Girma Tessema Website

My ambition to become a teacher, again, at this point in time

Girma Tessema 06

might be a surprise to my close friends. I have a good reason. When I was first assigned to become a teacher in a high school, in Ethiopia, I thought, I might not be successful. But, it did not take me much time to realize that I was skilled enough to transmit what I knew. Knowing alone is not sufficient to be an educator; the important thing is to know how to convey ones' knowledge. In the first year of my teaching, the feedback from my students, and the performance evaluation from the director (principal) of the school, motivated me to pursue the teaching profession. In addition to teaching, I was assigned to work as a department head and an organizer of the science question and answer program for the grade 8 students who were preparing for the national examination at that time.

However, an international institution (International Livestock Research Institute, ILRI) working on livestock and animal feed research recruited me through my university supervisor to work for them in the area of Rhizobiology (bacterial nitrogen fixation). My 4^th year research paper (Title: Searching for antibiotic producing microrganisms from soils and detection of their spectrum) helped me to be selected to join this institution. Of course the pay was double of my pay as a teacher. While I was engaged in the research (Please refer to my resume and credentials), there was an opportunity to assist in the training and mentoring of technical staff within and outside the institution.

Mentoring on NIRS

This broadened my ability to share knowledge by allowing me the opportunity to mentor graduate students from colleges and student visitors from high schools and national agricultural research systems. While working for ILRI, I studied for my MSc degree and graduated in 1999. At the same time established a family. I am now a father of 3 daughters (visit family photo)

In ILRI, I have been working with scientists from Ethiopia, Asia, Europe, Africa, South and North America. I learned the values of collaborative and team work and this will be an asset in my future career, while working in a school system where teamwork is important. Working with scientists also gave me an opportunity to publish few scientific articles in international and national journals. This exposure to scientific enquiry- formulating hypothesis, and addressing problems- will enable me share the techniques of report writing to my students.

I am very happy to be back in the teaching field to share my knowledge and experience with young people. My first step in my return to my true profession was, to join a university where I will be equipped in the arts of teaching. I enrolled in Maharishi University of Management, where I completed a Master of Arts in Teaching. Through this program, I have acquired extensive knowledge in classroom management and methods of teaching. My achievements in this university, plus my previous teaching, mentoring, research, and life experience will enable me to produce citizens that will be useful for themselves and for the society in which they are growing. My day to day source of happiness

Teaching in Woodson

is to see the growth and develpments of students. It is an exciting profession for me, because when I see my students become successful; I always feel that I contributed a little to their development and achievements in life. There is nothing more delightful to me other than observing my students growing daily and become useful citizens for the community. That is why I decided to become a teacher again. Inside me, I have always a desire for learning. I will never stop to learn. My goal is to study for a PhD in education and to become an expert in a relatively new area of science, green chemistry. This field emphasizes innovative chemical technologies that reduce the emission of hazardous substances to the environment while manufacturing desirable chemical products.

The next generation needs to learn this kind of chemistry—how to maintain a sustainable environment for the good of the society. Individuals who are in the forefront of education will always have the desire to share the latest knowledge with others, as I do with my students.

Contact address
Girma Tessema
2000 N Court 15A
Fairfield, IA 52556
Email: tessema19@yahoo.com
Cell phone: 641-209-2261

I am currently teaching biology in Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment (MSAE). Prior to joining MSAE, I taught Grade 7 Scince in Prince Georges County, Maryland.

"No amount of knowledge is ever enough for a teacher. No method of teaching is ever perfect. No teacher ever becomes “good enough.”"