A teacher with GRIT!

Hello. This is WindStorm, a PWS who is currently working at school as a teacher and engaged in speaking for at least 4 hours daily.

I would like to share one interesting and heart throbbing experience of mine. Its about 2 years back, when I was a trainee at Teachers training college to become a professional certified teacher. It was 2 years training course.

At the end of the 2nd year, all the 93 trainees including me had to give a 35 minutes annual lesson / lecture in front of the real students and a team of high profile supervisors sitting at the back of the class evaluating me. It was extremely important for me and others as its marks were to be counted in our final results.

So, we all were trying our best to score maximum in it. Total marks were 50.

But my problem was different then others. I used to be a bright student there but when it comes to teaching or speaking , you can imagine how much pain and frightened I was being a stammerer. I always wished I never have to stand up and deliver a lecture. But it was part of my training and I was no exception.

Also, at that time I used to have really too much problem in speaking some words that starts with S , H, V and many more. But most difficult was ‘S’ for me. And it used to be a nightmare for me to speak a word that starts with ‘S’ sound. Example: Shop, Shoe, Socks etc.

And I was shocked when I saw that I was given the topic ‘Circle’ by authorities for annual lecture. I knew it would be really hard for me to speak the word circle. And I also knew I had to speak that word many times during lecture as it was the theme of the lecture. You can imagine my situation. We were not allowed to change the topic even if we wanted to.

But I did not give up. I did not want to have sympathy from our professors and ask them to change my topic. It was below my dignity. So , I just tried my best and worked really hard to grasp the concept of circle so that I could deliver a flawless lecture. But at the same time , my tension and depression were growing by leaps and bounds due to my stammering issue. I could not even eat and sleep peacefully due to this.

The day came when I had to give my annual lecture. And I was 100% prepared but the only issue was this fear that I will stammer,specially in speaking ‘circle’.

I went inside the lecture hall and I saw around 30 students and a team of supervisors at the back of the class. And for a second, I thought I must run from there and go somewhere else where I can be just with myself. My heart was beating at the ultra speed. But I gained little confidence when students stood up to greet me.

And I started to deliver a lecture and luckily, I did not stammer unusually at the word ‘circle’.I gave my 100% in it and tried to teach students from my heart. I used to get little blocks and little stammering at few words 4 or 5 times during the lecture. But it was not a major problem and almost unnoticeable . And I completed my lecture satisfactorily. I could not believe that I can deliver my lecture in such a nice way.

And when results were announced, I was surprised and happy at the same time. I got great marks/grade and stood at 3rd rank in the college of 93 students !!!!! All the 92 other students were non-stammerers.

And today, I am working as a teacher in a school since last 10 months and students like my way of teaching and they love to attend my class since they feel they can learn easily from what and how I teach.

So, I would like to suggest all my fellow stammerers that please do not give up and try your level best in achieving your goals without thinking much about stammering and you will get the desirable success. Trust me this is true. People dont focus on our stammering when we have lots of other positive thing, potentials and talent. This is what I have understood really from life everyday this feeling of mine is getting stronger and stronger. Till today, I face situations too hard and embarrassing but its ok because life would be so tasteless and boring without challenges. Isn’t it? 🙂

Please leave a comment about what you think in this regard.

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WindStorm.