Do you know anyone from Madagascar?
I met Toky through Facebook right before I published my book “Think Unique – your comprehensive guide to cultivating tomorrow’s innovators through project-based learning”.
I was looking for a few teachers that would like to read my book and provide feedback on it. I was grateful that today's technology enables me to engage with teachers worldwide, including in Madagascar.
I soon learnt that Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world. Through my conversations with Toky, I learnt about life there.
I learnt about their struggles. Sometimes they need to choose between paying for the water bill and having internet. There was a time when they got hit by a few cyclones, and I was worried for Toky’s life.
I also discovered that life at school there is so different to the western world.
Toky is a high school teacher. He is a passionate teacher who desires to grow in his profession and support his students.
Not long ago, he contacted me as he wanted to share a story.
He told me that he implemented what he learnt from my book and facilitated a project with his students to create a better learning environment for them.
He posed this question to his students- What might interfere with your ability to learn?
I was happy to learn that Toky has the confidence to pose such questions to his students. He wasn’t afraid to hear their answers. He actually welcomed their honest responses.
His students then provided their answers, and a theme emerged.
It turned out that many of his students found it difficult to summarise the lessons. Therefore, they struggled with understanding and revising the material.
Toky was happy to find out about this issue, as he knew that now, together with his students, they would be able to solve this problem.
Toky asked his students to brainstorm ideas on how they could solve this problem.
During the brainstorming session, his students came up with many solution ideas. Once they had finished coming up with ideas, Toky knew it was time to choose a few ideas and put them to the test.
After they evaluated their ideas, they decided to implement the below tools –
✅Creating a mind map during the lesson
✅Using flashcards to summarise the session
✅Learning how to identify keywords and write these keywords down.
Then they put them to the test. The testing was successful as now, using these new tools, the students can summarise the sessions and better understand and grasp the content of their lessons.
Toky empowered his students to create a better learning environment for themselves. He provided them with a voice and agency over their learning.
I am so happy to have met Toky and to be able to support him on his teaching journey.
Through Toky, we can learn how much positive change you can create with so little when you are willing to learn and have an open mind.
Want to Think Unique? You can start this amazing journey here
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