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Inspirational Quotes for
Teachers:
“I want my students to to live with honesty and intimacy and to comprehend that we are inter-related in this world.”
(Ms Norhayati Amat, WGS)
“Strength, perseverance, resilience and patience. A good teacher is an epitome of these qualities.”
(Mrs Grace Low, WGS)
“I really believe that teaching is indeed a work of heart. Skills alone won't help you do a good job.”
(Mrs Shirley Choo, WGS)
“We need time to have our time. For ourselves.”
(Mr Neo Soon Seng, WGS)
“Teaching is like farming. Long hours of hard work. Sometimes there may even be interference, like the weed.”
(Mr Chang Meng Pat, WGS)
A definition of a teacher from one of my students, after she was dissatisfied with the one she found in the Oxford dictionary (a person whose job is teaching, especially in a school):
'A teacher teaches, guides us in Life.
That's very obvious and true.
She is devoted, unselfish and kind,
A teacher is someone like you.'
(Ms Sukhjeet Kaur,
Swiss Cottage Secondary School)
A few good quotes about teachers:
(Published in Today or New Paper on Teachers' Day.)
The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.
- William Arthur Ward
A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others.
- Author unknown
A teacher's purpose is not to create students in his own image, but to develop students who can create their own image.
-Author unknown
A good teacher is a master of simplification and an enemy of simplism.
- Louis A.Berman
Teachers should guide without dictating, and participate without dominating.
- C.B. Weblette
What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches.
- Karl Menninger
Good teachers are costly, but bad teachers cost more.
-Bob Talbert
"Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Txes M&A Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."
(Anon)
"In youth we learn; in age we understand"
(Von Ebner-Eschenbach)
"Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew. They're what make the instrument stretch- what make you go beyond the norm."
(Tyson)
"The job of an educator is to teach students to see the vitality in themselves."
(Joseph Campbell)
"What we hope ever to do with ease, we must learn first to do with diligence."
(Samuel Johnson)
"It isn't the load that weighs us down - it's the way we carry it." (Anon)
"I touch the future. I teach." (Christa McAuliffe)
"The least expensive education is to profit from the mistakes of ourselves and others."
(Anon)
"What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to a human soul"
(J. Addison)
"As a general rule, teachers teach more by what they are than by what they say" (Anon)
"Humility does not mean you think less of yourself. It means you think of yourself less."
(Ken Blanchard)
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."
(MARCEL PROUST)
“Teachers need to learn to have a little more fun..."
(Anon)
"People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing". (Dale Carnegie)
"Upon our children - how they are taught - rests the fate - or fortune - of tomorrow's world".
(B.C. Forbes)
"It is the tragedy of the world that no one knows what he doesn't know - and the less a man knows, the more sure he is he knows everything". (Joyce Cary)
"Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results. (John Dewey)
"Start by doing what's necessary, then what's possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible."
(Francis of Assisi)
"Good timber does not grow with ease; the stronger the wind, the stronger the trees."
(J. Willard Marriott)
"What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?" (George Eliot)
The goal of education is to replace an empty mind with an open mind". (Malcolm Forbes)
"Real difficulties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable".
(Theodore N. Vail)
"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude".
(W.W. Ziege)
"When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life or in the life of another"
(Helen Keller)
"Children today are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers"
- Socrates (420 BC)
"One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than a hundred teaching it."
(Knute Rockne)
A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others.
(Author Unknown)
A teacher's purpose is not to create students in his own image, but to develop students who can create their own image.
(Author Unknown)
"Praise, like gold and diamonds, owes its values only to its scarcity." (Samuel Johnson)
"Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon"
(E. M. Forster)
"Teachers should guide without dictating, and participate without dominating."
(C.B. Neblette)
I know there is a short cut to an answer but I don't take it because I want to learn.
-Sim Wong Hoo
If a man does not keep pace with his companion, perhaps it's because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measuredd or far away.
-Henry David Thoreau
The only way to have a friend is to be one.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows.
-Helen Keller
...To boldly go where no one has gone before.
-Star Trek
Seize the day. Make your life extraordinary.
-Dead Poets Society
You are what you choose to be.
-The Iron Giant
Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get.
-Forrest Gump
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
-Henry David Thoreau
If you can solve your problem,
then what is the need of worrying?
If you cannot solve it,
then what is the use of worrying?
-Shantideva
One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.
-A. A. Milne
Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.
-Pablo Picasso
Rest satisfied with doing well,
and leave others to talk of you as they please.
-Pythagoras
If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.
-Isaac Asimov
Dreams nourish the soul and passion feeds the spirit.
-Chua Mui Hoong
For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
-Nelson Mandela
It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
-Carl Sagan
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.
-Carl Sagan
Don't go around saying the world owes you a living.
The world owes you nothing. It was here first.
-Mark Twain
Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty if only we have the eyes to see them.
-John Ruskin
Two roads diverged in the woods and I took the one less travelled by and that has made all the difference
-Robert Frost
He wishes for the cloths of Heaven
Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
-W.B. Yeats.
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No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness, and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure.”
- Emma -Golmam
A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on a cold iron.”
- Horace Mann
Acquire new knowledge whilst thinking over the old, and you may become a teacher of others.”
- Confucius
An understanding heart is everything in a teacher, and cannot be esteemed highly enough. One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feeling. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child”.
--Carl Jung
Inspirational stories
Our Deepest Fear
by Marianne Williamson
from A Return To Love: Reflections on
the Principles of A Course in Miracles
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
[This is a personal favourite - I was so inspired by it when I watched "Coach Carter" that I ploghed through the Internet and shared it with my Graduating classes.
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Mrs. Thompson
Mrs. Thompson learns a very special lesson in destiny from a pupil. There is a story many years ago of an elementary teacher. Her name was Mrs. Thompson. And as she stood in front of her fifth grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children a lie.
Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. But that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.
Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he didn't play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and he constantly needed a bath. And Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his papers.
At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.
Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners...he is a joy to be around."
His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle."
His third grade teacher wrote, "His mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best but his father doesn't show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken."
Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and sometimes sleeps in class."
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By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of
the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing and a bottle that was one quarter full of perfume.
But she stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed, how pretty the bracelet was. She put it on and dabbed some of the perfume on her wrist.
Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to."
After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children.
Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie
that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her pets.
A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.
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Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.
Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had in his whole life.
Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer. The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.
The story doesn't end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he'd met a girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit in the place at the wedding that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom.
Of course, Mrs. Thompson did. And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. And she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together. They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, "Thank you, Mrs. Thompson, for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I
could make a difference."
Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, "Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you."
(from forwarded emails)
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A Special Teacher
Years ago, a John Hopkin's professor gave a group of graduate students this assignment: Go to the slums. Take 200 boys, between the ages of 12 and 16, and to investigate their background and environmnet. Then predict their chances for the future.
The students, after consulting social statistics, talking to the boys, and compiling much data, concluded that 90% of the boys would spend some time in jail.
25 years later, another group of graduate students was given the job of testing the prediction. They went back to the same area. Some of the boys - by then men - were still there, a few had died, some had moved away, but they got in touch with 180 of the original 200. They found that only four of the group had ever been sent to jail.
Why was it that these men, who had lived in a breeding place of crime, had such a surprisingly good record? The researchers were continually told; "Well, there was a teacher...."
They pressed further, found that in 75% of the cases, it was the same woman. The researchers went to this teache, now living in a home for retired teachers. How had she exerted her influence over that group of children? Could she give them any reason why these boys should have remembered her?
"No," she said, "no, I really couldn't." And then, thinking back over the years, she said musingly, more to herself than to her questioners: "I loved those boys...."
Bits & Pieces - June 1995
Economics Press
It is 1979, a basketball game in the Brandeis gym. The team is doing well, and the student section begins a chant, "We're number one! We're number one!" Morrie is sitting nearby. He is puzzled by the cheer. At one point, in the midst of "we're number one!" he rises and yells, "What's wrong with being number two?".
The students look at him. They stop chanting. He sits down, smiling and triumphant.
-From "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom.
P/S We always strive to be number one. May be number two or three will be fine too.
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Story of the Card
One humid afternoon, in September 2002,a group of 38 Primary 5E Montfort Junior boys were struggling to digest their heavy lessons delivered to them by their form teacher in the classroom. It had been a long day for them, and they were desperately looking forward to their .........
"Ringgggggggggg!" "Art lesson, hooray!" All of a sudden, the boys' eyes shone with amazing delight. The teacher's conclusion of the day's lesson was lost in the boys' excitement of replacing textbooks with art materials. Within seconds, all 38 boys were ready, eagerly waiting to release their art passion. But alas, to their disappointment, their teacher was not ready, at least not ready for another assignment for the boys that day.
"I am sorry, gentlemen, no Art lesson today," the teacher blushed as she spoke. As expected by her, her announcement was met with the boys' loud groans and careful protests. Hurriedly, she added, "We are going to do something more meaningful today." The boys were apprehensive but they said no more. Before long, each of them had received a class list from their teacher and they sat in discomfort, wondering what this was all about.
"Okay, now I am going to tell you a true story," the teacher disregarded the faint sighs from her audience, toop a deep breath and began. She had read this true story once somewhere and since then, it had always remained in her heart. She wondered if her 11-year-old boys would be too young to understand and to be touched by the story. Still, she thought it was worth a try.
"Once, there was a nun-teacher who was trying to conduct lessons in a warm classroom filled with ten-year-old children (boys and girls).The weather was unbearably hot, like today, and the children were losing their concentration. One of them, I can't remember his name, let's call him Jeff, was particularly active. He would get out of his seat and make funny faces to cheer his teacher and his classmates up. His classmates tried to stifle their giggles. Jeff meant no harm but the teacher was getting very impatient with him. She chased him back to his seat but seeing how sorrowful he was, she decided to forgive him and say no more. She looked around her classroom. Her children were all squirming uncomfortably in their seats and she herself was getting rather agitated too due to the weather.
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Then, she did something with her students that would change their lives forever. She stopped her lessons and gave each of them slips of paper. She told them to write down the good qualities, which they had observed, of each of their classmates. The children were very excited, especially Jeff. All of them were soon scribbling away. At the end of the day, the nun collected the slips of paper from her students and began compiling the list.
A few days later, the nun presented each student with a written list of the good qualities, which their friends had noticed about them. The lists had a wonderful impact on the children. All were spotted with radiant smiles on their faces. Jeff even came up to the nun and said sheepishly, "Thank you, teacher, for letting me know that I really mean something to my classmates. I am not the pest or silly clown whom I thought I was."
Many years later, the nun, who was no longer a teacher, received a letter from Jeff's parents. Jeff and his friends had graduated a long time ago and many of them were already married and with children. She was devastated to know that Jeff, who had become an army officer, had died in the war. Jeff's parents requested the nun to attend Jeff's funeral and the nun agreed.
At Jeff's funeral, the nun was reunited with her children once once. Jeff's classmates were there as well to pay their last respects. Jeff's parents showed the nun Jeff's photograph. He had grown up to become a handsome and confident young man. Then, his father took out Jeff's wallet and showed the nun a tattered piece of paper. It seemed to have been carefully folded and unfolded many times. "This piece of paper had been with Jeff all the time. It was something very precious to him and it seemed to have motivated him to come this far. We are very proud of him," Jeff's father spoke with grateful tears in his eyes.
On seeing Jeff's tattered list, Jeff's classmates came forward and one by one, each took out his/ her list carefully hidden in their pockets or wallets. "Like Jeff, these special lists had done wonders to our lives too, Teacher." The nun could not control her tears any longer. She had no idea how powerful that day's lesson had been............."
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At the end of the story, the teacher did a quick survey on her own boys. Some seemed to understand, others looked blank and a few were already tackling the seemingly daunting task of writing down the good attributes of the other 37 classmates. Anyway, these 38 5E boys quickly sat down to work furiously, as they knew their teacher meant business. Soon, giggles were heard with occasional bursts of laughter, secret glances were exchanged, frowns were formed on some faces for the lack of appropriate adjectives, and of course, more painful groans filled the room for the seemingly never-ending list. Still, the teacher persevered and insisted on individually completed lists. Finally, the teacher accomplished her daunting mission too. She promised the boys that their mind-boggling activity would pay off... She would compile the lists and present each boy with a list of his own on Children's Day.
The list however never made it to Children's Day that year. The teacher was lost in her own busy teaching schedule and could not find time to compile the lists. She decided to give up the idea as she recalled how negative the boys had appeared to be when she conducted the activity. "Seeing how they had complained and groaned, I don't think they could ever have come up with anything good," the teacher thought to herself. How wrong she was! Yet, strangely, she never found the heart to throw the 38 lists away. They just stayed as an isolate pile on her desk in her home for a year........
Then, one quiet night in November 2003, as the teacher was clearing her desk at home, thinking that her final job for this batch of P6E boys was finally over (all her boys could make it to secondary schools and she thought her final job was to give advice on their secondary school choices), the forlorn pile of 38 lists mysteriously caught her eye. God seemed to have given her the impulse to plough through the lists again and this time, she discovered a heart-warming difference. True, the scope of adjectives used was limited, but the fact that the same adjectives were used on each boy so that each had his own unique set of good attributes meant that the opinions were basically accurate. The boys' honesty and acute observation of their classmates amazed the teacher. It finally dawned on her that the final job for this graduating batch of boys was not just to compile the lists of their good attributes, but also to write a true story all about them. After listening to numerous inspiring stories shared in the classroom about other people for 2 years, these boys are now going to read a story about themselves, MJS P5E/ 6E, 2002/3..........It will be a humble Christmas gift from the teacher to her boys.
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The teacher prepared each individual list in the form of a personalised orange laminated card, which could be kept easily in the wallet. The cards will be presented to the boys on 22nd December 2003 when they will return to MJS to receive their secondary school posting results. The teacher hopes and prays that the cards will do wonders for her boys as well...that wherever they may be, the card will serve as a source of strength and inspiration for them.. that they will remember one another in MJS fondly and that they will always have faith in themselves because their friends have faith in them. The teacher grimaced at the thought that some of her boys may lose the story or the card within a day or dissolve it with a mysterious power that she knew so well. Whatever it is or will be, she has done all she can and she will continue to pray for these boys.......
The story of MJS P5/6E,2002/3 has just begun and it has certainly not ended yet. Will these special cards serve these 38 boys well? Will they grow up to become fine accomplished gentlemen of integrity and compassion? It is really up to each of these 38 boys now to continue and complete the story...May God grant them the light, the strength, the courage and the peace to fulfil their potential, in their long paths ahead. May God bless these sweet young men always.
This was a story that I wrote for my P6 graduating class two years ago. It was meant to be a farewell gift on their school posting day. I think some are still keeping it 'cause it is a story about the boys themselves.
Quotes or Stories from Students
Qualities of a Good Teacher (feedback from students)
- Patient
- Understanding
- Employ refreshing teaching methods
- Administer an appropriate amount of strictness
- Willing to go the extra mile to search for interesting facts beyond the syllabus to keep lessons fun
- Fulfill promises made to students
- Communicate effectively with students
- IT savvy
- Jovial and have jokes to entertain the class
- Encouraging
- Ever ready with kind words
- Able to capture students' attention
- Interact well with students (formal in class and informal outside lessons)
- Good content knowledge
- Humble and not arrogant
- Organized and serious about their work
- Fair and not biased, ability to control students without being disliked
- Meticulous
- Considerate
- Sincere
- Push students to stretch their ability
- Understand students' needs
- Caring
- Able to connect as a mentor
- Simplify difficult concepts into simple facts
- Do not put unnecessary pressure on students
- Able to motivate the students
- Knowledgeable and able to extend real life
application to the syllabus.
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The things that teachers say/do that students dislike
(from Woodgrove Secondary students)
*Please note that these ‘voices' are not edited for language accuracy. They are the verbatim comments of our pupils, and these have been retained to keep the authenticity of their comments.
- Insult or humiliate us in front of friends
- Make us stay back for a LONG time when we plan to relax in the afternoon
- Give us TONNES of homework which must be handed up in NO time
- Give sarcastic opinions
- Favourism
- Listen from other teachers about what we are without understanding who we are
- Say that students are stupid (unless jokingly)
- Make us stand at the start of the lesson
- Unclear teaching
- Compare us with other classes
- Jump to conclusions
- Be TOO sensitive and think that we don't like or respect them
- Scold us without finding out what happened
- Never smile and it will cause our moods to dim
- Look down on us & think highly of themselves
- Do not give us a chance to showcase our talents
- Abuse their authority by threatening to send us for detention
- Ask us to shut up
- Say that we are “a bunch of slackers”
- Force us to do things we do not want to
- Continuous talking without caring if students are listening
- Get angry easily
- Say we “never try our best” when we actually do
- Give us “one kind of look”
- Nag
- Share too personal matters.
What my teacher has said/done to impact my life
Positive impact
- Praised my work and I did well for that subject
- Encouraged me to study hard so that I could go to the polytechnic or JC that I want
- Sat down and talked to me when I had a nervous breakdown
- Improved my grades
- Gave motivational talks
- Made me more patient
- Taught me ways to score better
- Gave me chances upon chances although I had made a lot of mistakes
- Scolded us and made us really reflect on our actions
- Gave me hope.
- Said that I can go far
- Sang us a meaningful song
- Taught us how to be good people
- Said nice things to cheer us up
- Said “what goes around, comes around”, making me more aware of what I do
- Took time off to help me with my work
- Said, “You can achieve your dreams if you go for it.”
- Told me the consequences when she didn't take life seriously and how painful it was when reality smacked her in the face
- Say “Don't you think you are wasting your time in such a relationship?”
Negative impacts
- Gave me bad remarks and didn't tell me how to do the work
- Not trusting us
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