The best thing that can ever happen to a student is to have a good teacher. They can make you love a subject and make the hardest of problems seem like a piece of cake.

Showing how much someone means to you is not always easy, that is why you tend to take teachers for granted and don’t express our gratitude to them. It is time that you do so on World Teachers’ Day, on October 5.

There are many interesting and fun things you can do to celebrate the day. Teachers may be adults but there is a little kid in everyone who is ready to have as much fun as all of you, so get your teachers involved in fun activities so that they get a break from the serious task of teaching on Teacher’s Day

Jazz up your class and school

Decorate your class either before the school starts or during break, and surprise your teachers when they arrive for their lesson when they see a class decorated to commemorate their contribution in your life.

You can request your principal to give you 10-15 minutes before the start of the first period and ask your teacher to arrive for the lesson accordingly. Now quickly decorate the class with whatever you like but there should be definitely a poster/banner wishing them a Happy Teacher’s Day, which may or may not contain handwritten messages from each student.

Thank you cards

Make a thank you card for all your teachers, preferably all the teachers of the school, or at least all those who have taught you through the years.

Give the cards to the teachers when they arrive for their lessons and those who don’t have a class with you that day, search them out and give the card to them.

If you are in contact with your old teachers, send them thank you cards and messages.

Sing it out loud!

You can organise a poetry or singing competition. The poetry competition can be one where students write and recite poems dedicated to teachers and prizes are given to the best ones.

Or there can be a singing competition either between students and teachers or of teachers. Or just sing songs that are dedicated to your teachers.

Add some drama

Dramatic activities add a touch of class to all celebrations. You don’t have to enact a long and serious play, just a small skit that is fun can be presented and it will give you a chance to show your acting skills.

Another fun idea can be to do the mimicry of your teachers. Now this has to be done with care because the idea of mimicry is not to make fun of anyone, but to imitate them in a flattering and fun way. When enacting their way of communication, facial expressions and habits, make sure that it is not insulting in anyway. Show what you plan to do to a teacher first for approval. If you are not sure, then just drop the idea.

Games

Organise games that should either be played by teachers or by students and teachers both. It is their day, so do things that lead to maximum fun and enjoyment for them. It is your way of paying back to them for the effort they put to teaching and guiding you the rest of the year.

A talk show

It is rare that students and teachers talk freely to each other in school because there is a decorum and distance that has to be maintained. But it is always good to see the person behind the profession, so discover the person teaching you by having a ‘talk show’ kind of activity.

Select a few teachers you would want to know more about, ask them if they would participate in a talk show and then get down to writing questions you will ask them. The questions should be about their personality but not too personal.

Ask them about their favourite things, their memories of their school and teachers, their dreams and aspirations, let them share their high and low moments of being your teacher and what they expect from you all.

This will go a long way in making both students and teachers understand each other and bond well.

Honour your teachers

You may also organise an award function, where you give awards of different kinds or titles to all the teachers, that reflects their role in the institution. Don’t leave any teacher out and if you like you can also include the non-teaching staff to them feel special.

Here too you need to have a couple of teachers with you to show them the titles you are giving, get their approval so as not to offend anyone or do anything that is not within the limits of good behaviour.

Published in Dawn, Business & Finance weekly, October 1st, 2016