Education
From Lucknow To Washington, Educators Are Setting Examples During The Lockdown
From WhatsApp classes to turning their kitchen into a chemistry lab, these teachers are doing it all.
Be it coming with interesting ideas or finding ways to reach children from all walks of life, the efforts of these teachers are truly commendable.
A teacher based in Washington, D.C., came up with an innovative way to educate and entertain his students during the lockdown. Jonte' Lee is a science teacher, who turned his kitchen into a chemistry lab and has been sharing the lab creations with his students through Instagram and Facebook live sessions. Lee plastered his cabinets and dishwasher with posters that remind students of scientific principles they've learned, and he converted his chrome refrigerator into a dry-erase board.
In one of the sessions, he stirred up some strawberry lemonade and dropped in some dry ice to teach students about solid, liquid and gas state. It instantly carbonated the beverage and then he drank the mixture. "My students are going, 'Wow, you're not supposed to drink that! Are you okay, Mr Lee?’," he shared.
Another news comes from Lucknow, India, where six teachers are using WhatsApp to take classes for students with less access to internet and electronic gadgets. The teachers are based in Bakshi-ka-Talab, an administrative block outside Lucknow, who prepare and send assignments and interactive sessions through the app. With this, the students are able to study at their convenience. So far, these teachers have reached out to 500 students from 60 villages. Speaking to India Today, Nandini, a part of the teachers’ group, said, “We started searching the school records for names of parents who have mobiles and tried to find out if they are on WhatsApp. We started getting success after three weeks of our attempts, and the number of children in our network is growing.”
We think these are some pretty inspiring teachers but for Barbara Ennis, principal of Alexandra College in Dublin 6, there is nothing like an 'inspirational teacher' and this is what the foundation of the profession stands on. She explains, “What is an inspiring teacher? Someone who is passionate about the subject and has the ability to communicate that passion on the pupil. They matter – their development matters. There has to be mutual respect there, and an element of a role model.”