Teaching Learning

By C. Radhakrishnan

My personal growth as a teacher is illustrated among the links of this page. The courses I have taken in working towards certification as a teacher have provided me with the tools I need as an educator. My student teaching experiences have allowed me to put this knowledge into practice.

Evidence of my growth as a teacher can be found in my lesson plans, which illustrate creativity and the ability to incorporate most modern methodologies and ICT in teaching-learning process. To make teaching-learning easy and enjoyable, I extensively use plenty of educational videos and have an excellent personal DVD collection. Student feedback and normative and summative assessment of learning indicate that I am able to present information to students in a manner which they can understand and relate to their own personal experiences and background knowledge. To understand the learners and their specific problems, I used to have SWOT analysis for the students based on a SWOT template developed by me.

I have demonstrated growth as a teacher in that I am no longer hesitant to engage students in group activities. I have experienced that these are situations which require confidence and strong classroom management skills, as middle and senior school students can quickly turn "cooperative learning" into "chaos". As a teacher, I have put into place an effective plan for managing my classroom regardless of the activity, implementing classroom management strategies developed during my teaching career and learning from experienced teachers within my student teaching placement.

In my student teaching experiences, I have had the opportunity to work with students from diverse cultural backgrounds, evidenced by my teaching placement schools. I experienced the opportunity to communicate with parents using a translator during Parent-Teacher Meetings. Recently, I have facilitated few workshops for students, teachers and other professionals. These experiences have supported my learning in the writing of scholarly papers on our educational system and career planning, and have provided me the opportunity to effectively put these ideas and strategies into place. All these experiences have given me the confidence to launch two blogs to share my experiences, thoughts and understandings with fellow teaching professionals and my loving student community.

My Bachelor of Education Course, student-teaching experiences and workshops I facilitated, have provided me with numerous opportunities for growth as a teacher. I know that as I further my journey in the field of education, I will continue to grow as I build on personal strengths and teaching skills and adapt to the changing needs of my students.