Scarlet Writes

The first year of teaching online was challenging and there were moments when I felt like a failure but along with it, there were also a lot of opportunities to learn and grow myself personally and professionally. Towards the end of last academic year, I spent some time reflecting on my classroom practices and how I could make a greater impact in this new academic year. While exploring some learning ideas on the internet, I came across this four weeks’ course on edx titled ‘ Deep Learning through Transformative Pedagogy ’. I signed up for it and although it took me more than four weeks to complete the course, not because the course was not planned well but because I had other commitments that sidelined the course, I am so excited to share what I have learned from this course with you all.  While waiting for my final grades, I thought I would write this post because there is no better way to learn than through peer teaching. In this blog post, I will summarize some of the key lear...

I just finished grading the last paper for this academic year and now I think is the perfect time to reflect upon the academic year that's almost over.  What a year! I remember the initial days of how we transitioned to online classes so suddenly. So unaware of the fact that this was going to last longer that we'd imagined. I was very nervous and excited at the same time. I was nervous because we'd never done this before and I didn't know how I'd fix the many technical challenges that lay ahead of me. I was excited for the fact that I very well understood teaching online opened up new ways of engaging students and I wanted explore these ideas and activites.  I attended a few trainings to get some knowledge and skills applicable for virtual classes and it often felt like I was completely new in this profession and I had to start from the scratch. We were making lesson plans differently and finding new ways to assess students and giving feedback. Not all ideas worked....

I clearly remember how it used to be like when I was in school. Teachers primarily used to deliver lessons, take daily attendance and check copies. The only time that the parents got a chance to interact with the teachers was during the report card distribution. There used to be a different person checking the nails, ensuring that the hair was done properly, that the length of the skirt was appropriate. Information was bound in books and children were confined in classrooms. The role of teachers in a child’s education has changed a lot and education is no more confined to books, classrooms and schools. Children today are exposed to electronic and print sources of knowledge and are exposed to massive information every minute. Teaching today is one of the most challenging and demanding professions everywhere in the world. It is disheartening but this profession is not for someone lured by long holidays anymore. Teachers’ roles have been redefined and to survive in this cons...