Authenticity

For me, this topic seems a bit harder to write about. It is important to be authentic, or genuine, with your students, but sometimes it is hard to know where to draw the line. One can never show too much respect, but one can share too much about their personal life. I think the most important thing about being authentic is letting your personality show. You can't let the material you are teaching completely cover up your personality. You can use your personality to show the students you genuinely care about what you are teaching. Therefore I feel if you're showing the students the uniqueness about you they will see you as being authentic. Also, I feel if you have a story that relates to the topic at hand it is good to share it with the class, as long as it is appropriate. Obviously, if it deals with some illegal activity or something the students should not be doing themselves, you should not tell it. The stories you tell must set a good example for the students.