Teachers as Learners

\”Teamwork is the ability to work together towards a common vision.\”

We believe that the first step to any solution is to come together and build the team. Short confessions of our Teachers from the Team Building workshop in our partner schools.

“Colours define my life. I love colours. And this smiling face denotes my attitude of approaching my life\”, Such a space perfectly set during the team building session started with fostering creativity, where our teachers presented themselves in a most innovative way.

I find the people who are interested in the same things I am interested in!

Everyone has a story to share! Teachers were paired up with their partner teachers to share about them. They were let free to sit anywhere in the campus that comforts their talks. At the end of this exercise, teachers shared to the whole group about an incident that striked them the most from the life of their partners. This exercise loosens up the group, builds rapport between people through active sharing, and allows teachers to be exposed to many people in the group.

\”I want to become a favorite teacher of my students, just like Mrs. Frey to Arvind Gupta.\”

Mrs. Frey, a favorite teacher of Mr. Arvind Gupta, who sowed the sense of self-esteem and faith in his own abilities. A case study on this, “My Favorite Teacher” was read and discussed by our teachers. They analyzed the important aspects of the case study, like the power of positive words, inter linkage of subjects, importance of conceptual understanding, etc.

Instead of restricting with textbook concepts, Rubi Theresa, a Government School teacher, familiarize the basic mathematical concepts to students through daily life activities. A glimpse of her classroom interactions were shown to our teachers. After watching the video for 3 times with in-between discussions, they listed down the values hold by Rubi teacher and the conversation led them to compare the teaching practices of Mrs. Frey and Rubi teacher.

A cappella!

சின்ன பாப்பா எங்கள் செல்ல பாப்பா!

சொன்ன பேச்சை கேட்டால் தான் நல்ல பாப்பா.

A teacher singing the song in the background; A teacher running slowly towards the audience; Meanwhile another teacher approaching the little child with an action of singing; Perfect.. A dance performance begins.

Knowing our talents and using those talents in a team is invaluable. A game “Acapella” was played by our teachers, where a team should do a performance and each member of the team should contribute their talents equally to get a best output. Dance, song, skit, mime, story- a variety of fun, cultural meals was served to the audience.

Towards a solution!

“I worry about my eighth standard students lacking in basic reading skills.”

“We are struggling in giving writing practices for Kindergarten children.”

These are the few examples that popped up when our teachers listed down the challenges they faced in school. It ultimately ended up in choosing an issue that needed to be addressed immediately and they discussed the possible solutions to overcome it. They felt that the session provided a great space for everyone to gather as a team to find out a solution that benefits their school as a whole and to come out of the barriers like gap between primary & secondary teachers and experienced & newly joined teachers.

There is no doubt (from our teachers\’ feedback) that the session brings out laughs and fun, creating a positive environment. This activity is designed to help teachers to know each other- their names, likes, dislikes. hobbies and to become a team.

– Karunya D, Team Vidhya Vidhai