Jispa’s results are releasing. She is scoring decently well.
Except for the languages she seems to be in the As. So I guess the strategy is
working fine. More regular work and less pressure studies. More discussion
through the year and less mugging; that’s the only way to go forward from here I
think. Now I have to sort the language mess. I can possibly get her to do
better in English but I don’t think I can be too much of a help in Hindi. I
hate that subject.
It’s a shame that Hindi which is what the maximum people in
India speak is a language so alien to us. While we were growing up it was clear
– you must speak English. English is the way to a good job, great pay and
decent career. It’s true as well. If you don’t know your English you surely
will be judged and sniggered at behind your back. People put a lot of emphasis
on the grammar and the spellings and the punctuations. But seriously – I am
ashamed that I don’t know Hindi as well. In fact I can’t even read Jispa’s text
book at a decent speed. Bah! But hopefully I will try and get there.
So now every day I sit with Jispa and ask her – what she did
in school, which are the subjects taught and which topics were discussed. In
the last sem she had the Egyptian and the Harrappan civilization. In explaining
that I also explained how a recent book I read spoke about debunking the Aryan invasion
nd said that possibly the Rig Vedas were written by the Harappan themselves
while on the banks of the Saraswati. This helped her this week as the topic
they discussed next was the Aryan civilization. She also countered / spoke up
in class while the discussions were on. That’s nice.
All the subjects that are taught in school are interesting
by themselves. There is so much magic in history, geography, math, science etc.
So much fun inside to know what all is happening. It’s up to the teacher to
make it come alive, to make it magical for the students. If the teacher is dry
then the subject becomes dry. It’s so important to entertain your students. At
first the concept that I had was the old traditional concept, that’s it’s the student’s
job to study and soak from the teacher. The teacher’s job is simply to be
earnest. But the reverse is actually true. It’s the teacher’s job to ensure that
the students learn. Hence to learn the teacher has to be a joker. It is his
primary job to entertain. Everyone these days is sued to all time always on entertainment.
If you are bored, all you have to do is remove your phone and start playing, browsing
or listen to music and shut off the world. As a teacher or a presenter in a
conference, the challenge is serious. You have to first entertain then educate.
You have to be Patch Adams - “You treat a disease, you win, you lose. You treat
a person, I guarantee you, you'll win, no matter what the outcome”. You don’t teach
the subject, you teach the person!
I hope that Jispa’s looks back on these days with a bit of
fun. I want her to feel that studying was fun with dad. I hope I bring a
certain joy for her subjects, no matter how dry they seem. So I keep trying to
explain to her, how exciting each subject is and how they help us in our lives.
History is also exciting and so are museums. Geaography is exciting and so are
the mountains. Math is a part of our daily life and modern science benefits are
there to see in our lifestyle. Its amazing. School Curriculum is not the issue.
Its all there and fun around you. It’s the teachers that are the issue.
Jasmine good friend is doing a course that teaches he rot be
a Nursery teacher. Dam cool. But as a part of her study she has to submit numerous
teaching aids. She has to paint Raavan and then paint the Ram story and then something
else. And tons of craft and art has it be submitted. How would making all these
‘teaching aids’ make you a great teacher. And how is it that if you don’t know
or are bad at art and craft, would make you a bad teacher. Your job is to have
fun with the kids, enjoy, teach them about basics, respect, independence and
authority. Manners, courtesy and care – that’s important. How much of the
teacher’s course involves using eth multimedia tools available and understanding
the psychology of the kids and the growth patterns we see in particular ages. Sometimes
we are just happily stuck in the dark ages!
Some more bonus Patch Adams quotes. I want to see that movie
with Jispa now.
Hunter Patch
Adams: Our job is improving the quality of life, not just delaying death.
Mitch Roman: I don't like you!
Hunter Patch Adams: Why don't you like me? You're a prick and I like
you.
Hunter Patch Adams: And if we bury you ass up, I have got a place to
park my bike.
Hunter Patch Adams: [Patch is trying to convince Rudy not to be afraid
of squirrels] What could they want? Your nuts?
And the sermon is seen here
