Attendance register

One of the interesting learning that I had discovered over my 'n' number of years as a teacher and as a trainer is that everyone is capable of demonstrating goodness at some area and the scope to capture it is always inbuilt in us.

Here is an example that I was fortunate to experience:

Rizwan - A student of class VI then. He was always well-groomed and maintained his notebooks well. He scored very high in academics and was a good speaker too. I was the classteacher of his class. He used to be with me whenever he is free and ask questions in science. I noticed that he was a guy who took initiatives and was very enthusiastic. One day I was on my way to class with the attendance register in my hand. I marked the atendance, continued my class and came out as usual. He came behind me calling "Ma'am, I want to ask u something". I stopped with a smile and asked him to continue. He said,  "Ma'am, you are so good in many things and I admire you. But I find that the way you maintain the register needs more atention. You have not wrappped with a brown wrappper while we students are asked to do so". I was taken aback. His remarks made me think. I admired two things in him - the way he communicated to me, the gutts that he had to pin point my mistake.

The next day I went to the class with my attendance register wrapped neatly and shared this experience with all my students and thanked Rizwan for his approach.

This incident tickled the learning antennae in me and reinforced the need to model 'good' behaviours for our children to follow.

First month experience as a teacher

This is about my first time experience as a teacher in a reputed school. I graduated from Regional college of education, Mysore. Came out with a vision of becoming a 'great' teacher. Did not have clarity as to what I am aiming at, but was clear that my every step will be in the field of education.

First month in the School - I taught Class 3 and 4 science. Every evening I used to prepare meticulously for the next day lessons, reharse and reharse till I get a feeling that I got the hang of the content and methodology. I taught with full enthusiasm referring to lots of books and loved to be with my children

First mid-term exam results - The results of first mid-term exam came and there awaited a shock for me! Only four out of 35 children in my class had passed. All others had failed miserably with very less scores.

Meeting with School CEO - CEO called out for me and said "You seemed to do very well in demo, but the way your students have performed is disappointing". My reply was "let me take one more chance please" and my wish was granted with the condition of submitting my resignation in the event of my children losing again.

Meeting with my aunt (a 'good' teacher then) - Went straight to her with almost tears in my eyes not fearing the lose of job, but the inability to figure out what went wrong inspite of my genuine initiatives... She took my hands in hers and said "Did you teach the way your children could understand or teach the way that you thought to be good?"

Turning point - Learning moment! - I did not reply. Just came back home, but kept pondering over the question my aunt asked. Almost two days passed by then. I went back to my aunt and told her "I thought I did the best, but failed to think if that was best for my children as well". That is when my real teaching journey started. Every evening I thought as to how well a particular content could be taught in a fashion that my children could understand. Lots of ideas - stories, role plays, songs, dance, drawing etc., My class became very energetic and involved active role played by my children. Children were looking forward to my classes. They rushed to my office when they had a free period and invited me :)

In the next exams my children proved that they were capable of doing great when nurtured properly . 32 out of 35 passed with good scores.

This was the moment that made me feel that I need to teach in the way children want to learn than to choose the one that I prefer... A tough but lifetime learning :)

Learning walks

Learning walks -This is all about everything that happens in life. I strongly believe that 'learning' is inbuilt in every act of human behvaiour. So is this blog to me:) I realise that every mistake, success, action etc., in life leads to some kind of learning and hence named my blog as 'learningwalks'. In this blog I will be sharing and inviting views on learning that happens hand in hand with every walk of life. Welcome to my blog- 'learning walks'