Teachers

happy teachers day


when we think of our teachers we tend to think of the teachers that we liked, who we thought as our ultimate role model. we tend to ignore teachers that were not so good, that were rude and hard and unkind. we don't think of the teachers that made our life miserable while teaching us. [i had quite a few of such teachers]


when i was in school [that would be high school as i still am in school and that would be university :P] i had teachers who would go out of the way to facilitate the students, who would listen to anything we had to say and in short such teachers were everyone's favorite. i had an English teacher, who not only encouraged us to speak, but also encouraged us to do things that we were generally interested in. [in my case it was embroidery and speaking out] and there were teachers who made our life hell, from ridiculing the hair styles of the students [and mind it, we were only allowed simple pony tails or plaits] to ridiculing the way we spoke, not correcting us but making fun. now you can imagine the amount of respect that i have for both of them and the difference.


when i was training to be a teacher, my English teacher asked the class, what kind of teachers you would like to be, to help us set our future goals. and he said you would be lucky if you have a favorite teacher. i was the luckiest i had 3 favorite teachers, one from school and two from university. i would really like to be like my English teacher of 8th grade, but i would certainly like to avoid being like my English teacher of 10th grade. [seems like English teachers have influenced me a lot] a teacher is a person who is suppose to encourage, to polish, to listen to. a teacher is supposed to be a guide, a friend, a mentor, not some one who labels you, discourage you and ridicule you!!!!!!


this is a very serious job, with high responsibility [so what if little income] and if you can't take that responsibility please don't become a teacher and ruin young minds and give false information to them. 


happy teaching to all the teachers!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sugandh

My Little Girl

i started teaching in 2008 and the first class i got was of 6th grade along with 5th. i was 23 years old, almost fresh out of university and hugely emotional. my students gave me something to look forward to. the happiest moment was when i tried to teach them something and they actually got the hold of the almost new concept of science and their faces shone with the pride of knowing something. the satisfaction that i got seeing their faces can not be compared to any other satisfaction.

the first class that i taught was quiet, as only few students were present, i introduced myself and ask them about them, what they liked, and what was their favorite subject. all the introductory stuff. in that class there was a sweet girl, thin, short, with big eyes. she always looked inquisitive. pretty good at studies, monitor of her class and she came from a very respectable family too!!!!!

the only word that i could of think for her was 'sweet'. we were not teacher and student, we were friends, older sister, younger sister kinda relationship. and then i left the job in that school, moved to other school, a new job, new set of students to teach!!!!!

i lost touch with her and today when i found her this is what she has written about her on her facebook info page.

"I'm not perfect. I'll annoy you tick you off, say stupid things & then take them back. But put all them aside, You'll never find a girl that cares and loves you more than me. I can turn from a Normal girl to a total Bitch in'a Second ! :* I Hate Love ! sometimes I can be Rude, Bictchy, Mean but if you can't tolerate me at my worst sure you dont deserve me at my best ! Crazzzzzzzzzzyyyyy :* and i love being it ♥ :D My Friends are my life ♥ :') Never Regret, live the moment and move on :) that's what i always do :p For me Life is climb, and we all are climbers . . I'm near the Top ♥ .. And I'm good at confusing people :p you hate me? get in the line with others waiting for me to give a fuck ! Man I Love My self :* ♥ :D"

i wonder what happened to my sweet girl. the way today's youth use the bad language thinking that it is cool and in, is so disheartening.
Sugandh

Quality of Parenting

i have experienced that in recent years the quality of parenting has gone considerably down, but this fact got proved when i formally joined teaching. these days all parents are interested in are grades and marks, they don't appreciate the value of learning, the joy of learning or simply the experience of learning.

i remember watching 5 minutes cartoon on TV in the morning (7:05 on PTV morning show with chacha jee) and 5 minutes in the evening and that was that, the first gift that i remember that my father got me was a box of color pencils, and we had books, loads of them and then he got us audio cassettes of stories and nursery rhymes. i remember going to parks and book fairs with my parents and siblings, but these things just don't happen today! the gift means an automated car, an expensive bag or dool or something and outing means a trip to restaurant!!!

as the prices of presents went up, so did the expectations. a parent was boasting to me that his child studies 16 hours a day and he got three different tutors come to his place to teaching him different things and on PC he is only allowed to access encyclopedias!!!!!!!! and that kid was rebellious in class, all he wanted to do was talk and talk and talk, not the fault of poor child! he was simply deprived of simple pleasures of childhood.

Second thing that has gone down is the quality of food that parents give to their kids. i remember having to eat cauliflowers and turnips and fish and occasionally a burger and French fries. we used to take home made lunch to school and we never got any money to buy stuff on our own. my mother used to keep candies and cookies at home and we had our quota fixed of them every day [one candy and two cookies]. but now parents would buy their kids pizzas and McDonald's and KFC's food as regularly as possible, not taking care of the amount of calories that kids need or the nutrition!!!! in turn making their kids fat and unhealthy. and the reason for doing this is...we can afford the stuff [in Pakistan, Pizzahut, McDonald's and KFC are considered to be for rich]

just today other teachers in staff room were discussing a problem child who sleeps in the classroom, not for the first two or three periods but the complete school day!!!!! despite a note sent to the parents and a meeting called to convince parents to put their child to be early, there was no response!!!! Mothers love staying up late to watch all the Indian saas bahu soap operas neglecting their child's need of sleep of 9 to 11 hours. just where this will take those poor kids. second thing this habit does to these kids is damaging their language and ruining their innocence and fantasy. God forbid, i'll never ever allow my own child to watch these dramas because of the language they use and the scenes they show and things they talk about [Allah ki pannah!!!]

all in all the conclusion is that parents are ruining the future of their children, they might grow up to be good doctors or engineers but they will never become good citizens and kids if  parents will not put their sincere effort into bringing up their children. sending kids to a big and fancy school is not enough, a child is the mutual responsibility of teacher and parents!!!!!

Innovative Teacher

During the teaching of scientific subjects a teacher must learn to be innovative. It is wrong to think that all children are destructive and can not be trusted. The truth is otherwise. Children are constructive, happy and energetic human beings. They like to be trusted and taking responsibilities. In the same way people in the surrounding environment of the children are not as vice as a teacher may think.

Trying out new techniques, in itself, is not a bad idea, neither any sensible person would deny it. Trying out techniques that fail, again and again is a bad idea. Any teacher should be able to reflect upon his/her teaching methods. They should be able to point out the weak and strong points of their teaching and overcome his/her weakness.

An innovative teacher is one, who is never scared to learn. Innovative teacher is ever ready to experiment with established teaching methods and techniques. An innovative teacher is open to criticism and use it positively to eradicate his/her weaknesses. (s)he is always learning and trying out new things. Teaching and experimenting with the new techniques and mechanisms.

During the training class teachers came up with the following arguments against using new teaching methods.

There is a general conception that children in our public schools are destructive and unaware of using various equipments used in science teaching, because of the backgrounds they come from. I think that the reason behind this concept is that teachers never try new methods with them and never trust them with anything. If a teacher take students in confidence and tell them about the value of equipment and the practical they are going to do, kids will very careful with the handling of the equipments and other  resources.

The other reason that most teachers give is that they have got limited time to complete mammoth syllabus. I think that by involving students in research and teaching process, teachers can lessen their burden and make the syllabus interesting and easy for children to understand. it only needs dedication on part of the teacher to think of new ideas.

There is a lack of resources and limited resources are kept safe, was another argument. A teacher should be able to design and collect his/her own resources. A teacher has every right to reason with the custodian of the resources. Trust should be built and expectations should be met to get access to those resources.

One last and general advice for teachers is to use effective time management routine. Instead of wasting time and chatting or doing personal work they should concentrate on teaching and making it easier for themselves and their students. All great teachers did not wait for someone to come and wake them up or make them do great things. They took initiative themselves and started changing things.

PEOPLE

when i was in university, i claimed to live in heaven because i really had no problems in life!

and i also thought that because i don't really go well along with people i must be crazy, because so many people can't be crazy at the same time!

but today it all proved to be wrong.

as usual i went to attend my Sunday class for teacher training... a BIG mistake that i make every Sunday willingly !!!!!

there during the hour of educational guidance somehow our discussion turned to the perfect environment and the role of parents and teachers in making that perfect environment for the child!!!!

in Pakistan if u r the child of a teacher, u r supposed to be the king or queen of ur class (true in 95% of the cases) so a girl in my class goes like... agar mein bachay ko kehti bhi hun ke woh aisa na kare tou uss ki maa jo aik senior teacher hai larnay aa jaye ghee!!!!

aur agar mein kissi higher authority ko kahoon tou principal bhi aisay hee hein.

at that moment i tried to share my personal experience.... my mom was a teacher in my school and when she joined she told us ... maan school mein tawanhji ammi na aahyan srif teacher aahyan!

and that was the end of the story... but people generally disagree with me. i said out loud that i feel alien here because i look like the only person with good experiences, rest of them have loads of bad ones. their colleagues are evil, their bosses are evil, their students are evil, the parents they interact with are evil!!!! everyone around them is EVIL!!!!

i understand that situation in Pakistan is very bad and the ground realities are even in the sadder, but that doesn't mean that they have to remain like this forever. we are teachers, we shape the future, we can bring any change we want, but it look like we are more interested in criticizing the system, the people, the state, but would not change anything...................

we are not, unfortunately, interested in learning, we are only interested in earning :(

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and then i went to buy wool :D [fine i knit in summers]

resham gali ends up in shahi bazaar, the longest bazaar in Asia!!!!

its the only place in haiderabad where you can buy wool from :( [women don't knit anymore!!!]

so MQM happen to celebrate 'MERA HYDERABAD' week. safai nisf eemaan hai!!!!

[aur ghunda gardi poora!]

they occupied hald the half the parking lot but putting up a tent there showing off their party work!!!! what work??? annoying people and creating hindrance in traffic!!! what a week!!!!!!!!