

When students respect themselves, it is the beginning of their ability to respect others. As a teacher, helping students to feel confident is as important as the content that we teach. We are a cheerleader for our students, encouraging, challenging and supporting them to take the steps necessary to become a confident and productive citizen. In turn, they are learning how to respect themselves, others and how to model these behaviors in their own classroom.

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The author is SST III at Doña Asuncion Lee Integrated School