In the words of APJ Abdul Kalam, “Teaching is a very noble profession that shapes the character, caliber, and future of an individual.” The world as we know it has changed in the blink of an eye. Schools closed overnight, students were liberated from schools (but confined to their homes), and parents had to grapple with keeping children productive at home. In the stress of lockdown, hand washing and tracking the global spread of the virus, no one has paid heed to the sudden stress on that often neglected group — teachers. With Best CBSE Schools in Ghaziabad remaining closed for an extended duration came the reality of online teaching. Suddenly, it was no longer a buzzword or a fancy edutech term. Now everyone has to do it. The problem is few know how. There has been a huge surge in search phrases like “how to teach online”, “best online teaching platforms”, “online teaching tools”, and “online teaching techniques”.
Teachers literally responded overnight to teach in new modalities. They have filmed themselves conducting experiments, hosted Zoom show-and-tell with Kindergarteners, prepared materials for students with variable Internet access, and demonstrated concepts.
The global pandemic we face in 2020 has caused a huge intrusion into the special relationship between teachers and their students. Covid-19 and school closures impacted many children and adolescents’ mental health and well-being. As teachers, it is an essential part of the job to listen to students’ concerns and demonstrate understanding as well as empathy so that they feel protected and comfortable even in times of great difficulties. Keeping in mind all the factors which may have affected the students in this time of need yoga and meditation classes were conducted to keep students more centered and concentrated. Online counseling sessions of students were also conducted as some of the things which we feel don’t mean much, are a great deal breaker for them. These sessions helped us as teachers to gain a better understanding of student-teacher relationship and how to shape young minds.
To make the classes more interesting, videos and PPTs were used to teach. Online quizzes made the teaching learning process more interesting. Losing the personal interaction is one of the most difficult aspects of remote learning and the role of the parents became important as children were at home under their supervision and it was a responsibility to maintain bonding with themselves, online PTMs were also conducted, so that we as adults could help and understand students. We provided opportunities for children to take breaks, move around, and re-connect with their friends and peers. To motivate the creativity and art, digital assemblies and online competitions were also conducted, so that a healthy competition and school spirit increases even in these atrocious times.
From a long time now the world is shifting to internet and social media and looking up everything online and we have been a part of this change and we embrace it. Even though it was a big challenge for us to shift from a mode of offline to online but as a teacher I feel proud of each and every moment I dedicated myself in creating a better online presence of our school. Though schools will start offline again I would be glad to include all the learning and understanding in my teaching, and inculcate some online methods which are a great support.
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