TWA Teacher: Suchitra
It has been a remarkable 3 weeks in Chennai with HeyMath! Although I've visited India every couple of years, this has been my first time exploring Chennai on my own.
My work experience with HeyMath! has been an eye-opener. It has shown me how much thought, time, effort and creativity is involved in producing each online lesson for Mathematics. During the script creation for lessons, I've also learnt to see from a student's point of view through the review sessions. The content development team and the creative animators had also given me tremendous support in making the lessons come alive.
The workplace has shown me how dynamic and open a discussion could be and how it benefits the purpose in the end. The colleagues have been supportive. The lunch at the Boat Club and the pot-luck was memorable. And not forgetting the tasty coffee we get at HeyMath! everyday.
So far, I've worked on creating an interesting activity for Bearings, integrating the absolute functions graphing ability with the existing graphing tool and also suggested an overhaul for the geometry toolbox which would be an effective and intuitive tool for geometric construction.
I also got the chance to help out in the Mathematics Heritage Trail at Dakshina Chitra where 2 schools from India and 1 school from Singapore came together to work in groups for the trail. I was amazed to see students from various geographies work together as a team for a common goal in such a short period of time.
HeyMath! has also given more opportunities through a visit to PS Senior Secondary School where we spoke to the principal and teachers to know more about the education system here. We visited the math lab to know how HeyMath! was integrated into the lab activities. We also observed a 9th standard class and were pleased with the quality of the students. Their spontaneous answers and enthusiasm in learning was evident at all times.
Beyond the workplace, I've discovered the sights and sounds of Chennai with fellow Singapore teachers - We tried the various food varieties at nearby restaurants, shopped for clothes and souvenirs after work, learnt some local lingo. The weekends were efficiently used to make short trips to Pondicherry and Bangalore to visit my dear ones.
This TWA has given a better vision of the education landscape in India and has also shown HeyMath's role in the Singapore education. It has truly been a worthwhile and remarkable experience and my role as a teacher has been strengthened further. Thank you HeyMath!
