LEADING IN CRISIS, REIMAGINING THE FUTURE
A Tribute to the Teachers of KV Vijayapura

A teacher is a beacon in the darkness and a hope that gives the students courage and strength to lead their life.
The landscape of school education has changed significantly in the past one and half years. It has fuelled a much greater appreciation for virtual learning.
The pandemic pitched everyone's life into a commotion including teachers and students with the announcement of lockdown in March 2020. The chirpy, joyful world within the protective boundaries of their Vidyalaya came to an abrupt halt. Our Vidyalaya ushered in a new era of online instruction though the transition has its own set of problems.
The shift was not easy for both teachers and students because they were put into this new instructional practice with little time for preparation. However, the teaching fraternity at KV Vijayapura in this rural northern Karnataka belt dealt the issue with unparalleled perseverance and commitment.
I take this opportunity to salute my young brigade of tech savvy teachers, Mr Mallikarjuna PGT (Chemistry), Mr.Sikander Singh TGT (Maths) and Mr Pawan Kumar Ojha PGT (Computer Science) to come forward with enthusiasm to conduct in house training programmes to make their colleagues abreast with the use of technology and ICT in online mode of education. All that brainstorming and research paid off so well that from class 1 to class XII, everything had gone online within a matter of a few days. It was a monumental haul up but all my teachers pulled together swiftly to become proficient in virtual teaching and learning. As an instructional leader, now I am happy to see that all of them are able to record their virtual classes and place it in their Google classrooms for those students who missed the live session as well as for others to revisit.
Lack of adequate materials and resources, technical problems, lack of internet facilities and reaching out to the students with a normal black board in online mode were some of the challenges teachers faced during virtual classes. I appreciate those teachers who went ahead to invest in upgraded systems, high-speed internet and digital boards even though it cost them dearly but resolved the problem and put a smile on the faces of the students. I applaud all my teachers who have shown great leadership and innovation in mobilising resources and ensuring that no student is left behind because of the lack of equipment.
Being the principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya Vijayapura, I know and recognize that all the teachers in this Vidyalaya have given their hearts, minds and souls to nurture the young students with the gears that they saw as vital to education, critical to success and important for their future.
I would like to celebrate and share with you two exemplary novice teachers of this vidyalaya who are an inspiration to this great profession. These two young teachers are super teachers who have earned the right to be called GREAT in this vocation through their extra ordinary instructional practices to reach out to the students.
Mrs. Preeti Lata (PRT) is an enthusiastic primary teacher who simplifies the purpose and learning goals and provides clear criteria on how students can develop competencies at the young age. She brings the whole world into their virtual rooms and make the classroom vibrant with activities involving wholehearted participation of students. Her fun ways of teaching and story time have kept them captivated throughout the class.

Link to Mrs.Preeti Lata’s recorded online class
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Hp8KIZm3Z2gPpGbyO3I1YUrKzL1AVJ3G/view?u...

Mr. Noble Antony TGT (Eng) is a passionate language teacher. It is a joy to watch his metacognitive approaches in the classroom and how he gives students opportunities to plan and organize, monitor their own work, direct their own learning, and to self-reflect along the way. It is a pleasure to observe how he builds a relationship of trust and companionship with students. He proves that nothing works better for a student than personal attention from the teacher who then becomes a person rather than just a voice behind the screen. Mr. Noble Antony interacting with students in the online classroom
Link to Mr.Noble Anthony’s recorded class
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aowDNvwVL1DVApyhR3zR-dC7CKa82Iqv/view?u...

The efforts of all the teachers of K V Vijayapura are highly commendable in quickly adapting to the changes that warranted because of the pandemic. You teachers have become real professionals in online mode of facilitation and the students and parents are unequivocally appreciating your efforts. We hope to continue this spirit and the immense possibilities of ICT will be utilised for fruitful learning even if the school runs in normal mode.
I salute all the teachers of K V Vijayapura who proved beyond doubt that, it is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one most adaptable to change.
Happy teacher’s day!

Warm regards,

Principal