Teach and be taught

I waited a month for this day

Teach and be taught

I waited a month for this day. Then the wait narrowed to a day and finally the morning arrived. I had all the paper work at hand and was totally prepared. It was my first day at school all over again.

This time however, I was the teacher and the school was government run. I had missed this opportunity the previous year due to several reasons but this year, I decided, that nothing was going to stop me. What better way to give back to society than to be given the chance to teach government school children who lack the facilities private school children have.

Will they accept me? What would their reactions be? I did not know. But the moment I entered the classroom, they all stood up and in chorus shouted at the top of their voice, 'good morning, sir.' They were all smiles, with curiosity written all over their shiny foreheads. This gave me the courage I so badly wanted and now there was no turning back. I was now in my teacher shoes and it sort of felt good.

For some time, I did not do anything. I had to get into the role of being a teacher. So, I just walked around the classroom, looking at everybody turning his or her head as they watched me pacing up and down. Finally, with as much confusion as I had when I entered, I decided the best thing to do was to ask them their names. That did it. The ice was broken and it was smooth sailing thereafter.

Next, I was to make this set of fifth standard students sing aloud the English alphabet followed by each of them giving me two words from any random letter I chose to pick.

It was fun surprisingly and they rather enjoyed this session though some would hesitatingly stand up and look at the desk when they did not know an answer. An interesting feature I noticed was that every time I asked them a question, they would stand up and cross their hands.

Work progressed, teaching them how to spell words correctly by breaking them up and the like. They all had a problem spelling eleven and twelve. Likewise, they struggled pronouncing the word 'at' and went on pronouncing it as 'hat'. Here I was, the new Professor Higgins, but I decided against the use of any candles

Just being with them was a thrill that brought back memories from my school days. It was such a realisation when I understood how much our teachers must have been troubled by batches of little rowdies with our mischief and disobedience. It takes a lot to be a teacher and it is no easy job. Government or private schools, the job of a teacher remains the same. I learnt that patience was a must, not even necessarily a virtue, because all kids pick up information at different paces of learning.

Give these kids a chance and trust me, they can give the private school kids good competition. They are as good as them but lack the right atmosphere and facilities. If you do ever get a chance to teach, like me, I'll say go for it. It is more fun than you'll ever imagine and remember you are giving society something in return.