I, Leena Jadhav have been teaching since I was 10.

I was born and brought up in a joint middle-class family, so I started teaching my younger cousins at a very early age. This helped me to connect with the students in such a way that they can open up with me and it’s easier to understand their issues more sympathetically.

One of the transformative moments was when I completed my faculty development program on “Preparing a Teacher for Different Roles”. I have rediscovered how group activities are important for teachers as well as students. Group activities bring together a collaborative community of learners.

I have started my job as a lecturer in 2007 with different roles as Subject Teacher, Class Teacher, Mentor, and Project Guide. The role of a mentor gives me more satisfaction as moldings a person in one aspect of life is so much fulfilling.

The most rewarding part is mentoring first-year students. Mentoring by college faculty has a positive impact on students’ persistence and academic achievement in college. I let them know that making mistakes is an essential part of learning and it drives them to “get involved, in everything. I encourage the students to participate in campus activities.

I feel that the essence of good teaching is giving students space to learn. Teachers should recognize the diversity of learners and plan the lecture accordingly. In my programming lectures, I encourage students to solve real-life examples, believing that many aspects of programming can be learned through a real-life example.

My hobby is reading interesting and knowledgeable books. Reading books keep one always happy and busy. I read a lot of books by Sudha Murthy, V.P. Kale, P.L.Deshpande, and many more.

I believe, as a teacher one is lucky as you learn a lot while you are teaching others!!!!