Learning Support Teacher- CATALYST in virtual learning environment

Being a learning support teacher and newbie in Student Support Services(SSS), I under-rated my role whenever I used to collaborate with grade level teams at the very beginning. I never realised how critical my role is to shape the future until I started intervention sessions, meeting parents one-on-one and received feedback.

Through this blog, I wish to share my journey of learning, falling, stress, anxiety, happiness and excitement of being a learning support teacher so far. With each passing day, I feel myself more worthy, confident and worth talking to on various topics. I discover something new each time when I sit to plan my lessons.

This all started when my boss (primary principal) asked me to take over an entire new role of LS i.e. Learning Support teacher over homeroom teacher. The reason was very genuine and I could not refuse to agree with the boss’s decision. I was anxious and was cursing myself to say yes when I wasn’t ready for the opportunity. I liked myself to be called PYP Homeroom as I thought the title justifies my work profile. Over a week and after certain meetings with the team I previously worked, I was comfortable. At the same time, I felt offended for no reason. It was like someone snatched a gold chain from my neck.

New assignments are always associated with new responsibilities. I started attending meetings with a different team by then. We created an informal whatsapp group to ask and clarify doubts. I was opening up slowly. I was comfortable and open to suggestions. My team has been very supportive and cooperative. Since I was new, I had to understand many things. The things which if I was a homeroom, I would have never got a chance to know.

With time everything started changing around me. I was meeting two teams and seven different personalities in each collaborative meeting. I was building perspectives on things. It was a whole different experience I had which if I was a Homeroom, I could have never been allowed to explore. I say this not because my new role was dynamic and responsible. This is because I’ve begun to allow myself to do a few things together.

• Creating my time-table keeping five separate classes in mind.
• Making myself available for planning meetings once a week.
• To contribute towards grade level PLC meetings which are held once in every fortnight.
• Meet my learners whom I really love to meet. They teach me a lot.
• Documenting self reflection on daily planning before the day ends. Of Course it’s a tedious task. But it helps me to plan better each day.

I agree that being a Homeroom teacher is an equally responsible job. However, it limits you to your team members. You’re so occupied with team meetings, planning and execution and arranging guest lectures and field trips and what not, that sometimes you unknowingly miss out on the learners who might need you to scaffold things a bit in a simpler way.

I was fortunate to work with the learners with need. They taught me many things which are effective in my teaching and learning practice. Be it simplifying instructions, setting and reviewing short term goals, working on a visual schedule to organise better, importance of life skills or sharing learning outcomes with them. These seem very challenging at times but when I work with these little kiddos, I always end up adding something new to my experience. I would call this as my REAL professional growth.

I really appreciate the opportunity I got during my remote and distance learning environment which gave me a new area to explore and grow. I am becoming more curious to cater my thoughts, questions, wonderings, doubts and ultimately ending up with some big discovery. Recently, I have got a chance to read a few articles on typing skills and the importance of cursive hand-writing. It was surprising for me to know that writing requires brain oscillatory motions to concentrate and remember strokes. I was amazed with the strategy we could use in the primary section to teach typing right from kindergarten.

There’s something really very special about the teaching profession. With age you become more valuable. And, I am proud to be one of these kinds. My heart fills with joy and pride when my student comes and reflects their learning aligned with the real world. What else would a teacher ask for as a reward?