Many have influenced my life and I have met many wonderful people during my journey of life and I owe a lot to them. My parents first, then my teachers, my husband dearest, siblings, the society around and friends have made me what ever I am today. When it was my turn to return to the society what I have taken from, I never hesitated and I am playing my role well to the best of my knowledge. I have been interacting with so many people since long and thought I could share some of my experiences here. First, I am going to share my experiences with a little girl who came into my life and how I could influence her.
One evening, I heard the door bell ringing in my house continuously. I opened the door and found a girl with doe eyes standing in front with her father beside.
Her father spoke. “Teacher, can you give my daughter tuitions?”.
“Tutions !!! I exclaimed because I never like coaching youngsters and was not in the habit of taking classes at home. I was associated with various schools then and used to conduct summer camps for children. It was fun time for them and me. I was also in touch with various school counsellors who knew my work well.
I opened my mouth to say’ No’
Then the girl said ‘Miss Lee has sent me’. Lee was my friend and a counsellor of a popular school which I used to frequent. At that time , my phone bell rang. It was Miss Lee on line . She said ” I am sending this girl to you. Please help her, We have just a month before the final exam” . It was the first week of February and I know March is the month of exams for all schools.
Lee continued. ‘ this little girl needs help. If she doesn’t get through in English she would be detained. I know only you can do it”.
My God, what a situation. My heart started melting at the poor girl who was looking very unhappy. But do I have magic to get this girl pass mark. Some thing inside me prompted to take up the challenge. One month and miles to go. I didn’t even know anything about the girl. I heard that she hadn’t cleared a single paper in English. OMG!!!, give me strength, I thought.
I told her father,” this needs lot of work, from her, me and family . I can do it. But there’s a condition. Don’t scold or shout at the girl because she is not scoring marks. See, how you can help her”. I was very sure she was getting lot of dressing down at home. The girl was looking very scared. I said ” see we don’t have time. She has to attend my sessions morning and evening and they agreed.
Thus started the marathon of studies. I told her to study the notes and text all by her self and decided to concentrate only on Grammar , if she gets all grammar right she would be able to score 20-25 marks. I taught her and gave her repetitive excercises. I, first fixed a target for her and we decided that it would be 60 marks. I was sure she won’t be able to go beyond that. This girl co-operated well , and as days rolled by she became more cheerful and enthusiastic to learn English. When she came, I would make her repeat the target. I would also pat her back and assure her all would be well. She started enjoying the classes .
I also made her repeat at bed time a mantra that “English is more and more interesting for me and I am going to pass”. I knew she didn’t like English because she had never got pass marks in that subject. I wanted her to motivate herself to achieve the results.
Days passed…… she wrote her exams. I was sure she would have done well. Results came. I phoned her house , the girl picked up the phone.
I asked her “did you pass?
She said “I passed in English and got 57”
Wow!!, great. I was elated but the next sentence shook me.
She said “but….. I am detained .
What ??? I was shocked .
I failed in Maths so the school has detained my promotion”. I was aghast. She came home and broke down. She was weak in Maths too and she was attending a maths tution. H0w she found time for all this I do not know.
She said .”From this class I went to Maths class and when ever I made mistakes the teacher would tell me that I would never pass in Maths. I got only scoldings there”
Probably the negative attitude of the teacher, shattered her confidence. I am not sure but I wished that teacher could have had a better understanding of child psychology than what she showed.
She wanted to continue the tutions with me but I organised another one for her as I was averse to it.
But luckily for this girl, the school agreed to promote her on one condition that she should leave the school. What a system!!! But the girl was happy, she joined another school and continued her studies with out losing a year. She performed very well in a changed environment. This girl would have grown up now and I hope she is doing well.
I shall write similar posts in future , how a small pat, a word of appreciation and a little support can change somebody’s life. To do all this, I don’t think we need to put in great efforts. Only an inclination to share and empathise with others who are facing difficulties. I wish, those who take to teaching would have passion for their jobs and only remember that they are handling delicate children who are our future.
Merry Christmas , dear friends.
Au revoir!!
That is a lovely act of goodness Chitra….and a wonderful way of repaying to the society…feel proud to know such people….
I have read that “Teachers are expected to reach unattainable goals with inadequate tools. The miracle is that at times they accomplish this impossible task.” In the instant incident I see you have come out in flying colours.You have enabled the child to get its confidence and gradually a love for the subject that scared it.A gentle part does great wonders indeed.
I look forward to such wonderful stories that should be instructive to those in this noble profession.Happy Christmas and New Year to you
Lakshmi,
Thanks a lot. It’s also God’s blessing. Merry Christmas and Happy New year. See you .
KP, I was about to send you the link but I saw the comment before that. I know you would like such articles. Thanks a lot. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you also.
Touched by this post and an eye opener too. VEry often we lose patience bcoz the child is not performing as per our expectations forgetting that we are sometimes the cause for that.
Bhagya,
Many a time we fail to understand the child . If parents spend some quality time with their children, the child will feel more confident and would not hesitate to share their problems.
Lovely post there 🙂 I’ve always admired teachers who are encouraging to children. At the end of the day, marks don’t matter – it’s all about preparing a kid to become a confident adult to face the world. I’m so proud to know you & I’m sure the little girl is too 🙂
Shivya, God has given me loads of patience and I believe nothing is impossible and I am happy to see the transformation in people who need it.
Hi Chitra
Quite a coincidence because I just mentioned about your ever encouraging spirit on my posts that are hardly read by anybody other than you and Mooz of course. And then I come here to have a peek and I find this beautiful story of the little girl. I was not wrong when I said that you deserve more than just a box of chocolates :-). Looking forward to hear more stories from you.
Oh yes little appreciation really motivates anyone to do better in life.
Sree, Loved your reply,but don’t forget those chocolates:).
I have a lot of things to share. These experiences I share here, has given me immense satisfaction.
Kiran, thanks a lot. You know about appreciation, how it works. These little things help a lot.
Thank you Chitra for stopping by my blog and commenting.
Your insights and loving actions are a great example. I am sure those who have been taught by you feel privileged.
Frances, I am happy to see your comment. happy New year!!
Awesome and very inspiring post!!.now a days I keep reading everywhere that reward the work, but dont punish the mistakes, wonder whehether teachers dont read at all.
Merry christmas and a very happy new year!!!
Thanks for the comment Renu, there are teachers who are very committed too. unfortunately they are a minuscule percentage.
Merry Christmas and happy New year to you and Your family
Felt like watching an Interesting Movie While reading this… Awesome Post and Great work by you…
Liked This Very Much.
SKM, thanks a lot.
awwwwwwww hats of t you madam ji… Excellent gift you gave the little one Well done kudos yayyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Bikram’s
Bikram, thanks a bunch.
Could see your post only today as my access to internet was lacking for sometime. It is an eye-opener not only to parents & teachers, but even elders who have to deal with less capable subordinates, as experience tells. Well done!
Mahesh, thanks alot.
That was so sweet of you.. and you did well. If only the other teacher had the good sense like you did, to motivate the girl, instead of demoralising her and making her believe that she would not pass… if only!
Very true. If only …but that made the big difference…. A little help that was all that girl needed. A person can make or mar a life is it not. Thanks once again Punam.
Loved reading this. You might like the following article:
https://blog.teachmint.com/motivational-quotes-for-students/