..."Then the floods came and.." oh my,,,wasn't this the common phrase for so many activities that saw a halt in Nov and Dec of 2015 in Chennai.. and so was it for me.
The day I finished my course on educational Therapy, was the day when the sky was pouring in Chennai, leading to the floods,followed by endless days of school holidays. Not only were the rains washing away parts of Chennai .. so were the days,slowly blanking out my knowledge on what I learnt to be an educational therapist..It was like learning a new software language with full enthusiasm and not writing a line for code for months after that.
After weeks, slowly the skies cleared ....and Chennai was trudging back to normalcy. My passion towards the therapy had not reduced and I preferred to operate in a school than start my own private practice , as teaching by itself was a complete new world for me.... , but I was lost on the first step that I had to take. I then did what I knew best ..from my IT job !! The umpteen presentation slides I used to make when I was Project Manager geared me up and I did what I knew best , make a presentation...I put down, what my course was all about into ppt slides :-) ...( I can see many of friends smiling as they read this :-)
.. Then next what ? With this open question on my mind , I came to know of a school which was requiring an educational therapist.The initial discussion with some of the staff and the vice principle , made me very comfortable....and then came the mail !
In two days, as per the school procedure I should take a demo class for three students of the upper kindergarten( UKG ) for reading and writing skills.
I felt ..' fine' ..this should not be a problem....and was it ? It was much more than a problem , because if I had seen it as a problem, knowing me, I would try to think of a solution..
but now ..I never felt more nervous and blank in my life because I had absolutely...(I stress the word 'absolutely' ) no clue, as what I had to take. By the time they reach UKG , some schools would have started sentences, some are on letters, some teach only phonics.....
I resorted to the internet to see, if I can get an idea and there were more than enough , but still I felt foggy. Then I tried to understand what I was actually stumped about....
.... the content ? no, because I can read and write... :-)
..... the school ? no , I was very comfortable in my first discussion and actually liked certain approaches they had taken
...... the principle ? ..may be !! just kidding :-) :-) ..in my career, I have interacted with a kaleidoscope of people....so handling new people should not make me feel like this.
Then it dawned on me that it was the kids , which were standing in front of my eyes... If I landed up teaching them something they know or were supposed to know, that would be on the right track..but what if, I taught them something which was beyond them and they felt it was their fault they did not understand ?
Finally, it was the thought that I might make a child uncomfortable, by teaching with the wrong approach, was what was troubling me.
I see it as three categories
What a child, at a particular age , knows ....
What the child, at a particular age is is supposed to know ......
and what is not mandatory at that age and we as adults, teach them the same and they land up feeling its their fault that they have not understood it ...?
For some this might seem a very trivial issue to worry about , but for me it was'nt . It could be because teaching itself was new experience for me.and this is a genuine feeling that so many children at an young age actually experience....feeling at fault for something they have not understood.
Many a time as parents we tend to think ( and also verbalize it towards the children) that if some children can attain certain levels in certain skill sets why can't my child also attain the same level...and finally we are driven by the end result, not understanding that for the child the learning process itself is the achievement and not the end result .. not the grades
Human beings are all created with different capabilities .. so how exceptional are kids ? Just because our education system imposes a rigid standardized box,into which every child is supposed to fit into and grade them according to their speed at which they do ..should we commit the same mistake...?
As parents have we all achieved the highest and equal successes in life ? Sounds absurd doesn't it .. so its the same for the kids. We must never compare and never pin the fault on them for something which is not in their preview or control...We,as parents must first be what we want them to be....and by not stifling them into the common platform,each child has the opportunity to bloom beautifully in this life
Now coming back to my story , I did land up making a plan of what to teach .Armed with all my colorful books and charts,I appeared at the school ( still very nervous ! ) ...and it all disappeared the instant I met the kids...one little girl smiled sweetly at me and that was it !!
Only kids have the ability to be unpretentious and just allow us to be ourselves.. It was finally those little ones who made me so comfortable and who is to judge that it was me who actually learnt :-)
Yours
Suji
The day I finished my course on educational Therapy, was the day when the sky was pouring in Chennai, leading to the floods,followed by endless days of school holidays. Not only were the rains washing away parts of Chennai .. so were the days,slowly blanking out my knowledge on what I learnt to be an educational therapist..It was like learning a new software language with full enthusiasm and not writing a line for code for months after that.
After weeks, slowly the skies cleared ....and Chennai was trudging back to normalcy. My passion towards the therapy had not reduced and I preferred to operate in a school than start my own private practice , as teaching by itself was a complete new world for me.... , but I was lost on the first step that I had to take. I then did what I knew best ..from my IT job !! The umpteen presentation slides I used to make when I was Project Manager geared me up and I did what I knew best , make a presentation...I put down, what my course was all about into ppt slides :-) ...( I can see many of friends smiling as they read this :-)
.. Then next what ? With this open question on my mind , I came to know of a school which was requiring an educational therapist.The initial discussion with some of the staff and the vice principle , made me very comfortable....and then came the mail !
In two days, as per the school procedure I should take a demo class for three students of the upper kindergarten( UKG ) for reading and writing skills.
I felt ..' fine' ..this should not be a problem....and was it ? It was much more than a problem , because if I had seen it as a problem, knowing me, I would try to think of a solution..
but now ..I never felt more nervous and blank in my life because I had absolutely...(I stress the word 'absolutely' ) no clue, as what I had to take. By the time they reach UKG , some schools would have started sentences, some are on letters, some teach only phonics.....
I resorted to the internet to see, if I can get an idea and there were more than enough , but still I felt foggy. Then I tried to understand what I was actually stumped about....
.... the content ? no, because I can read and write... :-)
..... the school ? no , I was very comfortable in my first discussion and actually liked certain approaches they had taken
...... the principle ? ..may be !! just kidding :-) :-) ..in my career, I have interacted with a kaleidoscope of people....so handling new people should not make me feel like this.
Then it dawned on me that it was the kids , which were standing in front of my eyes... If I landed up teaching them something they know or were supposed to know, that would be on the right track..but what if, I taught them something which was beyond them and they felt it was their fault they did not understand ?
Finally, it was the thought that I might make a child uncomfortable, by teaching with the wrong approach, was what was troubling me.
I see it as three categories
What a child, at a particular age , knows ....
What the child, at a particular age is is supposed to know ......
and what is not mandatory at that age and we as adults, teach them the same and they land up feeling its their fault that they have not understood it ...?
For some this might seem a very trivial issue to worry about , but for me it was'nt . It could be because teaching itself was new experience for me.and this is a genuine feeling that so many children at an young age actually experience....feeling at fault for something they have not understood.
Many a time as parents we tend to think ( and also verbalize it towards the children) that if some children can attain certain levels in certain skill sets why can't my child also attain the same level...and finally we are driven by the end result, not understanding that for the child the learning process itself is the achievement and not the end result .. not the grades
As parents have we all achieved the highest and equal successes in life ? Sounds absurd doesn't it .. so its the same for the kids. We must never compare and never pin the fault on them for something which is not in their preview or control...We,as parents must first be what we want them to be....and by not stifling them into the common platform,each child has the opportunity to bloom beautifully in this life
Now coming back to my story , I did land up making a plan of what to teach .Armed with all my colorful books and charts,I appeared at the school ( still very nervous ! ) ...and it all disappeared the instant I met the kids...one little girl smiled sweetly at me and that was it !!
Only kids have the ability to be unpretentious and just allow us to be ourselves.. It was finally those little ones who made me so comfortable and who is to judge that it was me who actually learnt :-)
Yours
Suji
7 comments:
Very Nice experience AS! Indeed it is us who learn from the kids..not the other way around.
"Finally, it was the thought that I might make a child uncomfortable, by teaching with the wrong approach," "feeling at fault for something they have not understood. - True words !! and wish all teachers out their understand this.
thanks Ramesh...with every child its a learning experience
so good to hear from you Gnana..and you have well caught the main msg which i wanted to convey..
There's a concept called VAKOG. All kids doesn't process external data some way. Some takes inpouts thru eyes, ears, smell, sensation etc. Teacher has to be able to identify the differences and cater to the needs of students. Great start AS. You are heading in the rt direction.
There's a concept called VAKOG. All kids doesn't process external data some way. Some takes inpouts thru eyes, ears, smell, sensation etc. Teacher has to be able to identify the differences and cater to the needs of students. Great start AS. You are heading in the rt direction.
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