Elon Musk in my Classroom?
Schools are one of the finest workplaces on Earth. Well, some may diagree. Schools as organisations are literally a melting pot for curiosity, emotions, behaviours and conversations. While one’s work directly shapes the future of the students; your engagement with young minds is just beyond the traditional definition of the teaching profession. You are a champion for the young minds. A role model.
School is a world in itself.
Hello readers, welcome to this yet another reflective blogpost.
It was another unforgettable day at school. An eleven-year-old (B) joined my batch of students. He was shy on the very first day, but he responded promptly whenever he was asked a question. He was calm all through the sessions that day.
The second session that very week was incredible. It was a ESL activity. As students came up and wrote vocabulary words on the green board. B wrote vocabulary words that were related to electric energy, space, etc. While other students took turns to list out their words, B kept speaking about rockets, and rocket launch. Out of curiosity, I asked, “Do you know Elon Musk”. He didn’t get the words right away due to my accent. So, I repeated, “Do you know Elon Musk, the founder of TESLA Cars, the electric cars?. “Yes, yes… Elon Musk”, he replied with a big smile on his face. I was a bit surprised, but there wasn’t a reasons to be surprised. We live in a time where access to information and knowledge has been democratised by technology, and the Internet. However, I was amazed how Grade V student responded, and I was happy later to know about his background and interest in Science.
B kept uttering about his curiosity with a host of associated topics, and ideas. Sometimes the conversations would not end even with ringing of the school bell. Often, he would love to talk and connect different topics, discussed in the class, to his understanding of various concepts. Sometimes, the ideas were unrelated, and sometimes they were not comprehensible to other students. However, I truly appreciated his effort and engagement during the learning process in the class. I also feel happy that I gave that space, and built rapport wherein students feely engaged in coversations, and confidently shared what they wished to share in the class.
I will conclude this blog post with a quote by Einstein — “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.”
I am looking forward to my next session at the school.
