Teaching is something I have always enjoyed doing. After finishing IB MYP, I looked back at my journey and realized that if there were someone who could guide me and help me in certain aspects of the programme, it would have been so much easier. It is this realization that led to the creation of Illumination inc., a collective effort by me and peers to help students in our school through their MYP journey. In a way, we mentor these individuals and help them with their academics and tackle certain challenges they may face during the MYP.

Learning objective 2:

My role at Illumination inc. was to mentor and teach maths and science to students of grade 9 and 10. This meant I had to conduct 90 minute sessions every alternate day while also doing IBDP. In addition to that, most of this programme was conducted online due to the pandemic and to find a time frame suitable for all students was challenging. These sessions were held right after 6 hours of online school which at times was exhausting for me and for the students. Thus, to run a programme like illumination inc had its challenges like dealing with time management and morale.

Learning objective 3:

Starting a program like this was no easy task. It began with convincing my peers to volunteer for this program. After that, because this is hosted in our school, several meetings with the administration and our team leaders were held in order to get permission to conduct this programme and to discuss the plan of action. At last, a central form was circulated to allow students to sign up for this programme. From organizing the basics to executing the programme, the whole process was fairly challenging and initiating it was a learning 

experience in itself. 

Learning objective 5:

The need for collaboration was recognized even before the project started. Teaching 4 subjects to a dozen students isn’t something that can be accomplished by an individual. I collaborated with 3 of my peers to distribute work and subjects so that we can pay attention to each student. This made the programme a breeze because the responsibility of conducting sessions was distributed and the workload was also split making it easier for all of us. Collaborating also helped all of us identify our strong subjects and develop interpersonal skills.

Learning objective 7:

Teaching younger students meant that we had to be at our best behaviour and be role models to them. This required us to behave appropriately and make sure that we are not teaching these students to do anything wrong or inappropriate. At the same time, the whole point of this programme was to create a comfortable environment for students to make bonds with us that they can’t have with their teachers. This required us to create a balance between an open, comforting,nurturing environment.

In summary, me and my peers have had several learning opportunities through this programme. We have not only educated the students but also ourselves. This was very productive and fun project to undertake.

*Snapshots from the sessions I conducted on circle theorems and protein synthesis.