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jccohen,

When I had questions on a topic/homework/review sheet before exam, I would e-mail her right away and she would respond back to me and inform me at the end of her e-mail if I had any other questions to please let her know. In addition, sometimes I could even meet with her early morning before school began around 7:50 AM. By going to her for help, I have witnessed her dedication to her students, which has made a very positive impact on me.

Tying to Freire, he promotes “dialogue” to transform the world. “Through dialogue, the teacher-of-the-students and the students-of-the-teacher cease to exist and a new term emerges: teacher-student with students-teachers. The teacher is no longer merely the-one-who-teaches, but one who is himself taught in dialogue with the students, who in turn while being taught also teach. They become jointly responsible for a process in which all grow" (80). Dialogue is a praxis that engages words with love, humility, and faith to exchange information, which leads to critical thinking between two parties. For dialogue to occur, it must be genuine and accomplished by someone, and not for someone. Teacher with the student carries on an authentic education when true dialogue is implemented.

He analyzes dialogue and writes, “Within the word we find two dimensions, reflection and action, in such radical interaction that if one is sacrificed - even in part - the other immediately suffers" (87). According to Freire, reflection and action are the essence of words. They are interacted radically. They make a word true. A word without action is verbalism. A word without reflection is activism. Dialogue cannot be reduced to either verbalism or activism. Freire also says, "Human beings are not built in silence, but in word, in work, in action-reflection" (88).

Needing extra support in pursuing my math questions, I took action to confront my math teacher through e-mails, and she responded to me with reflection while answering my questions. As human beings, we should not be afraid to communicate with each other. My action was reaching out to the teacher and the reflection came out to be a positive and informative response. The two of us were able to create dialogue throughout the year in regard to a certain topic-- calculus. There was no "domination" of who knew the subject better than the other. My calculus teacher not only was enthusiastic in teaching mathematics but also "loved" her students. She wanted her students to succeed. As Freire mentioned, “Dialogue cannot exist, however, in the absence of a profound love for the world and for the people" (89). I was able to encounter love from my teacher for her commitment to her students. My high school calculus teacher has played a big and important role to me.