To Teach- William Ayers Chapter 7 'The Mystery of Teaching'

"GREATNESS IN TEACHING, TOO, REQUIRES A SERIOUS ENCOUNTER WITH AUTOBIOGRAPHY. WHO ARE YOU? HOW DID YOU COME TO TAKE ON YOUR OWN VIEWS AND OUTLOOKS? WHAT WAS IT LIKE FOR YOU TO BE 6? WHERE ARE YOU HEADING? OF ALL THE KNOWLEDGE TEACHERS NEED TO DRAW ON, SELF-KNOWLEDGE IS MOST IMPORTANT". (Ayers, pg.97)  

These five lines above, from page 97 of William Ayers' book, struck me the most, as I mentioned in our class discussion, when analyzing chapter 7. The author here  states something extremely important, that I myself have come to understand about myself, being a part time teacher. Self-reflection, a look into my own past, my own experiences as a student in the educational world, has helped me understand my eight and nine year old students to a great extent. I can relate to them. And being able to relate to your students I believe is not only the hardest task of all, but also the most important one. Familiarization and acceptance of a teacher from his students can effectively only happen, if that teacher is aware of his own past, his own personality/character and what he wishes to achieve in his classroom. Personal goals coincide with the students' goals, and are so deeply connected and relative to each other, that, if both are not accomplished simultaneously, the teacher can fail in passing on the knowledge he wishes to pass and will completely lose that connection he wants to have with his students. For example, I teach my elementary students Greek every weekend.  It is a foreign language to them, as they are all raised in the US and attend American schools. I have been an elementary student myself in the past, and every day I go to class to teach, or every time I make a remark or a comment, or assign homework or do an art project with them, I try to relate to my students as best as I can, by recalling my own personal experience of that age. And it is extremely helpful. I feel as if they know that, and it makes them happy and pleased. Only by conducting my own personal autobiography and fully understanding  my own aims and goals (what I wish to achieve not only in the classroom, but in my everyday life, as an individual) am I able to teach. I not only believe, but I know, from my multiple teachers in the past, but also from myself, that a teacher who lacks self knowledge, is not a teacher. If I don't know who I am as a person, how can I expect to guide my students in the right path, essentially helping them understand who they are and who they will become?