Saturday, August 23, 2014

Top Ten Questions




   I have started this post ,as well as many other posts , and here I am resuming it  after being totally taken by some family responsibilities and summer joys. The end-of-year is always as hard for some teachers as the beginning of the year.
   Working with kids for a whole year, giving them much of oneself and helping them to be active, positive and inventive critical thinkers is not painless..Leaving them is like one is keeping a part of his soul and heart cleft in equal pieces, much or less, among all the kids we have taught.
More importantly, the end-of-year is likely to be highly stressful and depressive ... Personally, I do feel like I'm in a state of agony and I start judging myself severely.. This could be profitable as well as harmful ...Let you decide .. Is it fine to give such a blind eye to all the good one has achieved along the whole year ? Much of the strain I endure is correlated with my concern of how much I  have achieved of my goals ...
   Hence, this post uncovers my top ten questions, at the end of a schooling year and the near start of a new one..Certainly, each one of us can add or subtract to this list ...

1- Did I do my best with everyone of my pupils? Did I care for each of them more or less equally?
2-Did I teach everyone of them some basic life skills such as respect, cooperation, tolerance, confidence, critical thinking?
3-Did I make a difference for those who needed me? Did I help them envision their goals?
4-Did I teach them in a creative way? Did I teach them to see differently? Did I provoke their thoughts?
5-Did I touch their minds as well as their inner depths?
6-Were my strategies effective and in congruence with my learners' needs?
7-Will my pupils remember me as a dedicated, passionate teacher? What is the image my learners have for teachers?
8-Did most of my learners grow autonomous or semi-autonomous learners? Or did I make of most of them robots, dependent  learners who are unable to go their ways , seemingly, so confident?
9-What kind of effects did I have on them? Would this help them in their learning process?
10-To what extent did I affect them positively?