To Teach and Learn

A class mirrors a teacher's mood, spirit, enthusiasm, thoughts, energy... This is what I have come to realize with my six years of teaching. Like the over used maxim, " you need two hands to applaud" , it is true that teachers and students have to work together to enjoy a lesson and produce good academic results. However, teachers are the driving force in this commune between the parties. When I am feeling low, I see my students dull. Even the slightest show of fatigue or boredom is magnified under my glasses which then becomes powerful microscopes. The best thing I have realized in such a situation is to mobilized my teaching passion, renew it and reenergize to set our moods right. The most useful thing has always been cracking jokes to refresh their minds, it is a skill and I am sharpening it daily.  But, if I lose myself to anger, all is lost. The promise of an energetic lesson and the happiness of delivering my lesson are destroyed. The frequency of these l...

A true story. Two boys of same spirit and age grew up playing. They were best friends but it was not without some competition. Being boys, pushing themselves a step further than the other one was always something they did. To prove that one could run faster, or jump higher, or simply eat more dumplings than the other was what they did. Though they were fierce  competitors, they were inseparable. They did almost every thing equally. Both were equally strong, equally fast and equally serious when it came to winning. One afternoon they reached the river banks after their ball. Suddenly a new game struck them- who would dare cross the river when it was all murky and swelling with challenge. The first boy said he could easily cross the river because he was a good swimmer. The second boy, though he was not confident didn't want to show he was afraid. So, they stripped themselves and entered the water. The first boy drove into the dark waves and stroke the currents, pushing himself...