‘Success of teacher lies in handling a demanding class with professional ease’

I endeavoured,in my own modest ways,to fulfill those extraordinary needs of students under my care. They are little kids in desperate need of someone to safeguard their interests.

Over the years,I’ve never looked at a student the way she is. Rather,I’ve looked at her as if she is what she could be. This has enabled me to make her become what she should be. Each time I raised the bar of my expectations of them,I found students striving hard to reach those giddy heights. Often,I have restructured their own picture of who they are,given them a larger vision of themselves,beyond their mental conditioning and their circumstances. Nobody,I feel,rises to low expectations.

During the course of my teaching career,I’ve never been judgmental like a high court judge nor did I insult or blame or scream. My constitution repels to scream in order to make ‘quiet’ prevail in the class.

The success of a teacher,to me,lies in handling a demanding class with professional ease. I have tried hard not to let my anger incapacitate me in discharging my duties as a mentor. If a teacher has nothing to feel happy about a problem child,the child too stands to benefit nothing from a frustrated teacher. Maintaining excellent composure,during stressful time,pays.

For every student who made me angry there was another who earned my respect. I tried never to label a child. Improving their self-esteem took much of my time. The other day I got a new lesson in humility. A young engineer came to me for thanks-giving. He told that a couple of years ago,as he sat miserable on being labeled ‘good for nothing’ by a certain teacher,I had comforted him by saying,”someone’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality”. What humbled me the most was I didn’t even remember the incident. And years later,he came back to tell me that my pep talk left imprints on his life and career.

Teacher,to me,affects the lives of people for the better or for the worse.