Many people know there are things they want to learn (i.e. student) and seek out somewhere they can get the information whether it be from another person, online or somewhere else. Usually it's easy to tell if the resource being used is what they were looking for and if not, they can move on and try the next one. Any student has to have the drive to actively seek out what they're wanting to know...it's rare to have the perfect resource fall in your lap.
After a while students become comfortable in the areas they've been studying up on and then move to learning on the next step or topic. What I'd like to point out is that those seen as teachers by those they have been helping, are indeed students themselves! Any teacher or mentor is in a constant ebb and flow of presenting what they know to interested students but ALSO learning new things too. We all have our specialized areas of expertise that most students see, but when not 'in front of a class' are ramping up on some new set of skills or concepts.
My point out of all of this is that it's sometimes easy for teachers to forget they're also students as well as students not realizing they can also be teachers. I've found consistently over the years that it is one challenge to learn a concept/topic/etc so that I can run it through my head and generate some sort of answer/idea, hopefully the 'right' one. But when I then have to teach it to somebody else, it requires a whole new level of breaking it down into understandable chunks AND have the ability to communicate this clearly.
Teaching ANYTHING for the First Time Takes Understanding to a Whole New Level!
Do you remember that activity in elementary school where they tell you to "Write a How-to" on something like making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? At first glace it's as easy as put peanut butter on one piece of bread, jelly on the other, and then put them together. Voila! I have my sandwich. Then the teacher critiques the how-to with questions like;
Where did you get the bread, peanut butter, and/or jelly from?
How did you get these things out from closed containers?
Was anything used to 'spread' the peanut butter on the bread? or do I use my fingers?
and the list goes on.
I'm sure you get my point here. There are frequently steps that we take for granted because we expect others to 'know what we know.' This right here is the difference when teaching a concept to somebody else..every step needs to be explicitly stated at the beginning. Moving from understanding something yourself, in your head, and being able to clearly break the process down in full AND communicate to someone else forces you to either have a better grasp on the topic or at least show you where things are lacking.
To those of you that see themselves only as a student, I want you to dig deep and find something that either you are able to teach to somebody else or at least a benefit you can provide to others. This can be anything from 'How to draw such and such,' parenting tips, or help a non-native English speaker with rewording their writing.
Everyone has SOME value they bring to the table! All to often I've heard the statement of "I'd love to write, but I have nothing to contribute" or something akin to that. In my opinion it just means their either not looking hard enough or under-valuing what they do. Often we trivialize what we do and what we've learned in our lives.
Are you a parent? How have you approached or dealt with such and such?
Are you the "listener" or "shoulder to cry on" in your friend group? Why do people find it easy to talk or confide in you? How do you convey empathy without judgement?
Again the list goes on. We all have our personality types and natural strengths which we tend to chalk up to always being there and don't think anything of it. But you should! Every single person has something they do or can contribute. I challenge you to find this value in yourself, because I guaranty you it's there!
Often holding somebody in high regard, as an expert or icon blinds a student from seeing the imperfections or lack of knowledge in some areas their teacher has. When was the last time you pictured your favorite high school teacher sitting in a students desk while going for their masters degree? Probably never, we typically view our teachers as teachers.
My overall point here is that those who are teachers are also perpetual students. Those who are students are potential teachers. Don't let these labels get in your way! Everybody has inherent value and has something they can convey to others.
Remember! It's not about being RIGHT, it's about getting BETTER!
