Curious Times in conversation with Rakesh Verma
I am currently an educator at Birla Public School. I teach Political Science to Senior Secondary students. I also coordinate the activities for various clubs like Eco Club and Quiz Club, organized picnics and camps during vacation, etc.
I love to meet new people, make new friends, listen to music and travel a lot.
What inspired you to become an educator?
I aspire to establish a school culture and educational program conducive to student learning and socialization. I coordinate my efforts with parents and family members to ensure that students remain disciplined and focused, and I also receive appropriate attention to meet their needs. My popularity among the students empower me with enormous courage to dispel the fear of failure in the young generation.
What do you love the most about being a teacher?
My greatest strengths include managing various responsibilities in areas of educational activities, Parent-relationship building exercises, general discipline, curriculum design and improvement, school safety, program management and coordination, and workshop and seminar presentations. Furthermore, I am adept at fostering strong working relationships with all members of the local and school communities.
The one change you would like to bring in the current education system.
The immense treasure that a great teacher must have, for example, I am a CHANGE AGENT and I strive to be :-
1) Creative: Part of this process includes celebrating differences in students, and differentiating instructions to meet the needs of students. I know how important it is to allow students to explore their own creative potential.
2) Collaborative: Not only do the collaborative lead to a shared common vision, but it is through collaboration that I gain new insights and perspectives.
3) Courageous: Innovative educators are courageous at heart. So, I do not view mistakes as failures, but as opportunities to grow and try again.
4) Curious: Curiosity is a feature that innovative teachers possess. I try to be naturally inquisitive and love to explore new ideas.
5) Connected: Teachers who are considered innovative are connected to the world around them. These connections make me digital, community-oriented, and/or oriented toward professional development. I am also deeply connected to the needs of my students, especially in this pandemic.
6) Compassionate: Compassion is an essential trait that innovative educators must possess. In order to become fully engaged and motivated about learning, students must feel that I care for them.
7) Committed: Above all else, the innovative educator is committed to life-long-learning. I realize that this form of commitment is necessary to be truly innovative and to provide my students with the best educational experience possible.
Your message to your 21st-Century-students.
Be good, Do good.
A special story, memory or message that you want to share.
I would like to highlight my innovations that I implement in the teaching-learning process towards becoming a creative teacher with a multidisciplinary approach, thereby effectively reaching out to the student community. Every subject is of equal importance for the development of the child. Each topic is directly or indirectly related to every subject. So,it is very important to integrate every subject, and have multidisciplinary approach in teaching. And I inculcate various ways of teaching - learning methodology in my class to achieve this. Some examples of quick and easy Interdisciplinary Activities are mentioned as follows:
1. News Analysis – I start my class with this minds-on exercise that provides real-world interdisciplinary problems. To launch the exercise, I play a news clip that discusses a local, national or international topic. Then, I give students a related question as homework, to solve either individually or in teams.
2. World Traveller - I ask students to plan vacations. It helps to build research skills while touching on core subjects. The students work to create week-long travel itineraries to their ideal destinations. The project, for example, it shall include information about:
1. Languages or dialects spoken in the area or country
2. Popular foods, dishes and the predominant cuisines
3. Landmarks and their historical significance
4. Cultural events that take place in the area or country
This interdisciplinary activity lends itself to second-language classes.
For example, students could write itineraries in French for a trip to Paris or Montréal. To wrap up the exercise, I ask them to explore some destinations using technology such as ‘Google Earth‘.
3. Reinforce Life Skills into my teaching : With the fast life of the parents, it has become very important responsibility of the teachers to look into the field of Life-Skill. Students look upon us as ‘second parents’ and expect us to empower them with qualities like decision- making, problem solving. So, I include some of these in every class :-
1. Using positive praise-phrases
2. Advising them to use ‘Instant Stress-Busters’ like slow breathing, positive self-talk, etc
3. Ask them to maintain ‘Gratitude-Journal’
4. Giving them a ‘silent-treatment’ when they show bad behavior in the class.
1 (Please login to give a Curious Clap to your friend.)
SignUp to Participate Now! Win Certifiates and Prizes.
Login/Signup