My teachers knew my name. They knew how I learnt, how to make me laugh, what interested me. Then, I became a teacher. My class sizes never exceeded 34 and I was proud of the strong relationships that I forged with each individual. I was lucky.
Every day, around the world, teachers are put in an impossible position where they simply cannot learn any information about their students, including their names, because their classroom sizes are too big – and their classes are continuously changing.
For the past 3 months, we have been focusing on supporting these teachers through blogs, newsletters and social media. Feedback from our community suggested that 3 major focuses needed addressing: how to manage behaviour; how to know what the students know; and how to plan effective lessons. So, on Monday 17th February, we held a workshop for teachers where we asked those with experience, our Teach2030 Ambassadors, to share their solutions.
Njilefac Atem (Cameroon) introduced the KWL strategy (what do I know; what do I want to know; what have I learnt), whilst James Carbah (Liberia) discussed exit cards and group work. Several followers on Facebook contributed with their own ideas, including Maria Mcintosh who said ‘Use a code word that makes everyone stop and pay attention’ and Suzette Loney who said ‘State what they have learned in their own words.’
Sandrine, our highly experienced Cameroonian Ambassador offered her own insights, suggestions and personal experiences last month too.
During my lower secondary school years, I was in a class of 93 students. Additionally, during my teaching practice, I was responsible for 68 children in the classroom for 10 days. On top of that, during my National Cameroon teacher training program, we were 67 in our classroom.
I always made it a point to bring one object into the classroom each day, related to the lesson I was teaching. I recall one morning when I had to teach an African traditional story as part of our curriculum in Les Didactic Nationale. For this lesson, I decided to dress up as an old African lady in her 60s, complete with a walking stick and full attire, to bring the story to life. I had coordinated this with the classroom teacher, and when I entered the room, carrying a bush lamp and a basket from my bag, the children who had been quite noisy instantly fell silent. The classroom became as quiet as a graveyard.
I carried on with the lesson in character, and the children remained quiet and attentive throughout. By the end of the session, learners had met the learning objectives. I incorporated various strategies to engage the students, including role play, group work, and the projection of short videos as lesson starters. I also used songs related to the lesson as warm-ups, gave stickers to students for active participation, and rewarded them with a special handshake to keep them motivated. These strategies helped create a calm, focused classroom environment where the students were always eager for something new each time they expected me.
Though my methods were playful and interactive, I ensured that each activity was directly aligned with my teaching objectives, making sure the games and tasks always reinforced the lesson’s aims. They copied notes and equally used handouts. This approach not only enhanced the learning experience but also made the students more engaged and excited to learn.
We pride ourselves on continuously listening to our communities and responding to their needs. Through building relationships with our own learners and elevating their voices, we are forging a worldwide community who feel safe sharing their own problems and solutions. They no longer feel alone. The CET will always continue to listen and provide strategies to try to help them.
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