ISA Magical Experience

“There are two kinds of teachers: the kind that fill you with so much quail shot that you can't move, and the kind that just gives you a little prod behind and you jump to the skies.” ― Robert Frost
 

The ISA programme gave the much needed prod that I needed to come out of my complacency and routine classroom teaching.

"In order to be a teacher you've got to be a student first”  ― Gary L. Francione

Every teacher knows this and as teachers we do appreciate the fact that we learn every moment of our life. But the learning that one gets from ISA programme is globally relevant. This learning gives a teacher global insight, tolerance, empathy, thinking out of the box, greater awareness of the wide world, less stereotypical views about others. A caring, co-operative and open outlook on the classroom experience, and core concerns- finding out about all the cultures of other countries are what I gained as a teacher involved in the ISA programme.ISA has opened the floodgates of global perspective to the way of approaching everything we teach and how we teach it. It broadens horizons and encourages exploration of all subjects from a global perspective. It contributes to the whole curriculum and enhances our understanding of the world.

My life can now be divided into two eras. Before ISA and After ISA. I have been a teacher for the past two decades and consider myself to be a good teacher, popular among students.

After ISA, I have got another dimension added to my persona. I am no longer just a three dimensional personality, teaching and enjoying it passionately. The fourth dimension is given to me by my experience as an ISA team member. The changes I have acquired are positive and my perspective has become global.

Teaching is an art – but effective teaching consists of a set of skills 
that can be acquired, improved and extended. The set of skills provided by ISA opened new vistas and widened horizon. Internet is no longer just social networking sites and cursory research portal. It is now a magical well with never ending wealth of global experiences. ISA has shown me what I can do with the internet. I am now able to guide my students into putting their IT skills beyond social networking.

Before ISA I considered myself computer savvy. After ISA, the computer department of the school acknowledges my enhanced computer knowledge and the new ways that I can use IT skills to improve teaching learning experience. Being one step ahead of the present generation of tech savvy students is the skill I have improved upon and extended.

International exposure with our partner school across the globe has given me insight that teachers and students are more or less the same. Students thirst for knowledge and when given it is given to them in new exciting forms, they are ready to lap it all up. Teachers are ready to experiment and add on to their vast experience and only wait for the opportunities. When opportunities knock, like ISA, the globe becomes a small place which could be held in the palm of one’s hands. One can reach  any corner of the world – to use a very popular cliché – with the click of a button. The whole world is waiting to be explored.

ISA can only be appreciated with experience. Without experiencing what gateways it opens up in our minds, one cannot truly appreciate its value.

While appreciating the ISA experience as an exceptional one, I acknowledge that all things positive has come out of this experience. As a part of the ISA team, I take this opportunity to thank the ISA co-ordinator, and my ISA team mates.