My entry into the world of teaching

In this intial blog, I share with you how I became ready to inspire struggling readers and then I will share with you...well, one thing at a time. Here's my story. Just seven years old, Nelly was struggling to read her textbooks. Never having encountered such a situation I was, admittedly, taken aback. Without an iota of teaching experience, it was my task to give this girl evening classes. Her inability to read fluently caused me to seek assistance. I approached Dr. Esla Lynch, the principal of Eshe's Learning Centre, a school for learning disabled students. Unexpectedly, I landed a teaching job at the school within days and it was that move which put me in a position to ably assist Nelly.

As a new teacher, I was impressed with the physical environment and the teaching strategies employed at Eshe's. Colourful charts and learning resources abounded. Block timetabling was the order of the day. Although I had a Standard One class with only nine students, I had them divided into three groups for differentiated instruction.(Of course, I was unaware of that term at the time.) From then, the teaching bug had bitten me. You could imagine my culture shock when, after graduating from college with my first degree in Education, I began teaching in a typical classroom, in another school, with more than twenty students. Since then, my interest in the teaching of Reading, especially, deepened. Needless to say, I am thrilled to be benefitting from this Masters programme so that I can, as a more qualified teacher, be ready to inspire my charges. I do hope that you would visit me on my blog as I share vignettes and reflections on articles and my teaching practice, etc. See you soon.

Read-y-2-Inspire

Hi, I am Heather. In this initial blog, I share with you how I became ready to inspire struggling readers and then I will share with you... well, one thing at a time. Here's my story. Just seven years old, Nelly was struggling to read her textbooks. Never having encountered such a situation, I was, admittedly, taken aback. Without an iota of teaching experience, it was my task to give this girl evening classes. Her inability to read fluently caused me to seek assistance. I approached Dr. Esla Lynch, the principal of Eshe's Learning Centre in Woodbrook, a school for learning disables students. Through a twist of unexpected events, I landed a teaching job at that very school.

As a new teacher, I was impressed with the physical environment and the teaching strategies employed. Colourful charts and teaching resources abounded. Block timetabling was the order of the day. Although I had a Standard One class with only nine students, I had them divided into three groups for differentiated instruction. (Of course, I did not know that term existed.)From then, the teaching bug had bitten me. You could well imaging the culture shock when, after graduating with my BSc in Education, I began teaching in a typical classroom in another school with more than twenty students. Since then, my interest, especially in the teaching of Reading, deepened as I worked with struggling readers at all levels in the Primary School. I am thrilled to be benefitting from this Masters programme so that I can, to a greater extent, be ready to inspire my charges. Please join me on my blog as I share with you vignettes and reflections on my teaching practice and articles in the field of literacy. Thanks for your visit. See you soon.