9 Things from A Teacher’s Perspective…

A student isn’t a student if he hasn’t participated and strongly narrated his personal gatha in the discussion, “Teachers don’t understand us”. Adding a voice that has been on both sides of the bench (the side which faces the board and the side which writes on the board) on this Teacher’s Day, Gagan Sir would like to say to a student, GG about classroom and Life from his perspective:

1. My world is not centered around you: GG, you may think that I have only one task in my whole day. Wake up, come to teach and go back to home, enjoy free time and sleep. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. I have another Life with equal number of problems and responsibilities such as taking care of family, controlling finances, getting kids ready…
2. Please keep quiet:  Imagine you are suddenly shoved on stage, with a hundred eyes looking on you with expectations. Now, you have to give a speech to a crowd that is all set to create a ruckus and judging from their looks, coming up with new ways to explain. That happens to me in class every day and chaos/noise doesn’t help.
   

   Continue speaking if you don’t want them to turn this…

3. Please come up: I do not have a knowledge scanner such that I can X-ray your knowledge. So, if you are good, approach me, be interactive and don’t just back in your seat silently expecting that I would spot your talent.
4. Partiality is inherent: It’s like being nice to someone who has been nice to you. If the kid has been less problematic, well-behaved, I would cut him some slack and just so that you know, in 80% of the cases, we turn a blind eye to your misbehaviour.
5. Don’t let your curiosity get away:I know as an educator, it’s our role to nurture your curiosity but sometimes, the non-teacher just part takes over.
   • We are in a bad mood. So, we would brush you off.
   • The thing you are asking is very high level. So, bear with us when we say “afterwards”.
   • We don’t know.
   

   Sorry about that

6. We are human: Being a part of human means we are not perfect. And sometimes, it’s difficult and shameful to accept an error on our part to a large group of students who would make fun and spread the word. So, we resort to false-justification.
7. It’s more about attitude than knowledge: If a batch mate of yours is damn good, and he talks to you like you are some dumb kid, what would be your opinion regarding him? ******* (I am assuming something unspeakable in public). Same case, here. Treat us like the elders or experienced we are.
8. I am not really “Me”: As your torch-bearer, I have to act rule-abiding, ethical… you get the drift. We have to scold you, punish you but it’s only to inculcate better ethics, grasping at opportunities we missed. We didn’t realizewhat we have become until the day someone came up and said “Sir”…
   

   As Kent and Superman, as teacher and me

9. You are our biggest achievement: You have literally no idea how proud we feel when you become successful. At that time, Life seems complete and suddenly there is a meaning attached to it. We care a lot more than you think.

These are certainly not justifications, but it would be better if you keep these things in the back of your mind. Long-term Understanding is a two-way bridge. Maybe, next time, you can be less hard on us. Maybe…

Wish you a wonderful and high-flying future ahead…