One Thumbs Up That Made My Day

Teaching kids was different.

It wasn't about literary theory, critics, and complicated terms. It was just a story about the fox and the stork. But guess what? The preparation was equally time-consuming and required sincerity.

Because it requires:

reducing speed,

learning and unlearning,

adapting simplicity over sophistication,

focusing on delivery rather than content,

becoming one among them,

and making them listen.

The whole experience felt different.

It's not only about what is told, but also about how it's told.

Because just narrating a story directly doesn't really create an impact. How it's told, and through what medium it is told, is important to attain a positive reception from the kids.

To achieve that, we made a spinning story box, which I named the "Tale-O-Matic Theatre." Basically, we took a rectangular-shaped box, put holes in the top and bottom with proper measurements, and inserted sticks. Then, we arranged the story printouts in order and rolled them onto the sticks. So while narrating the story, each scene was shown along with the clips from the story. This automatically drew the attention of the kids.

Also, I realised that only this external setup isn't enough because, at the end of the day, it's the teacher's job to engage them through their skills.

And today, while I was narrating, the first thing I noticed was that I looked into each one of the kids' eyes. Their eyes moved along with me, monitoring my actions and gestures. Their eyes danced with my movements.

That's the moment I felt like I had achieved a small win.

And at the end, after completing the session, when another ma'am asked how the presentation was, one kid, without a second thought, stood up, showed a thumbs up, and said, "Super ah irunthuchu, ma'am!"

That made my day. It gave me the boost and interest to engage with them further in the remaining days.

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