Storytime: The Joy of Giving Back
-Ruchita Nair, Young Changemaker
“The more you give, the more you get.”
The above quote tersely tells my experience with the amazing students I had the wonderful opportunity of teaching. I was able to share with them the knowledge I had gained through these few years of life, and in return I received unparalleled joy. When me and my students interacted the atmosphere wasn’t that of an onerous classroom, but rather a warm house where everyone is deeply connected as a family. At first the students were hesitant to even greet me with a shy ‘hello’, but soon I had numerous students greeting me before class started, multiple cameras turned on, active participation throughout the session and timely submission of homework.
The students weren’t comfortable with me when we first started off, not only because I was their new teacher, but also due to the fact that they had started to unintentionally believe in a certain social hierarchy which made them create a thick wall between us. I can’t say breaking the wall was easy, but with the help of my highly supportive team and my constant hard work, I was able to break that wall. It was true that I was on the other side of the table at the moment, I was ‘The Teacher’. But even so, I wanted them to confide in me, to see me as family while at the same time returning the respect I gave them. During my session I ensured that I was approachable to the students, and that anyone who asked me a query would switch off their mics holy satisfied that their doubt had been cleared. It was my goal from the very start to make sure that once I had taught my students, not even a sliver of doubt would linger in their minds. I wanted to make each and every topic crystal clear, and I am proud to say that my goal was accomplished.
I personally spent time with students who were facing some kind of difficulty, gave personal feedback to each and every student on their homework, made sure that not only did I appreciate their work but also provided them with constructive criticism for improvement. And with all my efforts, solely and steadily the class not only opened up to me but also learned a crucial life lesson – never give up. At first the students would throw in the towel at the very sight of a hard question, but eventually they became determined to even solve the trickiest questions, ready to take up all the challenges I threw at them as a team.
Along the way, I also noticed one prominent thing in the class – the major gap between the student’s understanding of the subject. The class was more or less divided into three groups of students: the first, who seemed to already know the topics I was teaching and thus didn’t concentrate in my sessions; the second, who worked along with me and actively participated in class; and the third, the ones who were slow learners who had a weak basic and weren’t able the gage what was being taught and thus tended to lose interest in the sessions all together. This was a serious issue that had to be addressed immediately, as this created a division in the class, a class that had to be a team. But that was not all, another problem with this system was that more than half the students weren’t getting anything out of these sessions and that was unacceptable for me.
Thus, after brainstorming and discussing the issue with my mentors, I came up with a new strategy. I made sure that I encouraged the weaker students to keep asking their doubts and cleared their basics as and when required to be applied to a certain concept, thus involving these students in class. I also gave them personal assistance when needed to clear their doubts and thus helped them rise onto the level of their counterparts. For the students who were already familiar with the concepts taught in class, I ensured to give a few tricky questions when I tested the concept understanding. By doing so I was able to keep these students engaged as well and they were able to learn new things at the end of the session. I also encouraged students to help each other out, thus cultivating team-spirit and deepening the bond of friendship and togetherness.
The sessions as a whole were a joyous experience and the motivating feedback from the students along with the kind words of our prestigious guests really made me ecstatic. This was the first time the students were actually doing something unique and creative, something other than their day to day studies, something that blossomed their artistic nature, something like Canva, and hearing them talk about their wonderful experience and the great time they had with us was heart-warming. Our final goodbye was a bittersweet moment as I could see how far my precious students had come and how beautifully they were growing to become great individuals, though at the same time I was aware that I wouldn’t be able to teach this amazing batch ever again.
The session was engaging and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Interacting with the students and sharing my likes and dislikes helped me understand how similar we all truly were, and just how enjoyable working together would be. Sharing a few lines from one of my favorite pieces of literature, Hamlet by Shakespeare, was a wholesome experience and I am glad that I was able to tell all the students about one of the greatest play writers of history. I enjoyed listening to everyone else share beautiful paragraphs from their personal favorite pieces of literature, and was highly motivated after learning the few awesome quotes one of the students shared with the class. Interacting with those wonderful students was a fantastic experience and I can’t wait to collaborate with my team and empower those brilliant young minds
The remarkable experience of teaching brought me immense joy and satisfaction and I am so glad I was able to have a great impact in the lives of these little caterpillars who would one day become mesmerizing butterflies.
Ruchita Nair is a Grade 11 students from Amity International School, who started at TribesforGOOD with the Global Challenges and Social Justice Program and imparted digital skills to high school students from underprivileged backgrounds. She later took part in the Reimagining Global Challenges program and started her own initiative Children for Children, to provide affordable life skill training for children from different backgrounds.
TribesforGOOD’s Reimagining Global Challenges and Social Justice program is an advanced social impact program for Changemakers eager to create their own niche in the impact space. Interested? Fill this form to sign up for the upcoming months!
