Are you a coach or a teacher or both to the students? In my work with teachers, I often tell teachers to look at themselves as a coach. What is the difference? The work of a subject teacher is to ensure that the subject is taught properly. The work of a coach is to ensure that the potential is maximized for each student.

The subject teacher has ‘subject’ as the focus. Have I taught the subject well? The main love is for the subject and the fulfillment of the syllabus. But for the coach, the focus is the ‘student’. Have I helped this student to maximize his potential? The main love is for the child and fulfillment of ‘dharma’. The dharma that each mentor feels for the mentee.



And that is when students remember you forever for you have touched a life. The joy is that when you are a mentor, they work on their math too, and actually, it is killing 2 birds with a single stone.



I have always maintained our students are our best judges. So when I built my website, www.humanemaths.com, for testimonials I asked some of my ex-students (present good friends) to tell me what it was in my teaching and mentoring that worked for them.



Here is one that swept me off:


Sharath Tooparan


Ex-Student: Mirambika School for free progress, New Delhi


Hope you are doing well!!. I don't know if you remember me but you are the single biggest reason that turned me into enjoying and loving math from being scared of it. You taught us math at Mirambika for about a year or so before we moved to M.I.S.


I think about you and the experience of learning math from you very often and always feel I must write to you, but it keeps slipping away. I keep telling my friends and discussing with my parents how fortunate your arrival was for me (and I am sure for a lot of us) in changing our mindset.


I still remember you observed one day in class how we at Mirambika had a natural inclination towards Geometry and were more scared of Algebra. I guess it’s part of the Mirambika culture to prefer and do well in things that can be visualized better. But I am doing alright (and enjoying) in every aspect of Math now.


Math has become an integral part of my professional life, right through from engineering to my current role. I live in Toronto, Canada, got a business degree, and am working in Investment Banking and 90% of my work is in dealing with Numbers and I absolutely love it.


How are things with you? I sincerely want to thank you for all your inputs. They have a far greater impact than you would probably think!


Look at yourself more than the subject teacher. Look at yourself as someone who has the potential to change a life forever. The students would not remember their marks as much as the ‘touch of your heart’.


Be a coach!