Impact Stories
Technology is rarely used in community schools. So when the parents at Joy Grace saw the teachers on tablets and smartphones during class, they thought they were neglecting their children and just playing on social media. They began to complain to the school’s director who had to call a school-wide meeting and explain to the parents that the teachers were using educational apps to help their children learn.
For one parent, that wasn’t the end of the story.
When you walk into Memory's classroom, you can tell she loves teaching. Brightly decorated walls, a beaming smile, and joyful noises are all evidence of that. But dig a little deeper into her own story, and you're even more convinced that nothing can keep her from her calling as a teacher.
Memory has always dreamed of teaching children. She enrolled in a local college to see that dream come true, but unfortunately she had to drop out after just a few months because her parents weren't able to pay the tuition fees.
But instead of giving up, Memory pressed on to follow her heart.
When the schools close for term breaks, we get the chance to bring our teachers and school directors together for training events. This month, we facilitated a training for our school directors on how to get parents more involved in their child's learning and the activities of their schools. Research shows us that parental involvement is a key marker to student success.
The highlight of the training was seeing our school directors create skits where they pretended to be the students, parents, and teachers.
What a year this has been! There aren't quite words to describe what we've all been through, and how this pandemic has affected our lives. But there are words to say just how grateful we are that you've continued to walk with us and our partner schools through this crazy year.
Take a look at this short video below as our schools say thank you for all that you've made possible this year!
With a class of 50 preschool students, Teacher Rhoida has her hands full! A typical day of learning in this class involves singing songs, reciting chants, and copying shapes and letters from the chalkboard. Unfortunately due to a lack of resources and the experience in how to use them, there is very little hands-on, interactive learning.
So last month, we packed up a box of teaching resources from our Center and visited Rhoida’s classroom to try them out.
At the end of every year, we take time to reflect on our progress and dream of our future. Last week, we invited our partner schools to join us as we embarked on this process. We asked them one simple question… what does it mean to be a part of the Impact One Network?
The first response… it means a lot!
Then each person began to share story after story of how the Impact One Network has made a difference in their schools.
Over the past year, we have provided ongoing training and mentoring for our schools to implement a new e-learning program. They have been teaching math lessons to the 1st to 3rd grade students using interactive tablets. Through weekly mentoring sessions, the teachers developed skills to operate the technology, facilitate multiple lesson activities, and equip students to work independently to understand the content. This month, 8 teachers graduated from the Teaching with iSchool Program having mastered all of the required skills!
Our core priority is training teachers with new skills, but that doesn't mean we are always the trainers! In our network of 9 schools, our teachers and directors are gifted with a variety of skills. One of our roles at Impact One is to give them a platform to share those skills with each other. One of those platforms is the Teacher Group Meetings, which are organized by our School Directors to encourage and equip their own teachers.
This year, our School Directors have chosen to use the Teacher Group Meetings as an opportunity to build skills in Creative and Technology Studies.
This year, we introduced an exciting new e-learning program in our schools. Grade 1 to 3 teachers are now using interactive tablets to teach their math classes. The students and teachers are absolutely loving it! Lessons are fun and interactive. Attendance and participation is sky rocketing. And most importantly, students are gaining a better understanding of how to do math! We asked one of our teachers, Wilfred, to tell us how the new e-learning program (iSchool) has made an impact.
Impact One Initiative is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
All donations are 100% tax-deductible.
