Back to school today!

That song of an advert (a long time ago) is stuck in my head "Back to school, back to reality!"


Teaching is not always a easy job and every once in a while you ask yourself "WHY am I doing this?"


The answer is of course for the kids! It is not the subject that you teach that matters (okay, it matters some) but the emotion you leave with a child. You can make such a great difference in a child's life, sometimes knowingly, sometimes without even noticing or trying to.


One year a Grade 12 student gave me a card on Valedictory Day, thanking me for the kind of teacher that I was. She said what a difference I mad in her life. The thing is, she never said a word in class and I couldn't draw her out of her shell. So I didn't even know that I had such an influence on her.


That made me realise how careful we have to be about what we say and do in class. We are the role models.


Today I'm thinking back to the children who I know whose lives I have changed for the better. And my hope for 2015 is that I will also make a difference in my new learners' lives. Even if I just influence one learner's life for the better, it is worth it.


The best is this: every time you make someone else's life better, you make your own life better as well.