When I was a small child, I dreamed of being a famous actress, a singer, and a dancer. I wanted to be another Doris Day or Debbie Reynolds, but God had other plans for me. He convinced me that I was born to be a teacher, and after many years of spending my life as an educator, I know that He was right.
I come from a long line of educators. My late mother taught for forty years; my sister has taught for thirty-four years; my aunt was a university librarian for many years and her husband was a school principal and county superintendent; my great uncle was a university professor. Thus, education was always emphasized in my home growing up. I graduated as valedictorian of my high school class and was an honors student in the university at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Over the thirty-seven years that I taught in public schools in both West Virginia and Georgia, I have instructed numerous students from grades seven thru twelve; remedial and special education students to gifted level students and small town rural area students to large inner city students; and in schools in which the students have immigrated from many other countries. I have taught courses in English and American literature, composition, research writing, grammar, public speaking, journalism, remedial reading, gifted education, and drama. Finally, I was one of the pioneers and creators of the Gifted Program in West Virginia in the 1970s.
Over the years I had to learn so much about how to deal with the vast variety of student personalities and ability levels that I encountered. Not every student was delightful to teach obviously, but I tried my best always to treat each student as I would like to be treated and to find appropriate and effective ways to meet the needs of each and every student to the best of my ability as a teacher. The one thing that I have learned that must be included in the classroom is love. It is not enough just to teach the subject matter. A teacher must convince his or her students that he or she cares about them. When this is accomplished, the students are much more receptive to the learning process. Genuine respect between the teacher and the student must exist for true education to occur. A teacher must make the learning experience something the students feel is valuable and useful for them in their future. A teacher must also never degrade a student. I always encouraged my students to believe in themselves and to believe that anything is possible if they work hard and believe they can achieve their goals.
I am a teacher, but I am also a lifelong student. When I prepare a lesson for my students, I always keep in mind what I as a student would need and what methods of instruction would be effective to teach the material to be presented to my students to make the learning process as interesting as possible. Thus, putting myself in the role of one of my students forced me to be as creative as possible. Every day of my teaching became a new learning experience for me as well.
When I went to Cairo, Egypt, to teach English as a second language to young Egyptian adults, a very different teacher had to be created. I was now teaching students whose first language was not English. The emphasis was now placed on helping them with correct pronunciation and speaking skills, listening and reading skills, vocabulary building, and lastly convincing them they could become proficient in English with hard work. I had to remember to speak more slowly and clearly, to correct any speaking problems I heard from my students, and to prepare lessons that were very different from my previous experiences but appropriate and helpful to them. This new challenge turned out to be the biggest task in my teaching career but also the most rewarding—a life changing experience as a teacher and one I will cherish and remember always.
One of the greatest professions in the world is that of being a teacher. As a teacher I was able to change minds, to teach not only subject matter but also life skills, and to teach my students to think for themselves which is so important. I also tried to give them the skills and tools to locate information they did not know.
I thank God every day for giving me the power and the skills to be a part of the lives of students. I truly believe I was born to be a teacher.
Randi D. Ward
April 5, 2013
