“The classroom, to me, is now a stage where stories, ideas, and perspectives intersect, and each story, I believe, is more than just a text to be explained to my students; it is a window into the mind of its author, the era that shaped it, and the universal questions it poses.”
This revelation dawned upon me as I approached the end of my first decade of delivering routine lectures to my students. During those formative years—no harm in calling them so—I realised that learning is deeper and more impactful when students take ownership of it.
The challenge before me was to turn the tables and design activities that would actively involve them in the learning process. I began by listing down classroom activities that could be practically implemented: mind maps, role-plays, debates, interviews, and connecting the literary works of poets and authors with the historical and cultural contexts that shaped them.
Through trial and error, I gradually integrated these activities into lessons. The classroom became lively, and the energy was palpable. Students weren’t just learning—they were questioning, imagining, and connecting ideas across disciplines.
This approach worked beautifully with both prose and poetry. Storytellers and dramatists connected with characters’ emotions, while student interviewers posed thought-provoking questions.
In addition, leveraging artificial intelligence tools such as Teachshare, Kahoot, and Diffit has enabled me to foster critical and analytical thinking among learners while maintaining a classroom that is both engaging and relevant.
Reflecting on my journey, I would now say: the role of a teacher is not merely to answer questions or explain chapters, but to design experiences through which students build their own comprehension. By allowing students to discuss contexts, characters, and themes from different perspectives, the classroom has truly become a theatre of fun-filled learning.
Every author’s life, every poem, every classroom activity has left a mark not only on my students but also on me. I have learnt that teaching is as much about curiosity as it is about clarity, as much about listening as it is about speaking.
Today, I can measure the success of this methodology by observing how curious students approach texts from fresh perspectives. That is the moment when stories come alive, when learning ceases to be mundane and becomes a world of lively ideas and limitless imagination.
