What motivates students in My Class ?

As I look back my 26^th years of my teaching in school, thousands of students have graduated from school and each one of them was different from others in terms of his performance, behaviour and learning styles. For teachers, the biggest challenge is to keep students engaged, challenged and self-motivated in the learning process.

       Now I adopt a strategic approach to connect with students. As they join my class, I identify their skills, learning styles and interest in games and co-curricular activities. Some are good sportsmen, dancers, actors, debaters, artists, mountaineers, friendly, shy and many other similar traits.

     Students feel highly motivated in a class when a teacher is able to

a)      Connect with them by acknowledging their achievements in all fronts and not just academics.

b)      Accept that each student is different and learns differently.

c)       Uses students’ centric approach and allows flexible learning outcome. (a slow learner may be given a little extra time or questions with lesser difficulty level.

The Great Indian skill called 'Jugaad'!

I was pleasantly surprised when I came accross a so called 'jugaad'  at the langar (community kitchen) at the Gurugwara Paonta Sahib today. The water dispenser used to serve water to the sangat (devotees) was constructed from a tank on a trolley that was connected to a bicycle handle. The handle was used to maneuver the tank and the breaks were used to control the flow of water from the tank, helping serve water conveniently and without spilling a drop! It was a great innovation, using resources available locally to create something of convenience and use.
This skill of creativity and innovation is a consequence of limited availability of resources. It is this skill that we educators need to encourage our students to develop. To be able to use inexpensive resources available locally not only helps us to find an alternative and affordable solutions to many problems, but also helps us recycle, reduce imports and conserve our natural resources.