How I became a teacher, mentor!

Well, while teaching is definitely one of the long term options that I often think about, this act, became more of a reality when I signed up for the “Speak Out” session of Team Everest, for the second term, to teach English for a college student, through audio calls.

While signing up for any volunteer program, gets me excited, it sure is pretty difficult to stay disciplined and committed to the cause. I think that ultimately becomes the secret sauce in getting any initiative to succeed. As somebody told me one time, “Everybody wants and has the intention to volunteer. But what they lack, is a knowhow of doing it, and perhaps a certain mind block that restrains them from going the whole nine yards and staying committed”.

Well, I for one, believe in the strong maxim, of “Something is better than nothing”. I am sure there are people who can do a diligent job of teaching much better than me, and consistently also... but I did not want this to shy me away from signing up

So here’s my teaching cum learning journey as I went through the 3 month program:

Keeping to a daily schedule is difficult!

Through this program 2 of us volunteers signed up to teach a single student. This means that I did not have to take classes every single day, but could alternate with my volunteer, and Uthara who was paired up with me, was pretty flexible and helped me out... So you would think that should have made this a cake walk? Nope... not really. Volunteering for 45 minutes, anytime between 9 and 10pm in the evening was quite a challenge, between work calls, personal priorities (like fixing dinner at home), or stepping out of the home for personal chores.. But fortunately with my mentee Meenadchi, (Yeah she is my namesake) and her earnestness to learn and be flexible, we completed all the 40 sessions a week or two ago...

Teaching is understanding...

Now over these 20 sessions that I took, I had to ask Meeandchi to talk about different situations and topics, as part of the language exercise in a non-intrusive way. And that is how I knew that - She was bitten by a dog one time, She was a Vijay fan (and not Ajith), She saw very few movies and read books even more lesser, She had a sister and a mother that she was very attached to, having lost her father, at the age of 2.. And finally that she belonged to the selfie taking culture, where she had described her conversation with an alien, ending with “Can I take a selfie with you”... I have been impressed by the amount of positivity and cheerfulness she brought to every call. I only hope that with her lovely attitude, she goes further than she can dream of today…

A structure matters a lot...

Now, if somebody was to approach me, and ask me to take English, even though I knew the language well, I would hesitate to do that, without a proper structure put in place to handle the journey. Thanks to Karthee and Team Everest they have created a simple and consistent structure with day wise schedule that made the whole journey understandable and achievable both for me and the mentee...

Keeping it simple...

If there is one message that I kept conveying to Meenadchi, it was about the absolute importance of keeping things simple. I believe we falter often, when we choose the bigger words without understanding them too well. And that is where, expressing our everyday thoughts, in the simplest form of language, makes the speaker thoroughly comfortable and confident about what is being delivered...

And I did not know things deeply!

Well at the end of every session, there were topics given for homework, where she had to research and come back with a short para on the topic. When we had to talk about GST, or Elections, or Tim Cook, I realized I myself had to know these topics very deeply before I guided her... Since these are just a few liner chit chat topics, when we have them with others. But when you are entrusted in teaching somebody, then you feel completely responsible for doing the research and then doing the teaching..

Teaching virtually works

Well I have not seen Meenadchi till date (her Whatsapp DP is also not updated till date). And perhaps she could say the same thing of me...But with every conversation, and with 20 hours spent over 3 months I certainly feel I had a fair understanding of her, and our forum worked effectively. So the next time some of us old timers, think, that only a person to person connect is more effective, initiatives such as these proves us wrong in a nice way

Volunteering is a family thing... not just about the individual

And in conclusion, I would definitely say, that it was not just me trying to get this exercise done... It involved my family’s understanding that the 9pm to 11pm slot on certain days was blocked and I could not spare that for them, preferring a closed door conversation with my student, where they may not disturb me, while the session was on...

So altogether it was a wonderful experience, even though I felt tensed a couple of times, when I was not able to keep up to the schedule... Well the test of truth, we will have to wait to see how Meenadchi blossoms! But what she assured me, is that I taught well, and perhaps I should become a Higher Secondary teacher, when I expressed my long term intention to work with kids below 10...(And my logic.. kids below 10 listen to you completely, than the older ones!)

Now how about that! And for you, dear readers, if you happen to get a chance I would definitely encourage you to do a stint at this, while I have personally been doing a PR in my small circles for people to sign up for the same..”Giving back is a wonderful feeling indeed”... Do sign up to experience this

(Note: Karthee’s team hardly knows that I am going to post this! So just a few thoughts that I wanted to record... before I forget the engaging experience!)