CLASSROOM!

 Last week, I told my students,

"From next week, every English class will start with a student's voice before mine. After the attendance, a short talk, and then the lesson.

A hand shot up almost instantly. "Ma'am... about what?" "About anything under the sky," I replied, "provided the sky doesn't fall on our classroom decorum!"

The room erupted. "Wooow!"... "Seriously?"... "That's nice!" Everyone was excited. Then came my little plot twist. "We'll start with zigzagging through the attendance register." The "Wooow!" suddenly became "Ohhh". Some faces were busy calculating. Some were praying their turn was still a month away. A few looked at the attendance register as though it had personally betrayed them.

Today was Monday. It's Aarvi's turn.The girl who is permanently powered by invisible batteries, always restless, always smiling, with two cute dimples that appear before she even starts talking, walked confidently to the front.

She began formally -a very good start, I must say. 'Gen Z – Not a Stereotype.' "People say we're lazy but we're super active and tech-savvy.. And just like that, my usually buzzing classroom forgot how to buzz. No whispers. No backbench commentary. No secret conversations.When she finished, the applause came naturally. "Superb, Aarvi! You presented it really well. Congratulations!" She smiled and said,

"No, Ma'am, not that good. I wish I could have done it a little better." That was my favourite line of the day.

Not because she spoke well, but because she realized there's still room for improvement.

Confidence earns applause. The willingness to improve earns excellence.

And as for me, I'm already waiting for the coming days! If Day One itself gave me a confident Gen Z speaker, I can't wait to meet the future speakers!