TEACH - MOULD THE FUTURE OF OUR NATION....
Once there was a man named Nathan. He wanted very much to
be a teacher.So he went to seek the advice of the wisest, most
highly respected counselor in the land.
"Wise counselor," Nathan began, "it is always been my
dream to be a teacher. I want to stimulate the minds of the young
people of our land. I want to lead them down the road of
knowledge.
Please tell me the secret of becoming a teacher."
"Your goal is a commendable one, Nathan. However, it is also a
very difficult one to achieve. First you must overcome
three major obstacles."
"I am ready to meet the challenge," answered Nathan
bravely. "First you must swim the Sea of Children," directed the
knowing counselor.
Nathan started off to swim the Sea of Children. First he
had to learn their 38 names. He had to send the line cutters to
the end of the line. He made the paper throwers stay after school
to clean the room.He commanded the name callers, pushers, and
punchers to apologize to their victims. He gave M&M's to
those who finished assignments and stars to those who were
sitting in their seats quietly. Nathan checked passes to see how many
children were in the bathroom. And he tracked down students
who were gone longer than was necessary. He arranged the desks
in alphabetical order, then boy-girl, boy-girl, and finally into
small groups of four. He lined his children up for physical
education and music and library and lunch. Then he stifled
a cry when the secretary came into the room with number 39.
Tired and shaken but still undefeated, Nathan returned to
the counselor for his second task.
"You are a very determined lad," said the advisor.
"However, now you must climb the Mountain of Paperwork."
Nathan set out at once. He wrote objectives and drew up
lesson plans. He made out report cards and graded papers. He
filled out accident reports, attendance reports and withdrawal
reports. He completed inventories, surveys, and request forms.
Finally, he made dittos and more dittos. He ran them off until he was
purple in the face. But the courageous boy's resolve never dwindled.
He went to the wise counselor for his third task."You are indeed
very strong, Nathan. But this third task will take all the courage you can muster.
You must now cross the country of Duties
and Committees."
At first Nathan was hesitant. But his convictions remained
steadfast. He began his long journey across the country of
Duties and Committees. Nathan took lunch duty, bus duty,
and recess duty. He was on the social committee, patrol
committee, and the faculty advisory committee. He was the adult
supervisor of the student government and ranthe United Fund and
Easter Seal drives. He went to MTP meetings, WITS meetings,SEM
meetings, Dept meetings, and in-service workshops. He organized
bicentennial programs, talent shows, and book drives. Finally,
he was elected the building representative of the union.
At last Nathan reached the outskirts of Duties and Committees.
Exhausted but happy, he returned tothe knowledgeable counselor.
"I swam the Sea of Children. I climbed the Mountain of
Paperwork. I crossed the country of Duties and committees,"
Nathan proclaimed. "Am I not worthy of the title of Teacher?"
"Why, Nathan," began the counselor, "you have been a
teacher all along."
Nathan protested, "But I have not stimulated any minds. I have
not guided anyone down the road to knowledge, I have not had
any time to teach"
"Oh, you say you want to TEACH! I thought you said you
wanted to be a teacher. That is a completely different story!!"
And so many of us are on this track! Yeap, I asked myself how many have i truly inspired! It isn't as bad as it sounds in this story and all these years of teaching, I know for sure I have once inspired an EM3 boy who went to ITE but took Chinese lessons in a private tuition agency. Yes, at least there was one! Alas, i failed to recall his name.....
