My online class was tough today. It was with a student preparing for his GCSE. For a person his age, this student is quite serious about improving his writing skills, and getting good grades. But when he is not working on an assessment and is attending a class without a goal, he is sometimes distracted.

I began by asking him what he did in school that day. He said he was doing AQA fact finding, I feverishly typed the words trying to find some work for him to do, while at the same time making small talk about it.
First my connection was slow. Then I realized that the file I had downloaded was not about English but dance. So, I quickly found another one. But the class proved to be tough.

Its North Indian Diwali today; people completed their Lakshmi Pooja and started bursting crackers, just as the class started. It was horrible for three reasons.

1. The student has no deadline, and was not focussed.
2. his mike is horrible even on days when he is serious
3. there was a din of crackers and drums outside the home.

We indulged in a shouting match, and I was winner, because he just pretended not to hear anything.Then he kind of excused himself and went somewhere. I don’t like these moments not only because my authority is totally ignored, but also because it is not good in the long run for my profession, if students don’t gain from such classes. I can visualise the student wait for the opportune moment to say, “Oh that class is not all that useful.” and the parents and others agreeing to stop it. Hmmmm….

Any way, the last twenty minutes I got him to do an exercise.