Excellent education for 2500+ students in Chennai

Transitioning from a virtual to an in-person classroom was challenging in terms of the classroom culture, given the strength of the classroom, which is sixty-five students, and the amount of time they had spent alone in their home. So some structures that helped in a smooth transition were:

i. Creating systems like Buddy groups, peer-teaching spaces, differentiation, and student roles to help students hold themselves and their peers accountable and make them self-sufficient. This led to a significant increase in classroom engagement, attendance, and homework return rate. 

ii. Also, adopting creative ways to teach Math and Literacy, ways that excite them, like drama, scavenger hunts, and quizzes that help children from all quartiles to participate in class and engage equitably. 

iii. Daily reflection and goal-setting play a pivotal role in helping children track their progress, push their boundaries, and challenge themselves. We keep goals for ourselves, big and small. We had daily reflection spaces where students think about their day and what went well and what could have been better. As a result, students became open to learning, and problem-solving became a daily practice that started coming instinctively to them.  

A few challenges had to be the difference in learning levels of the students who had not come for online classes instead of students who had been consistently attending them and just inconsistent shift in the batch system the school followed. To overcome this, I extensively leveraged the student leaders and the buddy system set up in class and robust asynchronous packets to enable continuous learning at home.

As I transition, my vision is that they will collectively strive to soar high and bring out their full potential and become better individuals each day. They will be compassionate human beings, good decision-makers, and problem-solvers and inspire others in their homes, schools, and community. As a classroom, they will focus on excellence, work as a collective and work towards shared goals. As a collective, students have started working as a team and helping each other in class, following classroom values and rules inside and outside classrooms, applying the knowledge learned in all walks of life for development, taking ownership of what they do, being prompt with their responsibilities and roles, have started taking the initiative in class, standing up for what they believe is right and listening to each other. I know that these student leaders will make sure the class continues to learn even when no teacher is to remind them about the same.

The Fellowship made me redefine privilege altogether. What once was very general and conceptualized in textbooks became more of a reality that I had to deal with every single day as a teacher. I started zooming in a little more and realized inequity within the class and in the houses of children, be it children who don't have devices to the ones who do or young children who have access to learning and their elder sibling doesn't. 

Personally, transitioning from just doing everything I can to becoming a little goal-oriented helped me prioritize and be cognizant of creating a structured path for the students on what to work towards. I am a little more aware of the realities that the students are a part of.

Sanjana Jose

Grade 5

Cohort 2020

Chennai Primary School, Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai

My journey with Teach For India started when I first imagined stepping out of my otherwise comfortable lifestyle to do something that gave me a purpose – making education accessible. My time at the Institute unlocked many opportunities and experiences, allowing me to explore and further refine my vision. It helped me get in touch with reality and see for myself what are the challenges that the community faces.

My classroom has 43 students. Most of the students’ parents work as domestic helpers or as helpers in the market. This means that in most households, students are left on their own to attend classes, practice, and take up responsibilities. In a few other households, at least one parent is a homemaker but often cannot assist students with their school work. Keeping this in mind, I want my students to have self-belief and a sense of hope to change their reality.

The goal for the next two years is to engage, involve and challenge my students on multiple fronts to help them understand their role in society, consequently making them realize their potential.  One of the first steps to achieve this is empowering and making them capable of reading and writing. 

A blended learning format was implemented due to the pandemic. One in-person session is conducted in a week, and classes are taken synchronously through Zoom on the remaining days. These sessions are coupled with community visits. I have visited 70% of the students who attend classes and are reachable. The students also receive asynchronous packets every day, containing around two hours of independent work and activities.

The framework for blended learning that best suited my class context was decided upon after multiple meetings with stakeholders and going through the existing literature on blended learning strategies. The thought process was strongly facilitated and mentored in various learning circles. The suggestions and strategies were then tested after consulting the stakeholders, including parents, headmistresses, and students. After a few weeks of trials, everyone was able to adapt and was comfortable with the format.

The second step was to align instruction with the Leadership In Teaching (LIT) framework to enable maximum learning and outcome. It was essential to connect with my students’ context and communities to make informed choices and decide on a future path. 

While every student is unique and gifted, it is important to be aware of each student’s receptiveness towards the learning. I introduced the concept of ‘feeling cards’, a set of four cards depicting basic emotions -  happy, sad, angry, and scared. Before the start of every class, the students show each other one or two of the cards depending on how they are feeling at that point in time. While initially, all the students only showed happy cards, I have started noticing a shift wherein students volunteer to show ‘sad’ or ‘angry’ cards and explain the reason behind their emotions. 

The pandemic has ushered in many changes in the educational system, making it critical to get the parents invested in the idea of blended learning. The first round of conversations with parents made them aware of the benefits of online learning in the current scenario. I also interact with them weekly or bi-weekly, depending on their attitude towards online learning. This enabled me to streamline conversations and build trust. This exercise started paying off when the parents voluntarily started calling up to inform absence or inability to submit asynchronous work. They also became aware of the feedback mechanism and started sharing valuable insights into how classes can be more effective.

Being a Fellow has strengthened my resolve for the need for change brought through education. It has fueled my purpose to ensure positive change in a community pioneered by students with a strong sense of civic responsibility and personal ambition.

Swetha Raghu

Cohort 2021

Grade 3 at CPS Virungambakkam, Chennai