My Large Class | Zambia

Today Teachers' Day, I celebrate the opportunity of teaching one of the largest class sizes in my teaching career of 104 students in one classroom. This experience presented both challenges and successes. I found myself reviewing my pedagogical knowledge and skills especially in planning and implementing active, engaging lesson plans, different learning strategies and employing positive but firm classroom management strategies (for student behavior and participation). Another interesting area was developing timely feedback and different assessment methods (formative and summative) on student work to help them improve their learning for such a large number of students to one teacher, knowing I had other classes apart from this large one. I also utilized the Narrative4 Story exchange to build speaking confidence and connections among the learners and myself to create a positive classroom where the learners felt respected, heard and included in our daily learning. And my favorite was the integration of technology into my teaching using the visualizer, projector and portable speaker and mic to engage learners and supplement my instruction. Above all, I had to remember to take a power nap after such lessons and have pep talks with my teacher colleges on strategies especially on those hard days. I end by just remembering all the amazing teachers that played a part in pouring knowledge, experiences, stories, dreams, encouragement and kindness into my life as a student, the years of my teacher career development and today. Happy Teachers Day to you all.