Courage and Patience - Optimizer BHIS

Every teacher has a series of stories to share, so do I. My first teaching job was that of a primary teacher, though teaching was not new to me. I have been teaching for a very long time. I taught math and science to 4th and 5th graders then. When I went to this particular group of 4th graders to take my math class, everyone seemed happy to see me. There were greetings all around except Aman. I went up and greeted him as he looked down, ignoring me. I started teaching and solved a few questions on the board and while kids were writing in their notebooks I got the time to look into each student's work. Everyone was quick in writing down solved questions from the board, except  Aman.

Later I inquired about him and his behaviour. His class teacher informed me that he was a first-generation learner and had a learning disability. That very day during the dispersal I saw  Aman scribbling on the board with a smile. I got an idea of seeing this. Next day, I solved a sum on the board, explained a particular concept and later divided the board, using chalk, into three sections.

I called three students randomly to solve similar questions, every child was excited to solve the sums on the board and awaited their turn, eagerly. I saw Aman writing in his notebook. It was filled with many mistakes.  I corrected them and asked him to write the answer on the board. He hesitated but agreed to copy it from his corrected notebook. I appreciated his work and asked everyone to clap for him. I could see the smile of achievement on his face. After this, we continued doing this every single day. He was appointed the homework monitor. One part of the board had been assigned to him for solving homework answers on the board. Of course for a math teacher to give time for homework solving in class is time-consuming and frustrating. Yet, I was PATIENCE and the whole class co-operated. So I feel in this process of teaching we all learnt the art of PATIENCE.

I could see a drastic change in Aman's behaviour. He began to greet me with a smile whenever I entered the classroom. In fact, he waited for the math class, where he felt like the star of the class. Moreover, he became a happy child, more confident than he was before, and was enthusiastic to come to school. He started showing COURAGE. Every child in the classroom got a chance to solve sums on board, but for  Aman, it became a symbol of his achievement. A permanent column was made on the board for him to solve the sums. He started doing his homework regularly, knowing he had to do it on board every day.

" A little patience can make a timid child courageous".

If you love and care for someone you have to have patience and understand their behaviour. When you do that to bring in some positive change in your students it makes you feel happy and this happiness translates into a more interacting and enthusiastic class.

Optimizer @ Billabong High International School Thane.

- Rupal Trivedi, Kalyani Chaudhari, Madhubala Saji, Kshama Rajgor, Momita Banerjee, Ajita Bhoir & Sanket Patel