“The future belongs to those who learn more skills and combine them in creative ways,” said American author Robert Green.
How true!
While our children were on holiday, our teachers at the Beacon Learning Centres (BLC) became learners for five days. These days were packed with skill upgradation sessions aimed at understanding the child, building stronger teacher-child interaction, effective administration and functioning in the classroom.
Our team of trainers, all of whom are either staff or volunteers of Vision Rescue and The Movement India (TMI) trained our teachers on the following topics:
1. Developmental stages in a child –
Trainer – Naomi Jawaharlal, Volunteer, TMI
Infancy to early childhood (0-6 years), middle childhood (7 to 13 years) and adolescence (13 – 18 years) are the three main stages of development in a child. Our teachers learnt about the physical, cognitive and socio-emotional milestones of a child through each stage. Although every child develops at an individual pace, our teachers were taught to identify any red-flags that signal if the child is struggling physically, psychologically and socially.
2. Maintaining documents –
Trainer – Richa Shrisath, Education Mentor, BLC
Individual children’s information, attendance records, lesson reports and plans, and students’ progress are some of the key documents that our teachers maintain regularly. They learnt to use these documents better to crisply capture details of a child, the curriculum taught to them and the progress of each child. And yes, effective documentation will also help teachers have a more organised classroom environment.
3. Effective communication
Trainer – Dipika Yesudas, Education Consultant, Vision Rescue
Communication with the child, with parents, other staff and visitors were the key topics covered under this training. Our teachers learnt that both effectiveness and efficiency in communication are needed in a successful classroom set-up.
4. Administering ‘First Aid’ and treatment of malnourished children
Trainers – Ridju Cherian, Chief Mentor – Healthcare Support and team
Teachers learnt about how they should reach out to a child who gets hurt or sick in the classroom, with basic first-aid, including appropriate application of ointments, administration of medication along with first steps to be taken as needed. They were also trained on how to identify and help malnourished children.
5. Laptop basics
Trainers- Ganesh Manik and Nitin Baisane, Vision Rescue staff
Teachers were updated on how to use the laptop in the classroom and prepared to maintain documents in an organised manner.
6. Volunteers and Guest Interaction
Trainer- Neethi Surmeshwaran, Chief Mentor – Volunteers
Teachers were given guidelines about hospitality toward volunteers and guests who come to be with Vision Rescue, work with us and observe our work at the BLCs.
7. Development disorders in children and how to identify them
Trainer – Dr. Barkha. Developmental Paediatrician
Our teachers learnt how to identify if a child has difficulty in reading, writing and maths skills in the teaching process, so that these children may be given the required timely treatment by experts.
8. Creation and execution of a lesson plan
Trainers- Tripti Dutta, Richa Shrisath, Dipika Yesudas and Simone Glory – Vision Rescue Education team
Our teachers learnt about the importance of planning a lesson in advance and the details that go into the plan so that it may be executed to the fullest.
9. Enhancing thinking skills in children
Trainers – Dipika Yesudas – Education Consultant, Vision Rescue
Asking the right questions, asking open-ended questions and facilitating activities that create a sense of wonder in children, were some of the topics covered in this training. Our teachers learnt to use creative teaching methods so that children can begin to think creatively.
10. Importance of ‘Play Time’ in BLC
Trainers – Dipika Yesudas – Education Consultant, Vision Rescue
The age-old saying, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” still holds true. Our teachers learnt about how including play time in the classroom refreshes the mind of the child. The
Along with learning a host of new things, the teachers themselves conducted games and icebreakers which showcased the effectiveness of team work. By the end of the sessions our teachers left feeling better equipped and refreshed for the new academic year.
“We got to learn many new things from these training sessions,” said a BLC teacher Nayana.
“The trainings will help us better manage the children at the BLC,” said BLC Nursery Teacher, Sushma.
“The topics were related to everything we need to do at BLC,” said BLC Assistant Teacher, Karma Sheikh.
The role a teacher plays in engaging and sustaining the interest of the child in the classroom can be overwhelming yet satisfying at the same time. These training sessions go a long way in helping them meet that mark.
Now that the teachers are geared up to handle the new academic year successfully, we would like to thank you dear donors for your constant support of our work. Your contributions empower us to conduct such upskilling sessions, and improve the quality of our outreach.
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Vision Rescue exists to rescue children from all forms of exploitation by engaging and sustaining them in education. We are a registered NGO for child education under the Bombay Public Trust Act 1950.
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