BECOMING A GOOD TEACHER

Ini adalah tulisan saya sewaktu masih mengikuti kelas ibu Eliwarti di Subject Writing IV. waktu itu bu Eliwarti menugaskan untuk membuat essay dengan topik bebas. Topik "becoming a good teacher" saya ambil karena sebagai mahasiswa FKIP saya kemungkinan akan menjadi guru, dan tentu saja saya ingin menjadi guru yang baik, simple reason ya!!!

BECOMING A GOOD TEACHER

Teacher is the people who transfer his/her knowledge to other people; we call them students. But nowadays the definition of teacher is broader. Teacher does teaching, and it is not like other profession. A teacher is not only teach the student to read, write, or do math, but also be a communicator, a disciplinarian, a conveyor of information, an evaluator, a classroom manager, a counselor, a decision-marker and a role-model of your student. According to unknown writer in the article “Teachers—Preschool, Kindergarten, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary,” teachers has a vital part in students’ intellectual and social development. The education which they give will lead the students to a bright future. The teacher also acts like facilitators that make their student become a responsible adult (1). Actually becoming a teacher is not an easy job.

From paragraph 1 we know that teaching is not an easy job, but why do people want to be a teacher? There are some reasons why people like to be a teacher. First, being a teacher is their idea. Some people, from the time they are in the first grade, know they want to be a teacher. They maybe admire their teacher and expect to be a teacher. Second is good salary. In our country the teachers’ salary is higher; about two million Rupiah every month. Third, teacher is job security. Teachers is a seldom jobs in some district especially in developed district. It is easy to find an occupation as a teacher (2). Fourth, some teachers like living around the kids. Living around the student will remain them in their childhood, and it makes them happy. Fifth is becoming a teacher helps them learn a subject. They will master a subject if they teach it to other people. Moreover, students’ questions make them master the subject deeper (3). So some factors such as; their idea, good salary, job security, happiness living near the kids, and desire learn more about a subject make some people like become a teacher although it is not an easy job.

So what is the characteristic of a good teacher? In my opinion a good teacher is one who is able to interact with his/her students all the time, helping them to acquire the knowledge and the skills, by means of materials such as books or using technology as a key support for increasing their motivation and interest in the subject. A good teacher also encourages learners to speak in class without feeling afraid of his/her correction. A good teacher must love the students as the first issue and then teach. There are some qualifications which a good teacher must have. The first, a good teacher is good at explaining things. If teacher explains something to students, they will understand easily. The second, a good teacher is humorous. Teacher uses humor as a skill to make their class attractive. The third, a good teacher like people especially children. Teacher should ready teaching in every level of school (include; elementary education, junior education, senior education, and special education). Do not study in educational faculty if teacher do not like teach children. The fourth, a good teacher is a good decision maker. A good teacher can take a right choice although in an emergency situation. The sixth, a good teacher is disciplinarian. Teacher must use the time effectively, because time is very valuable (4). All of those qualities define some of the characteristics of good teachers. If you want to be a good teacher, you will consider those qualifications as a skill that you must has.

The most successful teachers share some common characteristics. Melissa Kelly have done the research, in “Top 6 keys to being a Successful Teacher” she inform us six tips become a good teacher. The first is Sense of humor. It can make the classroom condition become fresh and make students enjoy. It also can help you take students attention. Moreover, it make teacher enjoy going through his/her career. The second is a positive attitude. It is an important asset in life. We can clear up the problem with the right way only if we have appositive attitude. The third is high expectations. Teacher should expect the students will get the best and believe the student can do that. High expectation will lead the learning process become effective. The fourth is consistency. Teacher must consistent about the rule that teacher made. If the teacher is consistent, it will lead the student to success in teacher’s subject. Oppositely, if the teacher is inconsistent, the student will dislike the teacher’s subject. The fifth is fairness. Fairness means teacher do not treat students differently in the same condition. The last is flexibility. Sometimes some problems come and disturb the class. So, a teacher’s flexible attitude is necessary not only for teacher’s stress level but also for students who expect teacher can cope with any problem(5).

In short, teaching is not like another profession. It is not an easy job and it needs many skills and qualifications. But, recently many people want to be a teacher because of a variety reasons. Some people think that it is a good occupation, and the others admire to this job. Even, they say that “a teacher is a hero without appreciation”