Heartbeat of a Her

And here she is
Wisdom tells me Im nothing
Love tells me Im everything
Within the two, my life flows...

her journey her love her other voices her and herself

Heartbeat of a Her

Wednesday, March 12, 2008 The spinning mind

9:05 am

I've always wondered how it is and what it is that makes each child or student learn the way they do.. Every single child is so unique that no one of them is the same. When you teach a class of students, you'll be able to see so many stark differences in the way your students behave that you'll start to think how do they become the way they are.. You'll find some interesting characters you wudnt know whether to laugh or cry.

The self motivators
Some of them will be sitting quietly and listening intently. They are able to complete their assignments on time and have absolutely no behavioral concerns. Even when you leave them alone, they'll automatically take out their own books to read or do practice exercises.

The dreamers
Then there are those who will be sitting quietly asking no questions making no noise disturbances.. just that, you'll be able to tell that they are lost.. they are like dreaming.. caught in their own world. And it is shown through their work.. they did not grasp anything that you were teaching.

The attention seekers
Some students love attention.. even when they are getting it for the wrong reasons. Once you attempt to teach, there'll just be sth they are up to. Be it poking their friends with their pencil, taking away others' stationeries, suddenly standing up, as if there's nothing wrong with that or one classic case, singing away in class as though he is in the shower.

The above is just a few of the many personalities you'll find in students.

I love what im doing.. But I believe being a teacher or an educator or whatever we call ourselves is not simply about laying out the facts and content to students, seeing them through examinations and then call it a year. To me its about empowering each life you come across and teaching them the right techniques to effective learning. So I find myself having to understand how the brain works and knowing how to apply skills like mind mapping and super memory. Its a journey of learning all over again for me and I love that. I also believe that if we can motivate and instill interest in students, they will on their own find means and ways to learn for the mind on its own is resourceful.

Sadly, many of them are not motivated to learn.. they are not enthusiastic in learning and this will affect their academic performance. And what do we do? Because of that, we label them.. as lazy, as a slow learner, as someone who will just be the average joe. And guess what.. they will identify with that identity and then their brain is programmed to be just that and nothing more.

It really breaks my heart when I come across students who after have done something well, will be commended by me but will not be able to take in the praise. I'll say something like, " Thats so clever of you! ". And what do they say in reply? " No, Im not... My mother/father/sister/brother/teacher said that im not."

Gee.. clearly sth went wrong somewhere.. We tend to underestimate what we say to children. The thing is, they take in every single thing we say and it forms their belief towards themselves. All it takes is positive thinking and thoughts passed to them and thats what will separate a high achiever from a i-am-not-smart-and-i-can-never-do-anything-well.

Not wealth... not advanced technology but just simple and sincere guidance from us will do.