Wednesday 27 September 2017

TEACHER/FASHIONISTA/SMARTMONEYMAN/ENTERTAINER/MENTOR/ NIKEADDICT


'Regular is boring' is your usual line and you have proven that over and over. 
The extraordinary person with me in this video is David Obianyor, a teacher whom I would like to celebrate today. We first met in 2014 when he was transferred to my branch to become the Numeracy teacher in my class. 
Day one, was unimaginable, 'who is this crazy guy that was sent to my class oh? ' The first teacher I know who starts his lessons with a show(dance and singing performance). The pupils were crazy about him and in days, they couldn't wait for Numeracy classes to begin. I was worried because the excitement was so much I wondered how the children would learn anything. 
Whilst I was still in my pedagogical thoughts wondering why this guy won't organize his class normally like other teachers, he cuts in one day as I teach and whispers in my ears to say I wrongly pronounced a word;he was actually right. That was the beginning of my learning process with him. 
After many more encounters, I realized this new teacher had so much more 'upstairs' than I thought earlier. What broke the camel's back was the day I demanded to see my pupils' Numeracy test records. They were excelling, even the pupils who struggled in the subjects I taught. 
David changed my perspective about teaching. He challenged me a lot and I began to 'up my game'; becoming more open minded and making teaching more child centred in my class. Improving my grammar(which was above average before), vocabulary, pronunciation became a drive. 
I learnt from him how to make my lessons more fun, how to help children comfortable enough with me to say how they feel and get solutions. 
David, @daveoe075, I may not be able to tell you every time how much impact you have made in my life and classroom. Looking back at the last three years, I can see how much I have grown. Thank you for letting your light shine through. 

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