There was a time when I, as a Graduate Student in Physics at
Harvard, working for my Ph.D,, decided to teach part-time whenever I
could.
I first taught at the Harvard Summer School, where students came to study Physics for admission to their medical colleges, and not because they had any special interest in Physics. In fact many of them hated the subject as being one of the most difficult in Science.
I, and a Dr. Vedam, were assigned separate classrooms which were adjacent and the students divided equally between us.
Dr. Vedam was a brilliant physicist. I did not consider myself brilliant at all and often hated the subject and wondered what I was doing in Physics, rather than being in Philosophy or Religious Studies.
All our professors at Harvard were international scientists in Physics being outstanding and eminent in their profession. But I often felt they were incomprehensible because their theories and research went above our heads, and I often slept through their classes! lol.
I had seen so many difficult teachers in High School and Grade School that they had made me hate studying and going to school. And Physics was a subject I especially hated-- and yet I continued on with it, right up to the Ph.D level.
The teachers I loved were the ones who taught with love and friendliness- like Mr. Hardip Sikund our Science Teacher at Allen Memorial High School, and the love-filled teachers at Vincent Hill School also in the same city. And their examples inspired me to "teaching with love" in later years.
When I decided to teach Physics part time, at the Harvard Summer School and later at Pine Manor College in Boston, I made up my mind to be a good teacher and to make my students understand every word of what I said.
So, I began by learning Physics myself even as I taught it. And here is what happened at Harvard, first:
I found that my class was swelling up. From 50 students it became a 100 in a few days.
On the other hand, Dr. Vedam's classes were diminishing in numbers until one day I found him walking all alone in the corridors bemoaning the fact that he had only zero students left!!
What had happened to his 50 students? They had quit his class and were crowding mine. Some had only standing space left for them.
When I asked one of the students why they were quitting Vedam's classes, and coming to mine, they said to me:
"We come to your lectures because of your way of teaching, which is so simple that anyone can understand it -- and the fact that it is continuously filled with jokes and humor...and we laugh as we learn..it is more like entertainment than Physics.."
I said to the students that I could tell some of my jokes to Vedam, but this made them laugh even more!
And this is what I learnt from my teaching experience:
1. Dont act like a "teacher" to your students. Be their friend instead.
Dont act as if you know much more than they will ever know, but try to show them that you know only as much as they do!
Above all, never be stern, arrogant or haughty while teaching, be humble and loving, kind and gentle and prepared to answer every question they have to ask.
2. Interlace your teaching with humor on your subject, poke fun at your subject, in fact, and you will carry your students with you!
3. I had started my classes with my introductory remark:
"Believe me! It is very hard to fail in Freshman Physics-- even if you try!! So dont be worried or scared. Lets learn Physics together, to try and lessen the boredom!"
From that moment on, the students were with me. I was readily approachable and available to them any time, in class or out, even in the dining hall, and -- in the end, I never failed even one student in the final exams.
I gave them "Take Home exams" which they could answer in their dormitories. I never suspected them of cheating from each other, and this made them even more honest and grateful and loving towards me.
In the middle of the examination paper, the students would suddenly find my scribbled handwriting, saying:
"STOP! TAKE A CUP OF ORANGE-PEEK-A-BOO TEA BEFORE PROCEEDING, GO REFRESH YOURSELVES!"
I only realised how much the students loved me when the entire class started weeping on the last day in the class-room when the course ended! And I must say I had tears in my eyes too.
I would advise people who really wish to help others, to take up teaching as a profession, it gives you a feeling of satisfaction that no other profession does, even though the salaries are not as high as in other professions.
But the love, honor and respect you get, and the sense of fulfillment you feel is unmatched.No amount of money in the world could give you this satisfaction. I do not believe even the leaders and celebrities in our countries get the kind of respect that us teachers get in our small classes,--if we teach with love and humility.
I first taught at the Harvard Summer School, where students came to study Physics for admission to their medical colleges, and not because they had any special interest in Physics. In fact many of them hated the subject as being one of the most difficult in Science.
I, and a Dr. Vedam, were assigned separate classrooms which were adjacent and the students divided equally between us.
Dr. Vedam was a brilliant physicist. I did not consider myself brilliant at all and often hated the subject and wondered what I was doing in Physics, rather than being in Philosophy or Religious Studies.
All our professors at Harvard were international scientists in Physics being outstanding and eminent in their profession. But I often felt they were incomprehensible because their theories and research went above our heads, and I often slept through their classes! lol.
I had seen so many difficult teachers in High School and Grade School that they had made me hate studying and going to school. And Physics was a subject I especially hated-- and yet I continued on with it, right up to the Ph.D level.
The teachers I loved were the ones who taught with love and friendliness- like Mr. Hardip Sikund our Science Teacher at Allen Memorial High School, and the love-filled teachers at Vincent Hill School also in the same city. And their examples inspired me to "teaching with love" in later years.
When I decided to teach Physics part time, at the Harvard Summer School and later at Pine Manor College in Boston, I made up my mind to be a good teacher and to make my students understand every word of what I said.
So, I began by learning Physics myself even as I taught it. And here is what happened at Harvard, first:
I found that my class was swelling up. From 50 students it became a 100 in a few days.
On the other hand, Dr. Vedam's classes were diminishing in numbers until one day I found him walking all alone in the corridors bemoaning the fact that he had only zero students left!!
What had happened to his 50 students? They had quit his class and were crowding mine. Some had only standing space left for them.
When I asked one of the students why they were quitting Vedam's classes, and coming to mine, they said to me:
"We come to your lectures because of your way of teaching, which is so simple that anyone can understand it -- and the fact that it is continuously filled with jokes and humor...and we laugh as we learn..it is more like entertainment than Physics.."
I said to the students that I could tell some of my jokes to Vedam, but this made them laugh even more!
And this is what I learnt from my teaching experience:
1. Dont act like a "teacher" to your students. Be their friend instead.
Dont act as if you know much more than they will ever know, but try to show them that you know only as much as they do!
Above all, never be stern, arrogant or haughty while teaching, be humble and loving, kind and gentle and prepared to answer every question they have to ask.
2. Interlace your teaching with humor on your subject, poke fun at your subject, in fact, and you will carry your students with you!
3. I had started my classes with my introductory remark:
"Believe me! It is very hard to fail in Freshman Physics-- even if you try!! So dont be worried or scared. Lets learn Physics together, to try and lessen the boredom!"
From that moment on, the students were with me. I was readily approachable and available to them any time, in class or out, even in the dining hall, and -- in the end, I never failed even one student in the final exams.
I gave them "Take Home exams" which they could answer in their dormitories. I never suspected them of cheating from each other, and this made them even more honest and grateful and loving towards me.
In the middle of the examination paper, the students would suddenly find my scribbled handwriting, saying:
"STOP! TAKE A CUP OF ORANGE-PEEK-A-BOO TEA BEFORE PROCEEDING, GO REFRESH YOURSELVES!"
I only realised how much the students loved me when the entire class started weeping on the last day in the class-room when the course ended! And I must say I had tears in my eyes too.
I would advise people who really wish to help others, to take up teaching as a profession, it gives you a feeling of satisfaction that no other profession does, even though the salaries are not as high as in other professions.
But the love, honor and respect you get, and the sense of fulfillment you feel is unmatched.No amount of money in the world could give you this satisfaction. I do not believe even the leaders and celebrities in our countries get the kind of respect that us teachers get in our small classes,--if we teach with love and humility.
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