Teachin' the Teachers :P

Well, 18th Jan 2008 would be etched in my life as the day when I got a chance to be on the stage, teaching a subject to the very teachers who had taught me when I was in college.

My diploma college, Vivekanad Education Society's Polytechnic, was sponsored by the Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education (MSBTE) to conduct trainin sessions for teachers across various colleges on new subjects introduced in the curriculum. When I had done my diploma, we had the annual pattern of syllabi. We had already learnt those subjects. But later, it was changed to semester pattern.

When I had been to college to meet one of my professors for taking his recommendations for my MS aspirations, he had asked me if I would be interested in giving a seminar. A certificate from my college stating that 'He has conducted a training for the state board sponsored programme' would definitely help me in getting a teaching assisstanceship (TA) during my graduation.

I wholeheartedly agreed and chose the topic of GUI designing in Java. Java has always been 1 of my favourite subjects. So it would not require much reading and time.

On 18th I reached college at 13:00 hours. My session was to start at 14:00 hours. I had thought that it would be for 1 hour. But on reaching there, I learned it was originally scheduled for 2 hours. I decided that I wont unnecessarily prolong my session as it would have a bad impact.

Teaching, or in general, public speaking, has always been in my blood. My parents have been teachers almost throughtout their lives. Especially my dad was a renowned professor when he was in India. When he went to Muscat, he earned respect and appreciation there too, even having taught the royal families of Yemen, Oman, etc. My brother, my uncle, all have been great speakers.

The session went smoothly, I knew that the audience was tired of attending sessions since the past 4 days. So, I took a different approach of teaching, I involved them in the discussion and ensured that their interest does not wane. I cracked jokes and brought out relevant anecdotes which aided my purpose.

When the session ended, I was really humbled when senior teachers walked upto me, just to congratulate me on my efforts. They said they were very satisfied with my novel way of teaching and wished me luck. Some teachers even asked for my visiting card, so that they could contact me in future for other seminars in their respective colleges.

I was thoroughly happy that I was invited by my college for this, expressed my thanks to my professors and left...