...Teaching Methods...

All of us must have watched Aamir Khan's maiden directorial debut Taare Zameen Par (2007). A beautifully conceived film. The credit should go to the nearly seven years of background work done by Amol Gupte, the movie's creative head; the same guy who played Boppe (goon turned politician), our Sweety's brother in Kaminey (2009). The concept was also well executed on screen by our perfectionist director Khan. Do watch this movie if you haven't until now.

I just caught it again on television this morning; was moved by the Meri Ma song and was furious seeing the teachers' attitude towards weak students.

Give a thought to the portrayal of the teachers in the movie. Stereotypical? Like how all the South Indian women wear bright-coloured gold-bordered nine-yard saris and drink only filter coffee from steel tumblers :)

We have all been to school and most of our teachers are wonderful human beings, the epitome of patience and understanding, willing to help any time; especially those teaching in the kindergarten and primary school have an excess of these qualities in them. Then???

We were in STD XII, yes, the year of the second board exams. Our first mid-terminals were over; the Chemistry paper was extremely tough; we hoped we could at least manage a 20 on 50 (the pass mark)! Saar came in with a bundle of papers and a cane. "All of you take out a chit of paper write down the marks you expect. If the expectations do not match your marks, I'll use the cane for sure. If you get higher marks than you expect, you get extra canings."

.....heads I win and tails you lose situation....

In no particular order, the papers were distributed; the marks were compared to those on the chit; the cane did its job, each time when difference was a huge one.

The question paper was a tough one, but our practice and hard work never went wasted. We all scored well above 35; Organic Chemistry is like Mathematics and Grammar, you either get it right or totally wrong; there aren't any half or quarter correct answers there.

The cane missed our palms by inches whenever it was used because it was always aimed at the writing desk! Thank you Saar! Happy Teacher's Day

An exercise in confidence building....

Pic Courtesy: Solutions to Teacher Problems @ Extelligence....