If I go  back in time when I was in middle school and find myself sitting in a classroom being taught by myself, I would probably think that I’m having a nightmare.

I would not be happy to have myself as a teacher. In fact my student-self, would hate my teacher-self. Here are the reasons why:

1. As a student, I hated doing homework. As a teacher, I love giving homework.

2. As a student, I loved cracking jokes and talking in class. As a teacher, I don’t tolerate talking and wisecracks in class.

3. As a student, I didn’t like studying too much. As a teacher, I give quizzes almost everday which forces the students to study their notes every night.

4. As a student, I hated being stared down by teachers. As a teacher, I love staring students down when they disrupt my class.

5. As a student, I didn’t appreciate teachers who had an air of arrogance about them. As a teacher, I have that air of arrogance about me.

However, there are some teacher qualities I have that I would appreciate as a student:

1. As a teacher, I don’t give homework on weekends and holidays.

2. As a teacher, I act silly in class in front of my students.

3. As a teacher, I try to stay up to date with current entertainmnet, fashion, and culture trends.

It seems however that there are more things that my student-self don’t like about my teacher-self. But, I have concluded that I will not change my teacher-self just because my student-self is not particularly fond of my teacher-self (huh?).

Anyway, in conclusion, I am often questioned why do I subject my students to the same treatments that I hated when I was a student. I reply, ”I want my students to be better than me.”

What about you? Would you like yourself if you are your teacher?

Picture courtesy of erols.com.