I have been been a private tutor for kids for some time now and it has given me the opportunity to meet and interact with some wonderful people. These little people usually call me "ma'am". Even though I am responsible for teaching them, occasionally they also teach me lesson or two. They fill my life with joy and stress at the same time.
There are a couple of things that I have found similar in all my students. They love to brag. They'll speak about their day at school as if it were a gruesome day at a battlefield far away, where they had fought against the injustice their school teachers had thrust on them and had eventually emerged victorious. Their school teachers end up being the biggest villains in their lives for the simple act of setting homework and tests. Ask them their favorite class and they'll promptly mention music, dance, sports or art! It's adorable how they loathe me when I put a stop to all their chatter and make them look at their books. Every time we take a break between lessons, each and every student of mine starts mimicking their subject teachers at school and well they do an amazing job! They'll all complain to me about how heartlessly their teachers took them to their respective principals' office after they committed some tiny little act of mischief.
One of my students was a kid who didn't know basic calculations and I had to teach him how to add at least four times before I decided that I wasn't the "One" for him. Another one of my kids always turned up late and the excuses she made could give any creative writer a run for her money - "There was a tiny puppy on the way" she said one evening in November, a time of the year when the breeding season was long over and all the pups had outgrown their cuteness. Another student of mine never prepared his lessons and when quizzed he would put up an act of misfortune, as if he just read the chapter before coming over, but now he couldn't recall it. A boy whose house I go to for tutoring comes up with the weirdest excuses to prevent me from teaching - "My dog tore the book into pieces" he'll say with a sad face till I persuade him and he finally brings out the book intact. In fact one evening he brought his dog into the room and jumped all over the room with it till they knocked over and demolished a glass full of juice and his father's prized Trophy!
My students make me go through a range of emotions every time. I enjoy the time I spend with them as it takes me back to the nuances of schooldays. Handling these hooligans gives me joy, especially when they give me the exact answers I expect them to and I know if I can go through this, I can handle any damn storm if it ever comes to it. I love them for being so real and being themselves.
There are a couple of things that I have found similar in all my students. They love to brag. They'll speak about their day at school as if it were a gruesome day at a battlefield far away, where they had fought against the injustice their school teachers had thrust on them and had eventually emerged victorious. Their school teachers end up being the biggest villains in their lives for the simple act of setting homework and tests. Ask them their favorite class and they'll promptly mention music, dance, sports or art! It's adorable how they loathe me when I put a stop to all their chatter and make them look at their books. Every time we take a break between lessons, each and every student of mine starts mimicking their subject teachers at school and well they do an amazing job! They'll all complain to me about how heartlessly their teachers took them to their respective principals' office after they committed some tiny little act of mischief.
One of my students was a kid who didn't know basic calculations and I had to teach him how to add at least four times before I decided that I wasn't the "One" for him. Another one of my kids always turned up late and the excuses she made could give any creative writer a run for her money - "There was a tiny puppy on the way" she said one evening in November, a time of the year when the breeding season was long over and all the pups had outgrown their cuteness. Another student of mine never prepared his lessons and when quizzed he would put up an act of misfortune, as if he just read the chapter before coming over, but now he couldn't recall it. A boy whose house I go to for tutoring comes up with the weirdest excuses to prevent me from teaching - "My dog tore the book into pieces" he'll say with a sad face till I persuade him and he finally brings out the book intact. In fact one evening he brought his dog into the room and jumped all over the room with it till they knocked over and demolished a glass full of juice and his father's prized Trophy!
My students make me go through a range of emotions every time. I enjoy the time I spend with them as it takes me back to the nuances of schooldays. Handling these hooligans gives me joy, especially when they give me the exact answers I expect them to and I know if I can go through this, I can handle any damn storm if it ever comes to it. I love them for being so real and being themselves.
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