First Year Teacher Experience: My First Quran Teaching Journey | Noon Academy

My First Year as a Teacher:

A Lesson I Will Never Forget

My journey as a teacher began many years ago when I started teaching the Holy Qur’an and the Arabic language to non-Arabic speakers. Even today, I clearly remember my very first student and my very first lesson.

He was a Turkish man working at a bank. He could already read the Qur’an, and my role was to listen carefully and correct his recitation. From the moment the lesson started, I felt an overwhelming sense of responsibility. I was nervous, my hands trembled slightly, and my heart was filled with awe. Teaching the Qur’an is an amanah (a trust), and I knew I had to be fully attentive and precise.

Alhamdulillah, the lesson itself went smoothly and calmly. I felt relieved and grateful that everything was going well. However, at the end of the session, something unexpected happened. The student seemed eager to leave before the class time officially ended.

As I was saying goodbye, I suddenly realized my mistake. Throughout the entire lesson, I had been addressing him using a feminine term instead of the correct masculine one. I had unknowingly called him “sister” instead of “brother.” This mistake upset him, and he left the class early.

That moment stayed with me for a long time. It taught me an important lesson: when teaching in a language that is not your mother tongue, attention to detail is essential. Words matter, and small mistakes can have a big impact.

From that day on, I decided to keep a notebook beside me during every lesson. I wrote down important words and expressions that I thought I might need. Lesson after lesson, my confidence grew. My performance improved, my vocabulary expanded, and my notebook filled with new terms and expressions.

I learned a lot during that first year. I grew as a teacher, as a learner, and as a person. But no matter how much experience I gain, I will never forget that day — the day I was truly a first-year teacher.