Help 28,000 Indian Children Get Quality Education

I am Yashaswini and I teach a batch of energetic grade 3 learners! The Summer Institute provided a holistic and comforting experience. We had access to all the required facilities and support to teach effectively. I faced a challenge while teaching 50 third-grade students who only spoke Hindi and Marathi. However, with the institute's constant support in lesson planning and classroom management, I overcame it. The training provided me with many resources for lesson planning and taught me practical problem-solving through active discussion methods. Equipped with this training, I instilled the values of kindness, compassion, curiosity, courage, and literacy in my current classroom. My vision for my classroom is to see my students embody these values and become kind, compassionate, and curious individuals.

In my classroom, I have implemented various plans and practices to ensure effective classroom management and control of student aggression. Using trackers, including group, individual, and classroom trackers, has been beneficial. Additionally, grouping students strategically, intervening when necessary, consistently checking for understanding, and reminding students of these aspects have also been crucial in maintaining a peaceful classroom environment.

There is a supportive environment even after the institute from all the stakeholders, especially parents and the school. At least 50% of the parents are highly active and constantly try to understand their child's development in the class and check their grades, behavior, etc. They are very receptive towards me, allowing me to plan the student's overall development effectively. Even the school management is pretty good; there is no pressure from any of the teachers or principal about my class. They are supportive of activities planned by me and even help with the implementation of my plans in class. The Program Manager provides constant support about all aspects of the class.

I derive motivation from my own life, as I belong to a low-income background and had to depend on scholarships almost my entire life to acquire education. A lack of money didn't mean a lack of resources to study. But in reality, lack of money and being a part of a disadvantaged background have a huge impact on one's education. Availability of resources, agency of students, parents, and teachers, the qualification of parents and their investment in students' education, and behavior play a huge role in a child's education. I thought parents wouldn't be welcoming and interested in their child's education. Still, through the experience of community engagement, I realized that they are interested in knowing the development of students but need to be made aware of the ways to do it.

My vision of leading myself is to understand my strengths and weaknesses and act on them to achieve my ambition. My vision of leading others is to build compassion and kindness among others and take them on the path of development. My vision for India is to ensure that every child has access to excellent education in the future.