The child lost interest in math, and writing is hated deeply. Why? Let's hear it from the class.

I am not here to convince you that teachers play a vital role in the child’s life to fall in love with learning. I am writing this to persuade you to believe the impact that a teacher can create by their actions, words, or gestures, which can make children withdraw from learning. Let me take you to a class of four students to relate well enough with anecdotes. Please note that the names of the children are disguised.

It was a Tuesday evening; as usual, we began our class discussion by greeting each other and sharing the day's insights. When it was Niki’s turn to speak up, she excitedly mentioned that her day was extremely wonderful and happy. I was thrilled to hear this and wished to know more about her day, so I provoked her to mention the reason for her happiness. She unmuted the call and said, “Her math teacher, who never allows her to go to PE classes, was absent so she could go for PE class and have the math class spent on the ground.” I smiled, hearing this as it rekindled my school days, longing to be on the ground to chit-chat with my girls as I am not a sports person. She continued, “This is one reason that I don’t like math, ma’am.” My heart started to beat faster, listening to this relating to the scar this small gesture had created in the child. The same child excels in my class concerning the concepts taught, whereas invertedly, she never likes math. I was shocked to hear this. I smiled outwardly and asked her to write a letter to the principal requesting her to permit all the PE classes as scheduled. I also told her to write that she hates math classes as the teacher takes hold of the PE classes. Let us take a moment to pause here and let me know if you have ever experienced this when you were a kid. The subject teacher grabbed your physical activity classes, and you sat physically inside the classroom, whereas your thoughts wandered outside in the playground.

Will the letter effectively convey the pain of all the students? Do you have any suggestions?

Hearing the letter to the principal, the students in the class smiled at each other, clearly expressing their approval of this thought. That’s when Keerthi’s voice brought my thoughts back to the class. She added that she likes to write math but hates English and other things. When I asked her why, she said the teacher writes the answers quickly and doesn’t give enough time to copy them into the notebook. When it’s time for the submission for the correction, she scolds her for being incomplete. I didn’t have an answer for this. All I could relate to is the pressure the education system has upon teachers against completing the syllabus and the threshold created to control and monitor 40 students, which results in this situation.

I wished to stay on the same topic, so I picked Ravan to share his thoughts on writing. He said that he loves to write - his eyes looking at his mom beside him. This made me feel he wished to make his mom happy with his answer. I have this practice in my teaching where I ensure every child can speak up during the discussion. When it was Ali's turn, he said, “He never likes to write math, as his teacher mentions he doesn’t do well at math.” My immediate question was that Ali had been learning the abacus program for the past one and a half years and had never shown interest in doing takeaways. I got my answer that he was not interested in doing them because he dislikes numbers. Did you find the answer to why he cannot build his interest in doing the takeaways? Not yet, that’s okay. Let me tell you more about what he added.  He continued, “My math teacher always says you are not reciting the multiplication times table faster than other kids; in this case, you can never be good at math.” I don’t want to say formal answers like let’s practice and prove to the teacher that you can excel. I did not gain this with my teaching experience of 15 years, so I added, "Don’t worry, I will help you overcome this. I will make you learn a little every day, which will help you recite the timetable confidently. I promise you can recite it soon." Have you ever seen heaven on anyone’s face? His face glowed, and he thanked me. When you look at this deeper, acknowledging his feelings makes him feel at ease.

Sam's voice came: “I don’t like to write anything, ma’am.” The class laughed.

What is your take on this class story? I strongly recommend that you build rapport with your kids to learn their opinions on their strengths and areas for progress in getting to know them better. I call this vigilant parenting and teaching. Good luck!