You learn something every day if you pay attention.

The statement set the wheels in my mind churning. Till I had ‘read’ it, it was just another statement out of the many I had read throughout the day. It made me sit up and think what I had learnt from all the things I had done the whole day.

In today’s age of short attention spans, becoming shorter everyday with the new gadgets and new methodologies of media to grab attention, it becomes important for me as a teacher to ensure that students remain interested in the content being taught.

The thirty-five minutes of the class sometimes become so difficult since the children these days ask questions ranging from ‘Why the sky is blue’ to ‘why the trees do not fall in hill stations?’ I know you must be wondering what is wrong with the question, perfectly legit question.

Wait! I still have to give you the back-ground to the questions. The topic being done in the class Plant Adaptations in Desert plants....

The statement/question being told/asked by the cutest/brilliant student is

‘Teacher, teacher... (Infinity times)...

(When the instructions are to raise your hand, wait for being asked to speak, but no Teacher... he has to ask, so he has to ask. I relent and tell him to speak & believe me he does speak...)

The plants growing in water do not have stomata at the underside.”

Controlling that crick in my neck... I very politely ask him...

Is that a query or are you telling me.

The head bobs up and down, up and down, ‘Teacher I knew this.’

I re-confirm ‘So, you are telling me about it.’

‘Yes Teacher’

But, we are doing desert plants.

Yes Teacher

So how is it related (trying in vain to make him realise that he should have waited for the topic to be discussed...)

The head bobs up & down more furiously.... ‘But, then you would have told....’

I patiently ask him, ‘Any more things you want to ask.’ I re-direct the question to include the rest of the class. No hands go up.

I continue (try & continue is more like it) with describing plants in deserts. The hand shoots up again...

‘Teacher, teacher... teacher, teacher... teacher, teacher...’ giving up on attempts to ignore him, I ask, ‘Yes’.

Teacher, you had told Mesophytes are plants that can survive in plains.

I wait, nodding my head in acknowledgment, for the question to come... finally, I ask him, ‘and... .’

Teacher I just wanted to tell you.

I could go on with the recount of the whole class, but I would prefer to give only a snippet.

But, how is this related to the quote in the beginning of the blog. The relation lies in the fact, that today I learnt that there are always going to be eager beavers in the class who want to be the first to answer and also the first to ‘inform’ and also be the most naughtiest of the lot.

Teaching has been made a fun and a challenge because of the ‘eager beavers’ in the class, who not only keep me on my toes but also keep the class lively with their lovely antics.