Little joys to share...

I had never thought that one of my greatest joys would be when a kid in my class who as per record is in the 3rd standard but actually is at the level of standard 1st; would get his first correct carry over addition problem after being explained over and over again! I had never thought that one of my greatest joys would be when two of my kids from class would come up to me on their own and ask me for homework out of curiosity to learn more! I had never thought that one of my greatest joys would be when three of the kids in class would raise their hands and call me at their desk just to say "didi you are so so nice!" And there are more of these little little instances that I don't remember now...I now know the joy of being in the moment and giving your 100%...and when you give your 100% to something you never feel bad for falling flat on your face...you just get up and try harder!
I don't think I have worked harder in my life. And if you think teaching is easy, I dare you to handle my class successfully for a day without pulling your hair out! You'll see kids popping out of their seats, walking around as if the classroom was a playground, you'll see kids poking and hitting each other, some want to constantly go to the loo, someone pretends he has a stomach ache so that he gets to go home, someone wants personal attention, someone just wouldn't speak up as if I were talking to the wall, someone knows not a word of English in spite of being in 3rd standard in an English medium school, someone loves to sit under the desk, someone loves to constantly tap pencil on the desk, someone has family troubles etc. etc....well there are some smart kids around too. Averagely, the attention span of these kids is 8 minutes. I constantly need to do something to grab their attention; and I am working towards it everyday. And I need to be loving and stern at the same time. It may not sound very appealing to many. Teaching, I believe is not a respected job. Its strange how everyone wants to be educated but the moment you tell them you teach primary kids they have an expression on their face which says "couldn't you have done something better in life?" But after a certain point of time you feel let the world think what it thinks. Seeing the way these kids are struggling, I feel if they are not guided the right way in their moulding age they will soon lose interest in studies and drop out of school. For those of you who do not know, 15% of kids in India never get to go to school, 50% of them drop out by 4th standard and 90% of them do not make it to standard 10! These numbers are shocking...I know it will take years of effort to flip them around. But for now I am so happy that I am a part of the solution bit of it even if it impacts only a few in the society. What is the use of education being the fundamental right of every Indian child when he does not have access to quality education just because he is poor! Till when are we going to wait for the world to be a better place on its own? I may be a drop in the ocean but like Helen Keller rightly said:
"I am only one but still I am one. I can't do everything but still I can do something; and because I can't do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do." :)