WHEN PASSION MEETS PERFECTION
“To be a good driver, one must always put the animal before the cart. As a teacher driving my students uphill to success, I had to make sure what I taught them gave them meaning and purpose. Once children figure out why they are learning, they take care of the rest,” –
Ms. Neha Verma Chaudhary
A teacher supported at our Shikshaantaar program in Delhi (ITEI-EDMC)
Some people live their life doing everything to the best of their ability for a very simple reason. It is because they believe doing things honestly and not taking short cuts in life. This is an everlasting quest for excellence; and is in fact, the only way to describe the genius, Neha Verma Chaudhary.
Neha is a graduate with Bachelor in Elementary Education programme who is also a young educator and has worked with multiple schools before she began her journey with East Delhi Municipal Corporation school system. From having access to all kinds of resources, when teaching in a private school, to working with first-generation learners is always a difficult transition for anyone. However, Neha was able to match this transition with her desire towards learning. When she attended the first set of training sessions at ITEI-EDMC, in 2013, her presence in the sessions was a real distinguisher.
While Neha was always systematic and organised in her work, the workshopshelped her to understand how to make the best use of all her learnings. “To be a good driver, one must always put the animal before the cart. As a teacher driving my students uphill to success, I had to make sure what I taught them gave them meaning and purpose. Once children figure out why they are learning, they take care of the rest,” explains Neha.
Her workshops s at the ITEI-EDMCempowered her precisely with this skill. She learnt strategies to use peer learning and concept mapping as skills to enhance her classroom delivery. “I have learnt to use constructivism in my lessons as well as my planning. Essentially, I learnt to help my children move from concrete objects to abstract concepts; and that has made a world of difference in how they perform,” says Neha. From constant classroom observations, we know that she documents her success and failures and those of her students, with great care; and is considered a pillar of support for her school and students.
Learning, to her, is always a natural process. We believe, with a teacher like that, the students are perennially inspired!