Dear Friends,
In this commercial world people have a
materialistic approach. Deference of a person in the society depends upon the assets
that he accumulates. I would like to share an anecdote from my life.
Once a parent asked me during Access
Day, “Ma’am, I have heard that the Board
Exam Invigilation that you do,
government pays a negligible amount for that. Is this true?” I nodded with a smirk
on my face. “Then why do you go for it?” followed the next question. In a tee-total tone I replied, “Sir, I don’t do
the invigilation duty for coinage. I do it because it’s a part of my job. It reminds me of my teachers, who did the
same when I was in school and when my
son would appear for his board exams, there
would be another set of selfless
teachers doing this job diligently. Tell me one thing sir,
“Can your child appear for his board exams, if there are no
invigilators?” The parent looked solicitous.
This thought
kept me preoccupied for a
long time and it made me ruminate.
How To Become A Thriving Teacher????
It’s Time For Us to Think,
It’s Time For Us To Introspect,
It’s Time For Us To Look Within.
First of all decide, why
did you choose this profession? Is it a half day job profile, psychological
comfort level, security or your family’s wish that brought you here? If you are
here due to any of these reasons ,you are in a wrong place .
Only if you
have a passion for this vocation and want to mould young minds, should you be
here, in this profession, dealing with young souls, the future of this planet.
In the past, teachers were considered to be a
storehouse of knowledge.
“The Village
Schoolmaster” by Oliver Goldsmith states
it beautifully.
“Amazed the
gazing rustics ranged around
And still they
gazed, and still the wonder grew
That one small
head could carry all he knew.”
Today the situation
is completely different. Students have a dependable friend “Google”
and they wonder how outdated a teacher can be with limited bookish knowledge yet
posing to be knowledgeable.
Please upgrade yourself my dear friends. Work
upon your content thoroughly. There are various sites that provides you with
excellent lesson plans. Don’t begin your
line of business in an old fashioned manner. Be innovative and plan your
lessons in such a comportment that each lesson involves the students actively
at least for five minutes in form of some activity. Believe me, they will look
forward to your lectures.
Don’t lose
your originality as it will be a part of your personality throughout your life.
Don’t fake. You can’t do that for a longer period of time and students are very
quick in picking up whether you are prepared or not.
Teachers are no more only teachers. The modern teachers wear many hats.
They act as an educator, a coach, an activity trainer, a nurse, a career
advisor, a parent, a friend and an innovator.
I strongly feel that If Rudyard
Kipling would have decided to portray the job – profile of teachers, he would have done it in the
following manner-
“If you can teach the students of grade five and ten with equal ease,
If you can answer all the questions asked by the students without baffling
them,
If you can adjust your pace according to the level of the students,
If you can evaluate 250 papers in five days,
If you can rectify your students without putting them down,
If you can accept your flaws in front of your students,
If you can co-relate the subjects with the day-today activities,
If you can understand the needs of all your students,
If you can motivate your students to become good human beings,
If you can train your students for various activities throughout the
year,
If you can identify individual differences,
If you can be firm but not too strict,
Then , this is the right profession for you,
And you will be a good teacher ,
my friend.”
Maintain a
friendly relationship with the students but avoid being over-friendly otherwise
your students will take you for a ride. Try to create a happy and lively
atmosphere in the class but it should totally be your decision ,when the
students should be enjoying a light moment and when they should be seriously
paying attention to their studies.
Learn to let
go of the frivolous matters .Avoid creating an issue for anything and
everything. You are dealing with over-energetic set of youngsters. They are not
immobile articles to be fixed in a particular niche for a year. They are
livewires , full of energy, enthusiasm ,strength, ideas, dreams and
possibilities. Use different tactics
while dealing with them. change your tactics according to the need of the
students. Seek help from the resources available and alter your modus operandi .Keep
your cool while dealing with discipline issues .If a student is difficult to
handle, call him out of the class after the lecture gets over and talk to him
individually .Don’t insult him in front of
the whole class . It will worsen the situation. Give him some responsibility
and be open to dialogue and discussions. Appreciate the small things done by
him . Once he realises that you don’t
get irritated and frustrated, he will start behaving normal.
Let bygone be
bygone . If a student has committed a mistake in
the past and has already been
reprimanded for that , let the issue be buried forever . Avoid mentioning it in
the class time and again. Give him time to come out of
it . Show care and concern towards him.
They are young children not criminals. Be patient with them.
Exhibit
open-mindedness before the students . They have a long way
ahead. Refrain from imposing your personal ideas and beliefs about a particular region or religion . Try to mould them into global
citizens.
Greet the
students with a smile every morning .
They will learn to begin their day with a smile . Be positive towards your
profession and your students .
It is never too late to change your
profession . If you are negative ,
dissatisfied , frustrated , irritated and depressed about getting into the
wrong profession , take a break to introspect .
Don’t allow your mental framework to affect your career.
This profession has turned out to be very demanding and challenging. So,
what do we do? Do we give up and become pessimistic?
No my dear friends.
There is tint of silver lining still left for
us.
‘Teach
India’ an initiative taken by Hindustan Times has got many professionals
registering themselves to teach the underprivileged people.
When Anand
Kumar, the proprietor of ‘Super 30’ in Patna decided to sponsor 30
underprivileged students every year and train them for the most prestigious
exam of our country IIT, IPS officer Abhyanand volunteered to teach physics to
them.
It was a proud moment for all the teaching
professionals when Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, a great teacher got elected as
the 2nd President of India but the proudest moment came when the ex.
President of India Late Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam decided to become a teacher after
the completion of his 10 years as the President of India.
These illustrations throw light on the fact
that all is not lost.
In spite of all the
challenges , teaching is truly a rewarding experience. At the end of our
career it would not matter how much wealth we accumulated ,all that will matter
is that we touched the lives of thousands of students.
