Teachers improved their skills by creative, out-of-the-box thinking

The pandemic tip-toed in our lives, almost unannounced, stealthily! None of us knew the invader. Unseen, unheard, it surely was an alien we did not recognise till it started its dance of death and devastation! ‘Corona’ they called it, for it was a ruthless ‘crowned’ virus!

Within weeks, the digital revolution was the next buzz word ! Almost overnight, online classes, hitherto untouched in any teacher-training institution,became the new norm.They were perceived as the only way out if we wanted intellectual development of our children to continue uninterrupted.

In retrospect, I shudder to think of the consequences in absence of the same! Coming as a silver lining in the Corona cloud, It kick-started systems and procedures which would not have seen light of the day in view of resistant mindsets and technical glitches . Surprisingly, all stakeholders braced technology as fish takes to water to make up for the absence of the offline classes. After overcoming the initial hurdles with the help of the IT team, the teachers strengthened their teaching by including creative, out-of-the-box thinking. Dressing up as different characters, attempting myriad role-plays, they endeavoured to make the classes interesting.

They literally brought their household on the teaching-tables to aid virtual teaching.The kitchen ingredients became the stuff chemical changes were demonstrated with; the simple candle and balls of different sizes illustrated the phenomena of rotation, revolution, planets and eclipses; plants in the balcony proved many a biological phenomenon; the balloons connected with straws explained the respiratory system, while pizza base ,with different components, became an example of a cell structure.

The integration of art for explaining concepts became a norm. Screen sharing, diagrams, graphics and animation -- all found a place of pride in the virtual classrooms. Highly interactive, the virtual classrooms came alive and the teacher became a moderator, a facilitator of the same.The intra-class activities,competitive and otherwise; the morning yoga for staff ,the virtual practice sessions for the sports stars; the wide range of cultural activities, songs, dance, drama,music culminating in innumerable assemblies on all special days and festivals; the online MUN, Quiz and Art club events, kept the feel of being in school alive for all !

Needless to say , we were together and connected; learning beyond the wall of the school, for the unprecedented year of change had changed us like nothing else before it!

The icing on the cake was our very successful online one-to-one PTMs! A normal PTM is a busy day at any school with parents thronging the school after facing the traffic snarls and other hurdles. The wait to meet the teacher was replaced by a comfortable at-home time in the virtual waiting room, till admitted as per one’s slot to meet all the teachers teaching a student, at one go ! The Online assessments through progressive tools followed suit with equal perfection.

Necessity is the mother of invention, it is said, but once invented, one wonders how did we manage without it in the past! Perhaps, the biggest lesson learnt in the past one and half years is to realise the importance and preparedness for unlearning and relearning! In this process, many of us discovered the new strengths and potential within us and thus be a part of the solution and not a problem!

Sangeeta Hajela, principal, Delhi Public School, Indirapuram. Views expressed are personal.