I love teaching! I've known for some time now that I thoroughly enjoy the experience of teaching anything to anyone (willing to learn). I've been fortunate to have had opportunities at different stages to teach or lead sessions on topics that I enjoy. I was also a teaching assistant for MM220: Computational Lab. I've conducted multiple workshops on Python, Android, Git, and other rudimentary topics as part of the Web and Coding Club at IIT Bombay. Although the previous two examples are of me teaching in a more "official" setting, for the last two months I've been involved in teaching high school Mathematics and Physics on weekends as a volunteer for "Community Teaching" and I'm writing this blog to talk more about this experience.
What is it exactly?
Community Teaching is a group of volunteer teachers headed by Varadarajan Sir (referred to as just Sir later), who is a 70-year-old retired professional. I discovered them during my semester break back in 2016 when I noticed Sir teaching 15-20 kids along with a couple of teachers in a garden near my home. From a humble team of four volunteers overseeing about twenty children in a garden, they've grown into an organization with 250 teachers, 1000 students, and eight dedicated centers! After a short conversation with him, I joined them for a month where I taught 4th-grade students basic arithmatics. Later my mother became an active part of the organization.
The students are mostly students who study in government schools and cannot afford books, tuition classes, or even school fees due to their difficult financial situations. Their parents are mostly blue-collar workers with salaries only enough to survive the day-to-day minimum cost of living. Any help to these kids in terms of resources, knowledge, or money goes a long into improving the lives of their entire families.
Some kids cannot afford school fees, basic books, and stationery. While some excel academically but cannot afford the cost of college education. For such scenarios, the organization needs money. The organization gathers funds by getting donations from people. Donations are accepted according to the specific needs of students, ensuring that donors are informed about which students their contributions are supporting and the purposes for which they are being used.
How did I contribute?
I was recently presented with the perfect opportunity to teach some high school students Physics and Maths! Sir wanted someone to take sessions for 12th-grade kids appearing for engineering entrance exams. The classes were held for two hours on Saturday and Sunday which was convenient for me as I work on weekdays. The students would usually coordinate with each other and send me doubts in a WhatsApp group, which I would then solve and discuss in the session.
There was a bit of nostalgia attached to teaching them because I remembered how I would also struggle to get some random function to the perfect integrable form. I took occasional help from my brother who is three years younger than me, so his knowledge of 12th Physics and Maths was fresher than mine. I would derive great pleasure from seeing that "aha" moment on their faces when I solved a doubt or explained concepts to them.
Teaching under a tree to kids sitting on a mat on the floor was a very unique experience. It's how I imagine my grandparents probably finished their entire pre-diploma schooling. According to me teaching is an excellent way to contribute to society and I hope to continue teaching in one way or another in the future.