Scenario 1- Unhappy Child
When he came to meet me, I asked him, "I see that you are often very quiet. Neither do you talk to anyone nor show interest in anything, and its effect can also be seen in your studies? What is the reason?
The student replied, "Ma'am, I miss my friends, cousins and grandparents. I have no friends here, and because of this, I cannot concentrate on my studies."
The student replied, "Ma'am, I miss my friends, cousins and grandparents. I have no friends here, and because of this, I cannot concentrate on my studies."
I carefully listened to him and decided to help him to overcome his sadness. I asked a few of my class students to be friends with him so he could quickly settle down in this new environment. I always cared that he might not sit alone and nobody would hurt him. I asked the other teachers also to take care of him. After a few days, I saw him laughing with his classmates and playing with them. His smile was God's blessing for me.
Advice to teachers
Two years back in my class, two students, Naman and Reyan, started fighting and arguing with each other. Seeing them fighting, I stopped them and asked them, `What happened? Why are you arguing and fighting with each other?"
- Always treat your students with love and care.
- Never criticize a student In front of other students.
- Nothing is more important than the mental health of a child.
- They are like sunflowers; you are like a sun to them, 'A ray of hope.'
- A happy teacher is a good teacher, so try to be satisfied with them.
Naman said, "Madam, he is telling me I am wrong in my point."
Reyan said, "Ma'am, what he is saying is wrong."
Both were right on their points and didn't want to listen to each other. I decided to solve this. I asked Naman to stand on one side of the desk and Reyan on the opposite.
I took the chalk and drew the number 9 like this so that From Naman's side, it would look like 6, and from Reyan's side, it would look like 9.
Then I asked Reyan what he could see? Reyan said this is Number 9.
Then I asked Naman what he could see? Naman said this is Number 6.
Both answers were different, and they again started arguing. Seeing this, I calmed them down and asked them to change their places.
When both changed their places, I again asked them, "Now, look at the number. What is it?'
Reyan replied, "Ma'am, this is 6."
Reyan replied, "Ma'am, this is 6."
Naman replied, ``it is 9.’’
Seeing this, both students were surprised and realized they were right. I explained, "Life is like that too. One whose opinion differs from yours doesn't need to be wrong. It's just a difference in point of view. In such situations, instead of getting into arguments, we should try to understand other's point of view. This is how they both understood and decided not to argue anymore and try to understand each other's point of view.
Advice for educators
1. We should always maintain our patience with students, no matter how bad our mood is.
1. We should always maintain our patience with students, no matter how bad our mood is.
2. Sometimes, you experience many students with different strengths and weaknesses. Some students may have behavioural problems, making them difficult to handle in class. If a student is behaving poorly, address the behaviour at the moment. Take the route to get the student back on track with his or her studies. In the long term, take measures in your classroom to discourage problem behaviour. Work on preventing problem behaviours by establishing and reinforcing clear rules.
Aarya @ RPK School Moradabad
Nishi, Manisha Bansal, Natasha Singh, Kalpana Saxena, Meeta Gulati, Shivani Mathur and Jyoti Singh.
Nishi, Manisha Bansal, Natasha Singh, Kalpana Saxena, Meeta Gulati, Shivani Mathur and Jyoti Singh.
Image credits
First image Shutterstock.com