Being a teacher is good but I wished to be a most friendly teacher as I love children. It’s encouraging for a teacher when students understand concepts that were challenging to them in the past. ,the methodology of ‘’. For example, I ask students to collect medicinal plants from their surroundings and discuss about their uses in class. I feel joyful when I hear from my students that the subject science is enjoyable.
Teaching has its own set of challenges. Expectations are high from students, parents, administrators and the department. As a teacher, we have to figure out what works best for us. So I have been constantly working on refining myself and my approach.
Each student being unique, his/her learning style is also different. Some learn well when they read the text, others while listening to a lecture and some are more actively engaged when they work and discuss in a group. In order to handle such diverse group of learners, I plan my lessons in advance to ensure that I incorporate 4 or 5 different learning styles into one lesson. In spite of this, a few students in the class might get left out. Such students require personalized attention to keep them engaged. This is done all the while ensuring that we are in alignment with the goals of the curriculum. We teachers have the responsibility of moulding students in a way that when they enter the ‘real world’ they are able to face challenges in life.
Apart from regular school activities, I strongly believe that life-oriented programs are the need of the hour. As a teacher, we need to be flexible in our plans. Recently, based on a request from the Primary Health Centre, Mettupalayam, ‘ Nila vembhu keshayam’ was given to all students. Programs that create awareness about dengue, water borne diseases and the importance of hand washing on ‘Global Hand Washing Day’ might disrupt our normal class routine but they are essential. In fact, such programs can open opportunities to show children how science is very much relevant for their lives.
Most of my students come from the rural community. Many of them are the first in their family to have continued education till high school. Unfortunately most students don’t realise the value of education. I would like to share two incidents involving my students that have affected me deeply.
A few years ago, I had a student in Class VI named Rathinakumari who was brought up by her single mother. She was beautiful and extremely talented. I encouraged her to participate in science competitions and she used to win awards. Once she was honoured with a cash prize of Rs.600. When she found that 100 rupees was stolen, she started weeping. She visited my house after school and narrated the incident to my mother. My mother consoled her by giving 100 rupees. Rathina’s childish innocence was adorable and as days went by, she got along with us just like a member of our family. After the exams, Rathina said that she was going to her native place for summer vacation. But when the next academic year began in June, she didn’t turn up for school. Months passed but there was no news about her. Recently when I went for shopping to an apparel store, a 2 year old girl child pulled my sari ‘palloo’ and started to laugh and play with me. Her mother came to take the child and as she saw me, she screamed out of excitement, “Anita teacher, how are you?” I couldn’t talk, it was just tears that flowed out of my eyes. She cried too. No words came out; just ‘Miss Miss...’
In another incident, a girl named Dhivya of Class II had been irregular in attending school for a month. When asked why she was on leave, she said that she had been helping her mother in the hospital who was on a bedpan. Doubting that the child might be lying, the Headmaster shouted and asked if she knew what a bedpan was. She explained how she helped her mother in the hospital who had lost both her legs in an accident. I was really moved by her words. Dhivya looked very similar to my daughter. So I took care of her, supporting her financially till her 8th standard. When I moved to another school, Dhivya was no longer under my care. Recently when I saw Dhivya with a person, she introduced him as her husband. I was shocked, but this is the disturbing reality of many girl students in government schools.
These incidents have led to many questions in my mind. Although I try giving my best as a science teacher in the classroom, does my role end there? What are the other things that I could do as a teacher to address such issues? Where to start? How to go about it? The quest has begun...