Random thought

This time I'll share with you a thought I have about teaching. But it's not related to how to teach, or what content is appropiate for engaging students, not at all. I will write about what I think it happens here in the town where I live, regarding teachers and "public people" (people that work in public places or in some job that requires public attention)

If you ask people about the teachers they had, a high percentage of them will tell you many teachers were their model to follow, their hero, the type of adult that they wanted to be. Personally, I think this idea has its bright as well as its dark sides.  
                As a teacher/professor, you have to be a model for your student.  A model for them can be their parents, a teacher or any kind of famous person, such as footballers, singers, actors/actresses, etc. Models mean everything to kids/adolescents, they admire what they do, how they behave and try to follow their steps. In this way, you can guide them through a good path in life, and teach them lots of important things that would be necessary for them in their future adult life.
However, the fact of being a model may have some points which are not THAT good. There is the common belief in cities (especially in small towns like the one I live in) that teachers, professors or any kind of job that requires being responsible and treating with people (such as lawyers, secretaries, doctors)MUST be a model of good behavior for them in all aspects of life. I honestly believe this thought is inaccurate. I understand that teachers must be a model for students in the school environment because it would be quite ironic to ask for them to behave well, show respect and be polite when I myself don’t reflect those values. But outside this environment, I must be able to be myself and behave the way I want.  For me, it sounds unfair (to say the least) that a teacher has to behave perfectly and exemplarily at any time “just in case some student is near because that would provide him/her a bad example”. Teachers must do their work, which is teaching content and values, correctly, but outside their workplace which is the school, they should do whatever they want, without fearing being socially judged. I really consider that people must re-think this idea and let people do what they want in their leisure time, which it has nothing to do with their working time.

What kind of material can attract my students' attention?

When teaching English, it’s very important to always think in your students’ interests. When possible, teachers should try to use up-to-date material. In order to do that, one must ask the class about its interests in general. Of course that these interests will be very different among the different students, as there is a great variety of unique personalities in the classroom, but once you have investigated all these variables, you can alternate the material you bring so each class you cover a different interest. In this way, your students would feel English funnier and more useful. Keep that in mind when you don’t know what material you should use. Remember that it’s always better to produce your own material.

The act of educating is not only guiding new generations to a brighter future.  The first goal that should be achieved through education is finding oneself. “What do we want to change/transmit by teaching a subject?” is the prime question that needs to be answered in this journey of self-discovery that is teaching.