Critical first steps in life

If the Wenchuan earthquake had been forecast in advance， the result would be quite otherwise now. The-should-not-have-been orphans would be living with their parents happily.Unfortunately， there is no rehearsal in life.Time cannot flow back.

Moreover， if our forefathers had not discovered the way of making fire， if Watt had not improved the steam engine，if the internet had not come into the world or if……， the history of human beings would have been written differently.Infact， ifs can be regarded as critical first steps that are decisive， which means that once a certain “first step” is set， any other “firststep” cannotput a hand in， so the results from it are set. consequently， it isnot half critical that we can distinguish different “critical first steps” to avoid the bad ones and choose the opposite.

Title：Maybe you have suffered from more than your share of trouble， and are lost in a “thick fog” where you cannot find a way tobreak away from it. Perhaps there are various reasons， causes and even excuses for it. However today I want to analyze it from a new perspective. If we take the dilemma as domino effect， I sincerely hope that my following experiences canhelp you to map out where the trouble source， the first plate of domino， lies and relieve the stress the troubles give.

sub-title 1： I have been seeking what is the essence of education since I stepped into the field. And now I seem to have found something about it. Although it is premature， I still would like to share it with you that the essence of intelligent education is wakening students’ intelligence.

A teacher is to a student what a doctor is to a patient， which reveals the relation between them that the function of teachers is helping the students to solve the problems their students have as if doctors treat patients in hospital. It is my previous opinion. Today， I will share my latest opinion about it from a fresh perspective with you， and it will， undoubtedly， assist you march on the academic road smoothly and efficiently.

Frankly， the so-called latest opinion can boil down to the popularity of private cars. More often than ever， I have opportunities to be lifted by my coworkers and witness them operating their vehicles. It was right as I was being seated beside them watching the operation that I got the inspiration togive birth tothe latest understanding towards the teacher-student relation.To some extent， a student is to a teacher what an automobile is to a driver or someone else having relation with it.Exactly， the relation between a student and a teacher is something like that between a repairman and an automobile when it stops. However， from the moment when it is started， the relation between them shifts from that mentioned above to the utterly different ones that are between a part of an automobile that symbolize a tutor and an automobile itself， which can be given as follows. When it is started， the teacher turn from a repairman to a spark plug（火花塞）， and once it has been started， the part of the teacher jumps automatically and flexibly among a steering wheel（方向盤）， clutch（離合器）， gears（變速器）， throttle gas（油門）and brake. Maybe you have a question why a student isn’t to a teacher what an automobile is to fuel. The answer to it is that the essence of the relation between a student anda teacher is not providing or supplying but directing or inspiring， which requires that a teacher not offer a made answer to a question but direct or inspirethe students to find it by applying their own abilities that is an essential condition for themto cultivate their creativity.

Sub-title 2： One’s philosophy determines one’s methodology， so it is with education. To great extent， how high a teacher “stands” determines how high the students “fly”.

N years ago， my ideal was that I could cultivate some elites who could be admitted to the ideal universities as they expected to. N-X years ago my ideal was that some of my students could be politicians who could cast favor to all human beings， and make disputes and wars be nouns that exist only in dictionaries or books or scientists who could makephotosynthesis（光合作用） and nuclear fusion（核聚變）operated and controlled in factories to help human beings not to worry about clothing， dining， living and traveling， but my current ideal is the simplest but greatest one that I can help my students obtain happiness and feel happy.

Yes， cultivating human with sanity and ability to get happiness has been added to my general educational target. Of course， compared with the latter teaching concept， the former one seems not halfadvanced. After all， everything is developing.

The two parts mentioned above can be regarded as step stones leading me into the gate of education， milestones reflecting the process of my education concept developing， andmy career taking off.In fact， my education concept is something like “the first domino plate”， or a critical first step， for my career and with it being improved， my education career has been improved too. Therefore， what the article is actually aimed for is that you， who are either setting your feet on the educational field or justkicking offin the field or seeking a shortcut to lessen the study time， can， with my experiences reminding， spot your own “first domino plate” to hit your targets swiftly.（單位：黑龍江省尚志市亞布力林業(yè)局第一中學(xué)）