Who am I ?

Who am I? 

It happened a day before yesterday, during one of my placements at a public school of USA. One of the students was observant of the new face present in the class. His eyes and body language was inquisitive enough to ask me, ''who are you '' ? He held himself for a while and before he could he actually walk up to me, the class teacher introduced me to the whole group, but it left me with this question. Who am I?

I wonder that how many roles does an individual play in his/her life! We all have different facets to our personalities. But there are some roles that supersedes the rest. For me, it's my role as a Mother and a Special Educator. I started working for Children with Special Needs at a very young age, the journey of which is still continuing. I have always laughed at the very fact that it is them who have taught me rather than me teaching them... The virtue of patience, empathy and perseverance being the top most concepts. And I am surprised that how the same qualities are helping me in the journey of motherhood. Is it the role of a teacher that is helping is to be a better mother or is it vice versa? I guess it's both the ways.

When we face a number of inquisitive and curious eyes of the learners in our classroom, most of us as teachers, feel an obligation to fill their appetite with the requisite knowledge and skills. What we do with our students not only helps them to improve their functioning but also develop their personality. Teachers are the role model for their students, the way parents are for children.

There is a saying, that '' why do I learn from you if I don't like you ''!!! I find it extremely pertinent in the context of the learners, be it my students or my own child. It's who am I for them that defines how much they will learn from me. That connection is indispensable for teacher-learner.

I hope to discover myself every single day with my learners, be it in USA or my India to get a deeper insight of my own strengths and limitations that will eventually transform me into a better individual and surely a better TEACHER.