Reminders to Me on Teacher's Day on Being a Teacher Mommy

It's Teacher's Day today and as such I was inspired to look up some quotes on being a teacher. 

Let me share some of those that I liked most and found striking.

1.  "In teaching others, we teach ourselves. " - Proverb

      

      I have experienced this to be true especially now that I am teaching/homeschooling my  

      sons.  I do not only review things that I already learned many years ago but I also learn

      new things as I do this job of being my sons' teacher.  I read somewhere today that if

      we want to be teachers, we need to keep on learning too.  I couldn't agree more.

2.  "A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for

     others." - Anonymous

      This is my prayer often even when I was not yet teaching my own kids.  I had been

      teaching adults through the trainings/workshops/seminars that I conduct and this has

      always been the desire of my heart -- that in my simple, unique way of teaching, I am

      able to light the way of those who stop by to listen to me.  This has become even more

      important to me now as I light the way for my children.

3.  "A teacher's purpose is not to create students in his own image, but to develop students

      who can create their own image." - Anonymous

      I found this striking.  I think it's easy to make this mistake especially when teaching our

      kids.  But it raises a very important lesson and gives a very good reminder to parents

      and all teachers that we are not teaching to make clones of our selves but we are

      teaching our students so that they can discover and develop their unique traits and

      giftedness that will make up their own self-image.

4.  "The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher

      demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." - William Arthur Ward

      This quote reminds me of another proverb I had been using as guide in my profession
      as a trainor.  It says, "I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand." 
      But this quote encourages us teachers to do more or walk the extra mile for our
      students.  We are to do our best not just to help them understand or learn from us.  We
      are to inspire them to strive for the greatness they are destined by God.

 

5.  "The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book." - Anonymous

       I love this quote!  I don't remember anymore where I first read it or learned it but I
       learned that our first duty as teachers is to love our students and finding ways to help
       them learn will follow.  I also believe that the love that a teacher has for his/her vocation
       and for his/her students will be evident in the way a teacher teaches his/her students.

 

6.  "What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches." - Karl Menninger

    
      Lastly, this teacher quote reminds me of a teaching from St. Francis of Assissi, whose
      feast day we celebrated yesterday.  That we are to preach (or teach) with our lives and
      use words when necessary.  Students/Kids learn more from observing the adults in their
      lives.  Sometimes (or a lot of times), this is scary for parents because we are flawed and
      works in progress as well.  And yet, God has entrusted into our care young minds and
      hearts who look up to us to guide and teach them.  Thus, as a teacher, I strive to be a
      better person first so I can be more effective in teaching my sons.

And as we celebrate Teacher's Day today, I pray to the greatest Teacher who has ever walked the earth. 
I pray that His wisdom be upon me always so that I would do well in this duty that He has entrusted to me.

Happy Teacher's Day to all teachers, my former teachers, and homeschooling/teacher dads and moms like me!