Learning Experiences

When I was in grade 5, I recall my math teacher teaching us long division skills. She was one of my favorite teachers, and math was my preferred subject. The way we taught was by chalk and blackboard. I remember the teachers came earlier to the class and wrote three different problems on the blackboard. When we all arrived in the class, she said I need your attention as today's lesson is not going to be easy. She explained the problem and how we should resolve it. Then she asked for volunteers to come and try to solve the new problem she put on the board. Next, she gave us homework to practice. The next day she asked us to work in a group and share our answers. After we worked together, she showed us the right answer. Then invited whoever got the answer right to participate in solving the problem with other students on the board. The fun part was when I taught the class, and I used the chalk to write on the blackboard.

In grade 10, one class I did not like was English Literature. The reason being the way that the teacher taught it was not engaging at all. We were studying a book called Macbeth. I believe my dislike for the subject developed because the method of teaching was to assign some sections or chapters to read at home, and the next day you prepare yourself to talk about it in class. The teacher will choose a random person to talk about the section. At that time, I felt there is no motivation to prepare myself as I may not be selected to speak. Also, the teacher used to have some favorite students that she will choose most of the time. However, in the end, I loved reading the book after I knew that there was a play that will be performed in the national theater by a British group coming to the British Council to perform the Macbeth play. So I learned the book's context after I got motivated with something else, and I considered that to be a massive thing for me at that age.

When I took the technology coordinator position at the school I work in now; I attended a conference in South Africa organised by the Association of International Schools in Africa (AISA). One of the topics that was introduced to us was about Project Based Learning (PBL). The presenter was Michael Furdyk. The way of learning we had was through dividing us into small groups, and each group assigned specific performance tasks that allowed us to create like a little project result, which we shared by the end of the conference day. During the three days of learning, the presenter introduced us to many different learning and teaching methods using PBL. In that work shop the science teacher from my school was part of that training. We worked together during the workshop and we designed a framework that changed the way the science fair was executed in the middle school section of the school I work in. After collaborating with the science teacher at my school, we had a fantastic and more successful science fair.