The day that I became a real teacher. An experience that altered my attitude, and mindset forever.

Recently during a conversation class, a student asked me "Teacher, what was the most important lesson that you ever learned about students?"
Well, when I first started working at a large American bi-national center, it was explained to me by a very experienced teacher that the success or failure of our students is entirely in the student's hands, not ours. We teach them, test them, put the scores in the computer and it will calculate if they pass or fail.

I remember a certain Saturday morning, it was the start of my fourth month, a student came up to me, a student who the computer had automatically failed the month before and he asked me if I still had the copies from his homework from the previous month. I explained to him that these papers were in the resource room and that they were in the pile of papers for recycling and that I couldn't help him. As there were approximately 8000 students studying in the institute, you could imagine the impossibility of finding 12 pieces of paper amongst the thousands that were in the pile.

When I asked him why he showed me huge black bruises on his chest and he explained that his father had beat him for failing. He told me that his family was very poor, that he was the only member of the family to ever get the opportunity to study, and that his English classes were an investment in his professional future. He went on to tell me that his whole family sacrificed so that he could study English, and his career at university. It was at that moment that I learned that a teacher must be responsible for the success, or failure of their students and that students are more than just a number on a computer. It was from that moment on that I took a personal interest in the success of every student who I taught. I think that that was the moment when I really became a teacher, rather than just a native speaker sharing my vocabulary and pronunciation.

It was one of the most important lessons that I have ever learned in my life. That day, during the break, I had copies of the homework papers made for him and I gave them to him so that his father wouldn't hit him again. I decided that I would be responsible for my actions as a teacher from that day on.

That is the most important lesson any student has ever taught me.

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