She does small things in great ways :) Teachers who inspire us!
We learn something every single day and grow as a result of it. Certain situations, people we meet and the journey we make helps us learn new things. A new path for learning in my journey was forged when I started managing Early learning programs.
Being a program manager has always helped me learn and grow by being with students and observing children. All teachers have their own teaching styles, classroom management techniques and they never fail to surprise me with their unique skills in the classrooms.
Today, I will tell you the story a teacher named Naveeda, who always brings with her that little extra. I always find myself smiling so much more when I am in her classroom. It is a wonder that this is only her first year as a teacher in the Upper kindergarten classroom. She is completely at home with the environment and among her children. Her facilitating strategies always bring in an element of fun while ensuring that the children are learning.
Multi-tasking to engage every child is her forté! Once a week, during her English class, she quickly writes the alphabets on the board in random order. Each child is called near the board and asked to identify letters as she points to them. What do other children do during this time? Every child is simultaneously engaged with activity materials. If a child is not able to identify a letter, ma’am has a list to track it at the level of each child. She looks at this data every morning and makes sure she spends a couple of minutes with that child using different resources to reinforce those alphabets.
I always wondered how to make phonics and letter sounds relatable for children. As a daily routine, the children revise sounds as ma’am hands out the notebooks for the day. While the teacher distributes notebooks the whole class calls out their friend’s name as they sound out the first sound they hear, /a//a/ Ajay, /b//b/ Bhavana. This may sound like chaos but we all know — all great learning is preceded by chaos.
How does ma’am then manage this chaos of 45 four year olds who are eager and rearing to learn? She found her answer in the ocean….
Her classroom has a representative painting of the ocean where every child is given a place. Children who follow instruction of facilitator can see their photo on this ocean chart with fishes. If the child is not following instructions, his/her photo will be placed near the crocodile. This child gets time to move from the crocodile to the fishes by displaying good behaviour. Not only does this save her from having to narrate behaviour instructions repeatedly, she now has a great theme to discuss which also gives children high standards to aspire to.
During our discussion we come up with so many new thoughts and ideas and she is always ready to implement them. The biggest motivation for me is when a teacher that I work with, pushes me to work harder and be innovative. Each time I visit, ma’am shares outcomes from our previous discussions. If there is one thing I have learned as I continue this journey in empowering teachers, collective motivation and accountability, fuelled by a love for children can move mountains in ensuring a quality early childhood education!
About the Author:
Ramya is a Program Manager at Key Education Foundation. Ramya works with teachers, parents and schools in low income communities to ensure that they are equipped and empowered to ensure quality Early Childhood Education for all children. When Ramya isn’t observing children, she spends her time painting, gardening or performing as a professional kathak dancer.
