Arise, Duty is calling, the society needs your contribution

 

 

Arise, Duty is calling, the society needs your contribution

Over a decade as a biology educator, I have been thinking about dead living things especially plants  ,how they grow  by taking nutrients from the soil and how they return nutrients to the soil as minerals when they die for other plants to use and I began to wonder about this amazing  power and attitude of giving back to the environment. I began to tell myself that if dead organisms can have something to offer to the environment, how much more I as a living organism .This inspired me greatly.

Teaching as a profession has made me to understand   that learning is recognized as life’s most essential activity that begins earliest in the womb and continues throughout life (Paul ,2012). Every learner is in the potter’s house, the shape of the learner depends on the moulder (Jeremiah 18:5-6’) . Recently as a leader of learning and development, I started evaluating learners academic performances in science in my organization and neighborhood and I realised that most are having challenges in biology due to its complex nature as a subject. I started to think about  how I can  add value to these learners and  I realised that it is through words .Maxwell  (2012) asserted that we should think of ourselves as rivers not reservoirs. With these in view, I have started administering after school and home school lessons to some students with those challenges, I have a functional blog  which is a platform I created to reach out to the students especially those in my neighborhood  and other distant places that may not have the opportunity to meet me one on one .I am currently working on my podcast where I can record all the  topics and assignments for those that have in one way or the other missed lessons in the school as a result of sickness or financial challenges.

Going forward from now , my decision is to deploy most of the things I learnt about development and learning into the class room platform to promote effective and enjoyable learning. The use of prior knowledge approach to a new learning  encounter for the students. It had been asserted that that pre-existing knowledge approach promotes learners ability (Pritchard, 2013).

Identification of learning styles is one of the key factor in becoming a professional teacher. Gardener’s theory (1983:1993) challenges the idea of a single IQ. He gives us a set of different ‘intelligences’ that as individuals, we display more or less according to our particular make up. The uniqueness of individual shows that they are likely to perform differently in tasks based on the style of learning they are presented with (Pritchard,2013). and I have deliberately and intentionally decided to deploy the use of learning style approach to enhance learning  and  to crown it all is the incorporation of Mariale Hardiman’s BrainTargeted Teaching Model( 2012)

into every learning units for effective delivery of my lessons to the students .

I also have the intension of organizing summer school lessons in biology , English , Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry with some of  my friends that are also educators of positive social change this coming August. Presently, in my blog, I created a forum where students can discuss and comment on the term Microaggression which had eaten deep into most students that are victims especially the fat and short ones  who have automatically developed  the phobia to relationship because of such insults that had been breeding through mostly in the high schools even among educators .The aim is to educate the students on the negative effects of such on the receiver and how it can adversely affect learning and development in  a learner.

I conclude by saying that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, I will do whatever positively possible I can to give back to the society .I therefore use this platform to call everyone with the thought of giving back to the society to arise because duty is calling.

 

References

Gardner  ,H., (2012) In a Nutshell, Available at :, (accessed :21/10/15)

Paul. A.,(2011)What we Learn Before We ‘re Born, Available :

at:http://www.ted.com/talks/annie_murphy_paul_what_we_learn_before_we_re_born?language=en (accessed:17/11/15 )

 

Pritchard, A., (2013) Ways of Learning :Learning Theories and Learning Styles in theClass room,London : David Fulton

Maxwell J. C .,(2012) The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth,  New York :Centre Street