IT IS JUST A BIGINNING!! MORE TO GO!!….MORE TO DO!!

 IT IS JUST A BIGINNING!!                           

MORE TO GO!!….MORE TO DO!! 

SUMA REDDY 

Assistant teacher

Government Higher Primary School   

Bheemasamudra, Chtradurga (t&d)

KARNATAKA                                                             

When the entire world was in trivial situation due to COVID-19 pandemic, being a teacher I was also  worried about my students and their studies as other teachers do. It was a helpless situation for any teacher to reach and guide students in that crucial time. I decided to reach them anyhow, one and only option left with me was to use technology. Technology based education has its own barriers like access to smartphones & network, time schedule and awareness about online teaching , my students belong to a remote village, where network is rarely accessible & parents are from economically weaker section to manage with smartphones. Many of the parents are from labour class and work entire  day and they are not available to their kids for a particular time .  They are out of reach to use smart phones & other applications. Many of the parents use smart phones but they were unaware about using Google meet, zoom or any other education related apps.                             

                                                  

The challenge for me was to use & plan something more flexible & easily accessible flat form, so that I can reach effectively and widely. The very first thought came to my mind, was to use WhatsApp and YouTube, so I created a WhatsApp group in 18/5/ 2020. Parents were convinced by phone call, after the discussion they were happy, co- operative  and we’ll understood the planning. Everyday I started giving work to my students by voice messages, providing links & worksheets to complete, beginning the response was slow, later it geared up & students started involving happily, which boosted my confidence hence to take the next step, that is teaching online on YouTube. Why I choose YouTube?  it is a very familiar app, videos were easily accessible at their convenience, students can watch them repeatedly for better comprehension. Moreover one thing was on my mind was to reach other than my students also, who are facing similar situation.

June 11, 2020 I was dare enough to create my  YouTube channel to help and guide students with 6th and 7th English classes . The biggest challenge was to face camera, organize & compress the activities for the stipulated time, never before I’ve done this. Somehow I managed with it, downloaded related applications for editing and gradually I learnt to create good English content for the video. These videos were shared in WhatsApp groups with appropriate suggestions.  Students engaged in learning gradually with frequent follow up instructions. Diksha app & KSEEB SOLUTIONS were used to solve Comprehension questions and other activities given in the text books. Sometimes the videos were made in 2 parts for easy understanding. Parents were suggested to  be present & guide while watching the videos. Parents and students were made to use the helpline  whenever they come across any confusions or difficulties. All this made this process a very convenient & accessible. Parents appreciated the efforts of teacher & they were voluntarily involved & encouraged the kids throughout the sessions. The  videos helped many students across Karnataka, which really made me proud. These videos has been shared on official blog of BRC Chitradurga.  Till now I have created 35 videos on YouTube and I have 1.38 k subscribers. I want to do more and have many innovative  plans regarding this venture. Many categories to work and add. Many more activities to plan and inspire students and teachers to make English a fun learning subject. 

The video content for teaching English includes stories, rhymes, riddles, questions, animations, images, hence they are captivating students to learn with joy. I would like add one more thing that all my efforts and outputs are highly influenced & shaped by my ELEP training DIET Chitradurga  and CELT Training, RIESI Bengaluru. The trainings helped me to design my instructional methods & execute plans more scientifically. It gave me more deeper knowledge about how to execute each and every skill in the most appropriate and easiest way. All this made me more confident to present myself in the most influential online platforms like YouTube, Blogger, Facebook page & represent entire Government School English Teachers.

The you tube channel has videos under many playlists like, Bridge course, 6th English, 7th English, Student’s/ Classroom activities, literature, and Morning Vibes. These videos has been guided, supported and appreciated by my DDPI Shree Ravi Shankar sir, BEO Shree Siddappa sir, BRC Shree Eshwarappa sir and all BRPs, CRPs and Resource persons of English (ELEP) of Chitradurga. Special thanks to my guru Mr. Revanasiddappa sir, DDPI Madhugiri, who always encouraged me for all my efforts. The videos had been liked & well received by students, teachers, parents, friends and Education Department as well.  My heart felt gratitude to all of them who stood strong and motivated me. Thank you so much all.

https://youtube.com/c/SUMAREDDY