VOLUNTEER

Working with Samait Shala has been one of the most learning experiences during my fellowship journey. I came across certain aspects of education which I had never given thoughts to.

My most significant learning while volunteering with Samait Shala has been the skill of making inclusive assessments.

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I wish Samait Shala grows, reaches its full potential and succeeds to make our education system completely

 

One of the most important things I learned at SamaitShala was not every student is the same, and henceforth the same teaching tactics wouldn’t work for every student. The most important thing about dealing with children with special learning needs is to build a personal connection with them, understand their perspectives and lead from there.

 

During my time at SamaitShala, I was personally working with 5 children to work on their comprehension and reading skills. It was during the first few weeks I realized, that these kids had a drive to learn but simply needed someone to make them sit and guide them. It was then I realized that a teacher’s job is not to force a child to learn things, but simply sit by them as they try to learn by themselves.

I am extremely grateful to Samait Shala for enhancing my skills and exposing me to a safe and valuable space where each member's opinion is valued equally. Though I wasn't into the very depth of the initiation of Samait Shala, I strongly felt that I am the part of the creation of Samait Shala. I can't thank Kushal enough to give me the professional and personal support that actually helped my learning and the learning of students I worked with.

 

Few things that I learned during my time at Samait Shala are:

 

a. Resourceful: I was exposed to many online and offline resources of teaching basic math, English and motor skills that I actually applied in my class. e.g fixed and growth mindset framework, how to use the calendar to teach math, seating arrangement techniques, leveled library in the classroom, learning from iPad etc.

 

b. Knowledge- Knowledge about the different aspects need to take care during the beginning of initial days of an organization along with the content knowledge.

 

c. Experiences- Every school visit, team meeting and personal check in was a learning experience. The places where I was struggling, Kushal modeled those strategies with children and thus I learned. I am not a tech savvy person but I learned to make lessons on iPad and actually implementing them in my classroom. My experiences at Samait Shala added positively to my Teach For India classroom as well as I became more equipped to identify the learning gaps and using the strategies accordingly to fill that gap.

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d. Connecting with a child was easier- Yes it definitely happened as I learned to break down the gaps and to think from the student's lens. It ultimately increased my patience level too in my classroom. Also, I started feeling confident in my class because I was able to get it, getting the child's behavior and understanding the why behind it. I saw my success story, in a child’s transformation from an under-confident boy who didn't speak with eye contact to the boy who ran to me share his academic learning and kept calling me to his house.

 

e. One thing I learned in Samait Shala is covering all aspects of a student's background that affect student learning. For instance, building connections with parents, teaching parents the literacy skills that they can practice with their children through actually making a parent support plan along with the IEPs.

 

And throughout my experience at Samait Shala, I felt that building structures for learning and then breaking down the steps of a long-term plan is the strength of Samait Shala.

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Our team meeting used to look like brainstorming ideas together, learning from each other stories and delicious food of course. So the team culture helped to achieve goals also. I don't use the coffee mug that Kushal gave me so that I can keep it for the lifetime. I will be ready to support Samait Shala in my whole capacity whenever it is needed.