I wish my students would know education is not a competitive sport. Neither, teaching and learning is a war. Learning in all forms is a life-long journey and mistakes are part of learning process. Teacher does not try to win against students. And, if there is any kind of battle metaphor, teacher is on student’s side. Don’t think that if a teacher is asking you, then he is accusing you, or trying to get you into trouble. Instead, he is making you clear the concept applying various techniques. A teacher never intends to bother his students and make them feel trouble. Instead, he is a scuba-diver and always believes that every child has some sort of potentiality. I wish my students knew there is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. If he studies a subject and finds it hard to grasp, it does not mean he is stupid. It only means that to better grasp a subject he has to work harder to understand it. Some kids take longer time to learn, whereas some others can learn in a short time frame. It does not a matter but they should give continuity without despair and finally they get understood. I wish my students would know all these things and behave accordingly.

I wish my students knew life is about so much more than who approves them and who does not. Time is so important that it does not return back. So, they need to focus on their top priorities and get the grades they need to meet the future prospects. I wish they would understand grades are earned, not given. Reading brings in them more joy than they could ever imagine. I wish they knew courtesy, respect and good manners are expected everywhere. Bitter words really affect others. They must know to be polite, simple and reverent to the seniors and to those who are in authority.

Why have the parents been donkey? Why is father wearing worn out clothes and riding old bicycle? For what purpose mother has made cracks on her hand and feet?  I wish my students would find out the answer of the questions. I wish they knew parents are incomparable to others. School, teachers and qualification matter a lot, since they are doors into their future. Students should seize every opportunities now- in and beyond the classroom- to develop the horizon of skill and knowledge for the adventures that lie ahead. Life will be better later on, if they put more effort on their education now.

I wish my students knew how hard teacher works for them. Teacher has them on their mind for 12to15hours a day. Teacher never feels like he is doing enough for their education. I wish they knew how hard a teacher tries to protect them and how sorry he is when students worry about their result and ‘getting things wrong’. I wish they knew how much time and effort teacher puts into his lesson because he really do love and care about them. Teacher doesn’t intend for his lesson to make ‘boring’. Teacher always tries his hardest to make teaching and learning fun and fruitful.  I wish they knew how many nights he has stayed up late, how many week end hours he has given, and how much money he has spent on TPT, trying to find the best activities for them in the classroom. He sometimes puts more effort on planning for teaching than he does on his health, or to his kids. I wish my students would understand how much their constant bad behavior affects the teacher’s health and how hard it is to deal with anxiety and depression while teaching.

I wish my students knew it is not actually mandatory to flip every container that contains liquid. Kids need to learn that the teacher is not there to entertain them. Talking sternly is not yelling. Teacher is strict because he does love and care about them. Students make feel proud and happy even if teacher sometimes scolds them. Teacher spends his whole life for them and thinks about them all the time. He tries to make his every class beneficial. If students talk less, they would get more accomplished. When they talk over teacher and don’t listen, teacher gets frustrated and overwhelmed. I wish my students knew education makes life easier and better and school, teachers and parents are the important parts of it. I wish they would know all the above and many more. And, all of above, I love them, I love teaching and I wish for their brighter future.

The author is a teacher at Shishu Niketan Secondary School.