My PBS Experience

      

      Last weekend, I went to Sekolah Kebangsaan Seri Ketereh in Kelantan for my “Program Berorientasikan Sekolah (PBS)” for a week. This is the first time I went for PBS in the school outside of Malacca. It was really a wonderful and unforgettable experience in my life as a trainee teacher to learn other countries languages and cultures. Sekolah Kebangsaan Seri Ketereh is one of the most excellent elementary school in Kelantan and in the matter of time, it will become the cluster school in the country.

       The headmaster, teachers and the staffs were really nice to me and treated me like I was a part of the school society. Actually, I am very attracted with the headmaster of the school who is a very hardworking and friendly person to me. When I first met him, he asked me what is the real reason I want to be a teacher and also gave his 17 years experience as a teacher as an advise. I still remember his words when he said that it is not easy to be a great teacher but the passion to see our students succeed in whatever they are doing will eventually wash away all the difficulties and the pains of being a teacher.

       He also said to me that even if I don’t really choose this field in the first place, but since I’m already on it, just do my best and show people how good I can be as a teacher who not just teach the syllabus to the students but also give them spirit and advise like a real mother to them. Beside, one of the many great things about the headmaster is that I always saw him around the school like when he talked to the canteen’s worker, taught in the class and interacted with the school’s staff. Even when I went to his office in my last day, I also saw he was doing the job like key in the data of the results of his teaching subject by himself. This proved to me that the title of the headmaster owned by him can’t be a reason for him to just sit in the office, read the newspaper and get the big salary at the end of the month.

       I learned that it takes more than that to be a good teacher. The thing is we have to try hard when we are doing something that we love like teaching. When the situation is mess up, just learn from the mistake and enjoy your days as a teacher so that the students can feel the joy as well when they are learning.

The Characteristics of A Good Teacher

     Everyone has their own definition of what a good teacher means to them. As for me, I think a good teacher is someone who acts like a parent, sibling, friend and the best tutor in my life. He or she can changes my point of view in this life, determines and believes in my potential to succeed. Hana Ahmad, fifth-grade teacher at Orangewood Elementary in Fort Myers and a 2001 Golden Apple award winner once said that a good teacher is a facilitator of learning, one who gives out the information and explains things. It’s someone who sees students as a whole person, and tries to address the whole child. They have high expectations, but also compassion.

       The very first quality to become a good teacher is having a great patience in yourself no matter how bad the surrounding keep pressure yourselves. In this world, there are many types of students that a teacher has to deal with wether they like it or not. In addition, a good teacher also has to communicate well with their parents who always believe in their child’s words more than what the teacher say. Moreover, from my experience there were many time when I or my classmate, would just not understanding a particular concept especially in Matehematics subject. My best teacher had to keep explaining about it to the whole class again and again until all of us were clearly understand.  That is why they said that the best teachers just stuck with it, willing to do what it took, no matter how long it took.

       Beside, a good teacher must has confidence in whatever he or she is doing. A teacher can’t teach without confidence. Students won’t believe in a teacher that first doesn’t believe in themselves. Good teachers are confident that they know how to teach, and in what they are teaching. However, teachers encounter different types of situations all the time that could be considered setbacks. Kids can be cruel, to each other and to teachers. They can have attitudes, especially teenagers who are usually tend to rebel during their teenagers years when they are  trying to find their own identity. In those time, belief in ourselves despite the setbacks. Nevertheless, when the young teachers go to school, they obviously nervous when they teach. Some of them are shy and only half committed to their subject. But the best teachers laugh off their mistakes like when the chalk breaking, books dropped and TVs not working. When some teachers are flustered, the good teachers just shrug and keep going on with the lesson and sometimes even joking about the mess up. These teachers knew they are also human and knew mistakes happen. They don’t take things personally and let problems get them upset.  

       Last but not least, in order to be a good teacher, one must love their job and what they are doing right now. Awesome teachers love to teach and they are not doing it for the money, prestige or glory but they teach because it brings them an incredible feeling of satisfaction knowing that they are contributing positively to the futures of others. If a teacher doesn’t have this inner satisfaction, and does not enjoy what they do, they’ll never be able to make lasting impressions in their students minds. Passion has great impact, and this is something that all really good teachers must have.

       In a nutshell,  a good teacher may has many qualities in themselves but the most important part is the willingness and their true feelings to teach their students whole-heartedly and brighten their students’ future by sharing their knowledge and help with their problems. There is a quote by Dan Rather saying that “The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called "truth”."