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WHY AS A TRANSFORMATIONAL TEACHER YOU CANT AFFORD TO GIVE UP

 If you are one of those teachers who are concerned about the academic and non-academic welfare of their learners, you swing into action when you observe a need amongst your pupils and you're always ready to do or go a little extra just for your students, then chances are that by now you must have had so many reasons why you should just stop and throw in the towel, I mean, legitimate reasons!

Every day I remind myself of the reasons why I shouldn't give up and give in, despite feeling unappreciated and overworked most of the time, despite getting setbacks for ideas I propose that's to take the children to the next level of their lives, despite getting the "this isn't going to last" smile all the time and the side talks that are deliberately made for me to hear.

I remind myself that by the mere reason of meeting me, the lives of these children have changed. I tell myself of how many times I have tried to be there for them genuinely even if I had to sacrifice something personal for it. I remember times when we'll share my last change because someone in the class hasn't eaten since last night and I also have to transport myself back home. Imagine the new uniforms, school bags, books, pens, socks, earrings, food, etc I have had to buy to make my pupils comfortable and ready to learn, I feel proud today that when I look at my students they look smart, kitted in their uniforms and have writing materials ready to learn.

Miss Agnes with her pupils -Bolu and Modinat
I remind myself that I am the reason why my children have had close access to computers and digital gadgets. When I came to my placement school my learners were still fascinated when they see laptops, that stopped when I went all the way to seek a laptop donation just for my class and I had a weekly timetable when each pupil is to carry out an assignment on the laptop, so every week everyone in my class gets to not just touch the laptop but have a whole hour to try out different things on it- supervised, of course!

I remind myself that my learners are most likely to speak up with their "full chest" because I am the teacher who never tells you to shut up except of course you're making noise, when they are around me, I love to hear their tiny chats, their weird ideas about the world and their opinions about people. So instead of stopping them, I amplify and even go like, "wow, is that so?" and then you'll suddenly see the spark on their face like "wow, miss Agnes is listening to what I'm saying" I have done this to the extent that they are not afraid of saying what's in their mind politely. They believe that what they have to say is worth listening to.

Seeing how many opportunities we have explored as a class, the numerous debate competitions, and so on, my pupils have grown so much that they are not scared to face a stage and say what they want to say.

Even though I look around and there are still children who can't read and others who still have numeracy issues, I sleep better at night knowing that their lives are generally better because of me and now is not the time to give up!

 

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