The day Komal stopped looking down in the classroom
A simple 2-minute habit that transformed a young educator
Komal wouldn’t look up at people she was speaking to in class. She’d avoid looking at someone while answering a very simple question in front of others. She knew the answers during practice but was afraid to say anything because she thought the answer might be wrong. Today, the same Komal is standing in front of a class full of students and talking about different concepts, answering questions, and having fun-learning experiences with kids as part of her internship.
For Komal, a first-year D.EL.ED student from Laxmangarh, a village in Rajasthan’s Alwar District, becoming a teacher was more than just picking up a job, it was her dream, one she had developed through her passion for learning, spending time with young students and teaching. She believes that good a teachers can leave a lifelong mark on the lives of their students.
“I have always loved being around kids,” she says. “It feels like a perfect fit to become a teacher. I wanted to be a person who could help kids through their learning experiences.”
However, the road to becoming a teacher is littered with obstacles that many aspiring educators face in silence.
While Komal was passionate about teaching, confidence did not come easily to her. Speaking in front of a group, maintaining eye contact, or expressing her thoughts clearly felt difficult. Like many student-teachers entering classrooms for the first time, she struggled with self-doubt.
Things slowly began to change as Komal participated in various activities conducted by Sterlite EdIndia Foundation through DIET. During intervention, she started seeing gradual improvements in her D.El.Ed. journey through the various interactive sessions and activities like workshops and learning circles that took place.
Komal developed her pedagogical knowledge after being involved in all different types of interactive workshops, peer learning circles, mock-test preparation sessions and classroom activities where she was able to work collaboratively with other educators to increase their pedagogical knowledge base and develop their communication skills.
One activity, although simple, has stuck with Komal. At one of the sessions, participants were asked to practice speaking to themselves in front of a mirror. It was an uncomfortable experience initially, but Komal continued to do this regularly. Over time she started to notice changes in herself, she no longer hesitated while speaking, her facial expressions became clearer and making eye contact with someone was no longer a scary experience.
“It did not happen in one day,” she recalls. “But gradually, I started feeling more confident while speaking.”
The impact of this change became visible during her internship.
Inside the classroom, Komal found herself doing things she once struggled with. She could interact openly with students, answer their questions without fear, and explain lessons more clearly. More importantly, she started enjoying the classroom experience rather than feeling anxious about it.
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