Press
Teacher of the Week
Issue 2, May 2021
Most Indian students in junior and middle school were forced to finish their academic semesters online because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of them start the new academic year in some sort of remote learning environment as well. Getting them ready meant ensuring that Meet was integrated into our Hybrid platform, creating pedagogical guidance, ensuring that connectivity was robust, and doing this for the full range of teaching modalities across Lokarpan and the Kith n Kin Centre’s courses. The Teacher of the Week Awards are a public recognition of the amazing work that our educators do. We honour exceptional teaching standards that motivate students to work on improving themselves.
The Teacher of the Week Awards are a public recognition of the amazing work that our educators do.
Here’s the interview for the first time, with a few light edits for clarity and brevity.
Sandesh Sharma
How do you feel after winning the title of “Teacher of the week”?
It was a genuine surprise. I did not see it coming.
How do you prepare yourself before taking a class?
I first read the content and try and understand its meaning. I pay a lot of attention to the prescribed material to be used. I review the lecture sequence during the week. Prior to every class, I prepare a lecture outline.
What was your approach while teaching students?
It has always been my view that students should work to comprehend and apply their knowledge in everyday life.
How do you break down a topic for the students to make them understand a concept?
Firstly, I denote important topics by section, and I try to find out what concepts are students most interested in understanding. When students are comfortable with my explanations, I move to the next section of my lecture.
What advice would you like to give to your peers/fellow teachers?
I would like to advise everyone to try to get to know their class group. It is a good idea to try to understand their interests and disinterests. You can also try and explain the meaning of an idea through experimental means as well.
Is there anything you would like to say to your students?
Never ever give up in life, face the challenges that you can, do whatever you want, believe in yourself and work hard.
Divya Chaudhary
How do you feel after winning the title of “Teacher of the week”?
I feel great! This really motivated me to work hard towards my upcoming classes.
How do you prepare yourself before taking a class? What was your approach while teaching students?
The night before a class, I like to go over my content slides- I cover all the specific words/lines that the children may struggle with, and I ensure to translate in Hindi for their understanding, or provide them with simpler synonyms. Quizzing children at the end of each class is a great activity. In my experience, 90% of my class get a correct answer(which I’m super happy with).
How do you break down a topic for the students to make them understand a concept?
I try to divide up the chapter in equal parts, and if they are carried over to the next lesson, I revise it with the students just to make sure they remember. I also try to incorporate videos and diagrams to keep them visually engaged.
What advice would you like to give to your peers/fellow teachers?
Try to keep the students engaged, vary the tone and pace to make sure they listen to you- as when they listen, it means they are understanding. Also, try and ask them what they know about the concept before teaching it, so that they are interested in what you are teaching as the content seems new.
Is there anything you would like to say to your students?
That I’m very proud of them and I enjoy teaching my favorite class thoroughly.
