Page 15 - Teachers of India Stories

Francis Jupaka, Asst.Teacher (Dept.of Science),
Platinum Jubilee High School, Warangal

The Tech-no-logical Night!
The school announced that it was starting a pilot project of online classes
and requested all the teachers to be ready. That evening, after a long quest,
I narrowed down a network which will work seamlessly. Then, I prepared
all the material required for the class and slowly headed towards the bed, at
half-past ten.
In the still of the night, I heard the rhythm of the clock vividly, as I was
unable to sleep with an ever-busy mind, hindered with various thoughts
- How would the next day be? Will the network function? as it was my
maiden online class which I would facilitate in 12 years. The tension was
palpable, the heart and the rhythm of the clock were aligned. Every second
felt like a ticking time bomb. The next day was around the corner. With
much difficulty, I fell asleep and woke up with a sense of urgency. Only to
realize I had slept for a mere 30 minutes. I stared at the clock and watched
the hands move lethargically. I rolled from one corner of the bed to the oth-
er, beckoning sleep, but to no avail.
The next morning, I woke up and slowly moved around to check the
strength of the network signal from room to room. When one room showed
promise of good network, I crawled into bed stupefied, with thoughts about
sharing content, everything that could go wrong... Nervously, got out of
bed and moved to the makeshift classroom as it was almost half-past one
and history was about to be made. I was going to teach virtually for the first
time ever…
With two devices in hand, I shared the link to the class and started the
demonstration session with my peers. After two long hours, I felt satisfied
and ready to be the best version of myself with my students after staring at
the screen and watching myself in action. At the end of the day, I had put
my fears to bed and crawled into my bed for some much-needed sleep.
I woke up at seven and setup for class. The day was finally here, the day
that I will get to see my students in tiny square tiles in a different kind of
classroom. Fingers crossed, I began admitting, the students and asked them
to turn on their videos. As each face revealed itself, I felt more confident
than I felt a second before, all the nervousness vanished, and I was able
to facilitate the session using a ‘whiteboard’ instead of the magical ‘black-
board’. A traditional class was replaced with a technical one. But alas, the
unconditional bond of faith, love, and respect, between a student and teach-
er permeates all barriers and its omnipresence in this modern era, reinforces
that‘tech has no logic ‘ to keep us distanced rather it has made us closer.