Authentic Teachers

Ask any kindergartner where the principal of their school sleeps and many of them will say on the bed in the health room. Most kids are shocked when they finally realize that teachers and principals are real people who have a life outside of the school walls. Why, then are teachers afraid to be authentic with their students sharing personal experiences and beliefs? I had one teacher in high school who refused to share anything in the classroom that was not directly related to classroom material. And on the other hand, I had some teachers who spent more time telling about their personal life than they did teaching. There must be a balance for teachers between focusing on teaching and being a real human being in the classroom. I'm not saying that teachers should go around sharing all of their personal information with students because that isn't appropriate and that's not the kind of relationship that a teacher should have with students. But teachers need to some degree show that they are real people in the classroom. Real people continue learning all their life, and sometimes real people even make mistakes. Some teachers try to put out the image that they are like gods; always right, never wrong but that's not how people are. Students need to have role models to show them that its ok to make mistakes sometimes because that's part of being human. A few teachers out there feel the need to be all business and act like they know everything in order to gain respect. But I think that students respect a teacher more if the teacher is willing to continue learning and developing as a person. Ultimately the goal of getting kids through school is to make them people who are ready for the real world. People in the real world make mistakes and learn to adapt to new situations. I think it's important for kids to start learning those lessons in school, and what better way to learn them than to have teachers setting the example of how it's done. Teachers should be themselves, and more often than not, it leads to students feeling more comfortable in the classroom because they realize that teachers don't have any 'magical' powers or gifts, but they are just ordinary people doing extraordinary jobs.