The small learnings make a big difference: Namrata Dalal Sure

I have been teaching for almost seven years now. Most of the times, you're not necessarily learning something big, but pick up small things from students such as fixing the internet, new Power Point features, Google Docs, etc.

Today's teens are far more tech savvy than their teachers and consequently more engaged and curious too. Being a foreign language facilitator my role is not limited to teaching the grammatical structure or communicating, but also involves giving them a better understanding of life in a language's country of origin or countries where it's spoken. For this, I'm constantly striving to make the class more fun, interactive and knowledgeable.

Teenagers watch a lot of TV and listen to international music, they often update me about what's new and exciting. And if it's feasible, I go ahead and incorporate it as a teaching tool. Recently, I was dealing with Hispanic festivals and a student got interested in Quinceañera, which celebrates a girl's 15th birthday, after seeing the viral video of "Ruby's Quincenera" for which everyone on the internet was invited. I was completely unaware of it till the student told me about it, but later showing it to entire class, enhanced the experience for students.

A few months ago, I had another eye-opening experience. In the race to complete our portion, meet deadlines and ensure students obtain high scores, we somehow function like robots. Despite a good track record, one particular Class 11 student constantly seemed distracted and when asked, he would tell me he is sleepy. Then once he mentioned that there was a lot 'family drama' going on at home, but I didn't believe him, and reprimanded him. I even complained about him to my boss. Later the student got really upset and asked, "What is this? Why don't you understand? Help out students! Even we go through a lot of stuff." At that age, students don't take too well to being scolded in front of everyone and I felt bad that he had to point out that teachers should be helpful. Thereafter, I changed my approach—if there was a problem, I started speaking to him separately, showed him that I genuinely cared and bore no grudge against him. Et voilà, I had his attention for the rest of the classes despite the family problems.

This episode made me see the importance of a friendly approach. I also realised that we mustn't just focus on marks alone, but also need to have a connect with students. We need to shed our superiority and laugh at our mistakes in front of them, instead of thinking we are always right. Taking them seriously and reverting to them after verifying their points, builds in them a respect for you, confidence in your credibility and makes them feel involved, which in turn has them engaged and delivering better. The approach has turned out a win-win for everyone.

(The author is a foreign language teacher at DY Patil International Worli and Fazlani L' Acadamie Globale.)

As told to Pooja Bhula