Teach English in Huikou Zhen - Anqing Shi

The Role of the Teacher When I think back at all the most influential people in my academic career, one teacher always held a special place in my mind. My high school french teacher was an eccentric young man who just got into the fray of teaching. If I wasn?t mistaken, he was merely breaking his thirties when I first met him in the classroom. Prior to teaching, he had spent years on the road playing in a rock band with his friends (one of whom has become a famous musician in california and beyond). These years on the road built his character to become one of the most popular teachers at the high school. He was always raising his voice in an excited proclamation, or singing random verses in french. His class was seldom quiet and his lesson planning seemed whimsical at times. Students revered him and saw his class as a form of entertainment. Some students took advantage of this and messed around in class a little too much. Unfortunately, I was one such student and my french is still just ça va. Now, I am wiser and I look back at those times when we had ?fun?. I look back and see how much planning went into each lesson and how difficult it was to reach every student and motivate them. His style worked extremely well with many students, and we were never bored in his class. He always had a lesson plan and many different ways to teach us. He used visuals, videos, music/audio and a variety of entertaining activities to keep us interested in french. He brought us out of the classroom to ?french only? venues where we were encouraged to speak french. If I am not mistaken, the final exam for one of the advance classes was to go on a field trip to a french restaurant and speak french for the entire evening. Now that I know a little more about how schools work, I realize that these kinds of teachers are rare. The time he spent and the personal sacrifice he made to ensure that he was never the limiting variable in our quest for learning is inspirational. I can see how much my teacher has influenced me and my own teaching. I rarely approached him for class-related advice. I had always approached him for advice about music and in many ways, it was me reaching out for guidance. I lived away from my parents during my high school years and I failed to bond with my aunt?s family whom I was staying with. I was new to california, and was dealing with identity issues. I suppose I looked to music to fill the void. I can?t remember how many life-lessons I had in that classroom after class or during his precious lunch hours. Ultimately, I felt that he was there for me. The epitome of this feeling was when we mourned the loss of one of my classmates who died in a automobile collision. The school announced his death right before french class and I remember the class spent the whole time crying, or at least I did. My teacher was there for all of the functions. He was there with us and mourned like one of us. I didn?t learn too much french from him and that?s likely all my fault. On the other hand, I did learn a lot about life from him inadvertently. And I suppose it?s a lesson that he is still teaching me. Even as I write this, new ideas form in my head or old memories return. I see his teaching reflected in my own teaching. He is one of my guides to life. Perhaps this is the role that teachers should play in a student?s life, whether it is their intention or not.