Happines & Tolerance - Jaswinder Kaur

Unhappy Student:

I addressed an unhappy student because she was dissatisfied with the marks allotted to her in two questions. She expressed that the answers were absolutely correct, but the marks were still deducted. 

I listened to her very carefully, and patiently let her vent her anger. After that, I analyzed the question with her help and told her to underline the keywords to be answered in the questions. 

Then, I read out her answers that were out of context. She had not answered the keywords in the questions. She was convinced afterwards and her unhappiness at the mark allotment disappeared. 

My advice to colleagues:- 

(a) First of all, don’t become defensive when you are questioned. 

(b) Listen 100% to the query/ coup of the student. 

(c) Rather than pointing out the mistake at the first instant, be the focus of the student first on all that is correct ( eg. keyword in question).

An Intolerant Student 

There was a student in the third grade who would not be ready to sit with another student during the rotation of the seats. I called the student during recess and tried to probe as to what was the reason for his behaviour. Initially, he did not divulge anything, so I listed out the positive qualities of the student he did not want to sit with. 

The boy listened to me and then said that his parents had told him not to sit with that student. After listening to him, I arranged a meeting with the parents. They disclosed that since the other students were from a different community, they had told their son not to sit with him. 

After a few meetings with the parents, I successfully convinced them that every child must learn to accept others, whether in school, college or the workplace. After that, the boy was able to become more tolerant. 

My advice to colleagues is that you must try finding the root cause of the disruptive behaviour of a child because it may be related to family and home. 

My suggestion to all my fellow educators is to be gentle and calm with students. We should make friendly relations with our students. You have to know your students' interests and weaknesses. Your attitude should be positive in the classroom. With a positive attitude and effort, teachers can achieve their goals and help students achieve success in their lives.