My products

I was on my way to the staff room. It was still recess time for form 3 students but the two boys were already outside the staff room waiting for me. "Teacher, next period is our maths class. Please come in early. We want to learn". Then hurriedly they went to their still empty class. The two boys have never passed their maths test before. But this year I'm expecting them to do well in maths for the first time in their life. They are smart boys. They just need coaching, guidance and the most important ingredient of all - the believe that they can do it and do it well.

I have declared in the class that after the coming march test (the first test this year), I will choose 8 top students (based on March test score) to be the mentors in the class. These privileged students will have special extra class with me and they will learn every topics prior before the topics being taught in class. So in class they will help me by going round from group to group teaching them. So there will be many 'teachers' in my class. Many students want to be in that elite group. And the two boys are top in the list.

As I groom my students to change their self concept from "I'm not smart" to "Hey, I can be smart too", I'm still amazed at the transformation that's happening in front of my eyes. One of the boys has a smart twin brother. I make him believe that he can beat his twin brother too. He just has to work harder and I'm here to help him to achieve his mission.

We teachers don't make 'much' in terms of money but we built the nation by building the people. We don't build the sky scrapers but we build the people that build them. I fell in love with this career right from the beginning even though being a teacher has never been my childhood dream. Every day I can see my 'products'. They are everywhere doing all kinds of things.

May Allah bless all teachers. May Allah bless us all.