What does it mean to be a good teacher ?

As you may know there are a lot of people in the world who want to become teachers. This is one of the most important professions because it grows our future societies. If you are planning to become a teacher you have to think a lot before doing this because it requires a lot of responsibility.It is not one of the easiest professions. Qualified teacher has to feel a passion for teaching, also he has to have many good qualities such as self-confidence, patience, kindness, good communicational skills and creativity, what is more it requests a lot of knowdedge on the subject which are you going to teach.

First of all, a real experienced teachers can become only those who  are very passionate about teaching, who can work this kind of job with love and devotion. If you want to be a perfect teacher you have to feel at school like a fish in the sea. If you adore your job then you will love everything what is connected with it, you also have to be prepared for all kinds of problems. I am sure that good teachers must love their pupils and  behave with them very nicely.

Second thing which is very important while being a teacher is your personal values. You have to be very patient and ready to repeat some things for a few times, because not all children will be so smart and they will need more attention than the others. However, a good teacher has to be familiar with child‘s psichology, he has to know how to speak and behave in certain situations. A good teacher has to be interested in his pupils lifes. Communication between teacher and child is very important. Moreover, this profession requires you to be creative, teacher has to know how to pay teenagers attention and make them to be interested about the things you tell.

Finally, it is not a secret that teachers have to have a lot of knowledge on the subject they are going to teach. Teacher has to be prepared to answer a lot of different questions. You have know how to explain things easily and correctly. Teacher‘s mission is to prepare childeren for their lifes and put a lot of useful information into their heads. If you want to do that you have to be fully educated and know what are you talking about and not just make kids learn everything by heart.

To sum up,  I would like to say that the most important thing is to know that you really want to be a teacher, you have to feel that you chose the right way to go. If you are already a teacher, you have to remember that teaching requires a lot of things to be done. All teachers have to be very intelligent and self-confident. Of course you have to love those little creatures with all your heart. If you think you are ready to be a teacher I wish you good luck and sucess in the future.

Did my expectations which I had at the beginning of my studies at this university come true?

            Almost a year has passed since I am here, at Lithuanian university of educational sciences. A lot of things had happened, most of them were positive. Of course there were some difficult days and especially nights. Life at university is very different from the one that I had at school. I have become more mature and independent. University teaches not only for vocational subjects but it is like a life school full of adventures. When I first got here I thought that everything will be easier than it is now, I was hoping to have more free time than I had at school and finally I had no idea that university provides so many opportunities to experience such a wide range of activities.

            First of all, I did not know that philology is such a difficult subject. Now I know that it has a lot of different branches. I have never heard before about such thing as phonetics and now I even know how write a transcription. It was very difficult to get used to such a big amount of new information and atmosphere. However, the most difficult thing for me are grammar lectures, it is a lot deeper than it was at school. Although, now I am quite satisfied with everything, I have no doubts that I chose the right way to go.

            Secondly, I did not expect that university will provide such a big lack of time. I had a hope that I will have enough time for parties and even to find a job. Now I cannot even find time to go to the dentist. I have learned one very good thing; the thing is that there is nothing what student could not do in one night! It is a total true. There were some nights when I thought that I will not manage to do things in time, especially during our observation practices. However, I have also realized that the more you do the more you manage.

             Finally, it was a big surprise for me that university suggests so many activities such as traveling, belonging for different associations and groups. After I entered this university I became a member of our faculty student council, it is very interesting and useful thing. What is more I am going to participate in an international student exchange program Work and Travel USA. What is more after a year I plan to participate in another student exchange program called Erasmus.
In conclusion, I can tell that university approved my entire expectations and it is even better than I expected. I like it a lot. It brings me a lot of beneficial things starting with knowledge and ending with incredible life experience. Of course it is not easy; it requires a lot of time strength and patience but it is worth that.

Cheating in our schools

One student looks at his neighbor’s exam paper and quickly copies the answers. Another student finds out the questions on a test before her class takes it and her friends. Still another student sneaks a sheet of paper with formulas written on it into the test room. What about you? Would you be tempted to cheat on an exam if you knew you wouldn’t get caught? According to a recent national survey, 40 percent of American teenagers would cheat under that condition. What is causing this epidemic of cheating in our schools? Most students cheat on tests because they feel pressure to get into a good college, because they want to avoid the hours of studying they need in order to get high grades, or simply because they are not concerned with honesty.

First of all, most parents want that their children would graduate school well. They keep them under pressure all the time. Adults are even threatening their kids that if they do not learn well they will be grounded and their cell phones, computers and other things will be taken for a while. Teenagers are being told that if they do not study, they will not get into college and if they will not get there they will live in very poor conditions. Most of kids are scared of those things and they are forced to cheat, they cannot see another way. Cheating seems the best solution for such problems.

Another problem that causes cheating during the test is laziness. Children choose to hang out with their friends instead of studying. They spend their time outside playing, chatting, browsing the internet or doing other things except learning. It is very boring to sit and learn when friends are calling you to go out. When they get home, in the evening, they sit and try to concentrate on their homework but usually young bodies are too tired after daily adventures. However, they pack their bags and go to sleep. They do not think about consequences which they will face in school during the test. Kids hope that someone will save them during the exam by telling the answers.

Lastly, nowadays children are not taught of such personal values as responsibility and honesty. They do not appreciate such things because they do not see any good examples. They do not feel guilty when cheating. Most kids do not know how to gain something by themselves, the reason is that they watch TV and see other people cheating, lieing and getting everything they want. What is more, they think that real life runs by getting everything easily and fraudulently.

All things considered, I think that society is the guiltiest of this epidemic of cheating in our schools, because it shows a lot of bad examples how to behave. Kids need to be shown and taught that only they take responsibility of their actions. They need to be told that cheating is not the only way to get better grades. Teenagers must be encouraged by their parents and a teacher, not threatened that if they get bad grades their life’s are over.