MY EXPERIENCE AS A TEACHER - By Ms. Namita Chowdhary, Teacher, Open Minds

                                 Teaching is one of the most complicated jobs today. It demands broad knowledge of the subject, curriculum and standards; enthusiasm, a caring attitude and love of learning; knowledge of discipline and classroom management techniques; a desire to make a difference in the lives of young people! With all these qualities required, it’s no wonder that it’s hard to find ‘great teachers’.

                           Teachers have a very important responsibility of shaping the lives of young children. With this responsibility comes great pride and joy. According to me a ‘teacher’ can be defined as someone who always pushes students to do their best while at the same time trying to make learning interesting as well as creative. A positive or negative influence from a teacher early-on in life can have a great effect on the life of a child.

                                Each teacher can recount numerous highs and lows in their teaching career. Personally, I experienced many great moments while teaching. These were days when I ended so happy and enthusiastic that I knew I had selected the right profession. On the other hand, I had days where I definitely questioned teaching as a career. Thankfully the positive days outshines my negative days.

                             As a teacher I can never forget the lessons learned during my first year teaching. I was just done with my Diploma in Business Management and got a call from the college where I did my Masters in Cosmetic Technology, they asked me to teach the students pursuing Bachelors one of my favorite subject called ‘Cos-Tech’. I was young, happy, enthusiastic and energetic with the thought of being a ‘teacher’ in the college where I studied.

                           All geared up and ready to go for my first lecture with the thought that as a teacher I know everything, got me in trouble, I never thought about the fact- that apart from knowledge the kind of preparations required to be done by a teacher is so important.  Even though I had the knowledge, the output of it can be best judged from what my students would deliver. I even realized the fact that the students are a replica of their teacher, one can see the impact that a teacher has on their students and I saw it in mine….

                             Down the lane now I am a teacher, a mentor, a guide nurturing small and young minds of kids of the Primary years and have realized yet again that a teacher is a learner first and learns so many new things from each and every student of hers. A teacher always strives to get the best out of her students, loves each and every one of them; for what she is today is because of her students. 

-Namita Chowdhary,

 Teacher

Open Minds A Birla School, Kollur, Hyderabad