Feet, Head & Everything Else: May 2010

A lecturer’s job are you kidding me, was the first thing that went through most of my friends mind when I introduced them the idea about me attempting to teach. Can you really teach them, are you sure you wana do this? Don’t play with the students life was what everyone seemed to propose.

Yes I was sure. I gave ABB job a pass to get into teaching and there were considerable other reasons too 

First day in a classroom in front of students who are 3 -5 years younger than you, teaching them talking to them and interacting with them. Yeah that was a challenge. I could do this I said.

Teaching

As a youngster I knew I had to do something different for them to listen to me. So I took notes in my laptop, told them only to listen and not to write anything in the book. So that more time would be given to discussion rather than making notes. It sure worked in the first week but soon backfired when students started taking things for granted.

Back to the traditional way of teaching, the only teacher whom I really understood while she taught me in the class was Miss Bindu S. She commanded the attention of each and every student in the class. She used to ask what was taught in the previous class before starting the present lecture this prompted students to have up to date class books. I did the same too  This worked.

During the feedback

I got a 4.2 score out of 5 for Project Management: 2nd Highest in electrical dept. for 6th Semester. Better than teachers who were permanent.

Also in Industrial Electronics a score of 4.9 out of 5 : 1st in 4th Sem Mechanical

Interaction

Sports Day, Tech Fest or Other college activity I was always there around with my students, damn I even played with them outside the railway station. I even played basket ball inside the campus and a senior lecturer mistook me for a student and asked us to stop playing. hahaha. This is so not what a lecturer does but I guess education should be imparted and not imposed. So interaction was never an issue with them

Discipline

As I was an ex- angel student I was rightfully taught that use of cell phone was banned within the campus, here in the college were I teach the use of cell phone was so rampant that students came up with strange answers when caught using their cell phone during classes.

“Sir, it was my mom trying to call me, so I was messaging her that I am in a lecture”

I had imposed a carpet ban on use of cell phone in at least during my class.

If I caught some with their cell phone, I used to tell them. Okay boy call your DAD NOW, tell him what you are doing with your cell phone during college hours. Or better call you’re MOM, she would certainly get upset quicker.

I was strict during exams time too “ No Identity card, No library card, No need to write the exam was my first sentence when i entered the class” but I used to allow them to copy too, well sometimes we need to be lenient.

I even had a competition with Krishna (Mechanical Dep’t Lecturer) about who catches more number of students cheating during exams. He won, his score was around 38 students while I was stuck on 11. We always used to look forward to get a chance to invigilate for exams. That was fun

Farewell

Well they say all good things come to an end, it sure did in my case. I loved what I was doing 3 months seemed just like a day. The moment you fall in love with your job is the moment you feel like improving on the skills required for the job. I fell in love but I had to go as the contract ended.

I probably got the best exit from college when students came up to me to thanks and wish me luck for my future, gosh that was a moment which you would like to pause for times to come. And i guess that was the first time it was done. Teachers telling me that students like you and they like to listen to you. They sure did trust me. :)

Some Memories