Should a teacher become a walking attendance register? I mean, I know all of their names so they feel connected, but should I need to memorize their Roll Nos. too?
I doubt it.
I have a simple policy: if a piece of data is already sleeping peacefully in a file, I will not invite it to stay rent-free in my head. Why crowd my thinking space when the register is sitting on my desk, fully employed and waiting to be opened?
We should know a teacher's priority.
What should a teacher actually remember?
Not the headcount. The heart-count.
I underline the Heart-Count.
I would rather use my memory to notice who is fighting a battle at home, who has gone quiet after being cheerful, which one dreads speaking in public, who is sitting idle, who is inattentive in my class, etc. etc. But what should I do thereafter?
Should I announce their names, flexing that I am a strict and alert teacher?
Will it reform them? No, I beg to differ.
Rather, if we do so, they will become stubborn.
Then, should I talk about him or her in the staffroom, or should I point them out in class?
No, a big no!
Rather, I will do the opposite. I will ignore it as if I didn't see. And then, I will talk to him in person during recess or before the morning assembly.
And bullies? I have seen their art closely. They are great psychologists in reverse. They wait, they watch, they pick the exact second when no adult is looking, and then they enjoy that cheap, cruel thrill. That hollowness inside them loves company in misery. No percentage or total will ever reveal that drama. Only observant eyes will.
So let papers handle the numbers. That is their duty; let them feel useful.
I want my mind free for the real syllabus — the one not printed in books: a child’s mood, his struggles, his home story.
Yes, I know what I am doing isn't that visible, and that's why I am a teacher with a difference. My teaching does not solely depend upon syllabus and facts; it's more about life lessons, values, and self-enquiry.
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