'How can I help?'

That's the question that keeps coming to my mind despite retiring the second time round.

Teaching children ... let me rephrase that, motivating children has been, for me, the best part of my teaching career that spans some 40 years. I found that they have the capacity to astound me with their enthusiasm and stamina. I am talking about those who really want to do well.

They put themselves through a punishing pace and I have to be way ahead researching, preparing to put them through the next hurdle, in such a way as to make it seem easy. If I have become creative, I definitely did not do it by myself.

My students had me jumping through hoops to come up with mnemonics, mind maps, memory games, chants and 'Oh, the songs of yesteryears!". Of course we get into arguments about the oldies but "Hey, teacher," they say, "There is such a thing as remix."

So this 'oldie' is the one who has to unlearn and relearn 'their' tunes. I, they say, am too jazzy. They get very nervous every time there is a microphone in my hand. They roll their eyes heavenwards so I know soprano is out too.

We had so much fun. I am guilty of producing a few fine extroverts, fearless and some say pushy but I tell them, "If you have to be pushy, be a polite one."

They were good, my students from GESS.Tapah, SM Dato' Sagor and SMK Datuk Haji Ahmad Badawi. The pupils of SMK Pengkalan Jaya, a primary school where I taught on a contract basis for two years, really got my creative juices flowing. There are a lot of stories to tell, all learning experiences.

Emotional intelligence

I feel really humble, when I think that I, by myself, would never have been the teacher I am or was without these wonderful people and teachers whom I had the good fortune to meet and learn from.

I have been blessed with a high threshold for pain and tolerance which can come in really handy. Sincerity is a 'must-have' trait. A sense of humour and fairness will be able to defuse tense situations. We must, as teachers, be 'well-armed' otherwise we would never be able to make the grade as students can see through us.

What I learnt is that students feel passionately about anything and everything. In their minds they are grown-up enough to have opinions on almost everything that is happening to them and around them. They are very vulnerable and some, come to us with some serious issues like low self-esteem.

What to me would have been a laughing matter was, for them, something really serious that just could not be brushed off as trivial. I learnt to respect that they, too, have expectations and that they are sensitive, especially as to how they are perceived.

Their emotional intelligence is an important aspect of their character. They need desperately to be able to manage this aspect. Teachers can deal with students delicately through interaction in the classroom and during co-curricular activities. Extreme rage can be allayed through team sports, camaraderie and the spirit of sportsmanship.

As a house mistress, drama teacher, badminton coach, netball teacher, hockey teacher, English teacher, Living Skills teacher, choir mistress, facilitator, mentor, umpire for cricket matches (with the students teaching me what to do of course!) a Girl Guide captain, Physical Education and folk dance teacher I daresay I pulled it off. Wearing many hats was part and parcel of being a teacher then. We were literally learning on our feet. Who were we to demur?

The 3E, IL mantra

It scares me just to think of the many responsibilities I undertook venturing out with the children in my capacity as leader and chaperone. There were no safety nets then. Hiking through the jungle from Tapah to the Hot Springs on the way to the Cameron Highlands or going camping at Teluk Batik.

We never hesitated, things needed to be done. Predators of the two-legged variety were unheard of. Thank you, Lord! Nothing untoward happened. I must have been blessed.

The clarion call for teachers to do well has been sounded. I would like to put in my two sen worth.

I have to say, I love teaching. I still do. My mantra is show 'Enthusiasm, Excitement, Exuberance and Love' in whatever you do. Teaching is not only done in the classroom. Let the students see that you are strong and have the stamina for whatever you plan and choose to undertake.

Let them see you work the plan against odds of whatever shape they may take. Therein lies the challenge some of us thrive on it.

If your students can translate the expression on your face and demeanor into the mantra, then half your battle is won. I promise you they will be the ones to bear you inexorably forward.

So teachers stride out smartly. Yours is a mission where you can only win for you are dealing with some very precious people. In the words of Mary Futrell a famous educationist 'When a child meets the liberating art of a teacher, a miracle unfolds'.

INDRA DEVI trained as a teacher in Perak in the 1960s under the Regional Training Centre (RTC) scheme for new teachers.