2020年度教师奖

“在太. 迪亚波罗州立公园, 我的学生们热切地观察着野生动物, jotted down information and simply appreciated the flow of energy within their surroundings. 这个练习之后, students brought back their inspiration and creativity and continued to apply learnings to their outlook and work.”

River of Words / 卡尔马诺维茨教育学院 2020 Teacher of the Year  

Meet Manju Goyal, of Golden Oak Montessori; Castro Valley, California

Manju Goyal is an educator with over 25 years of experience. 在她的职业生涯中, she has worn several hats including working with grade levels from preschool to middle school in both traditional and montessori teaching environments. Manju recollects starting her career in a boarding school position in India after completing both her Bachelor of Education and Master of Science degrees. 搬到加州后, Manju discovered the Montessori philosophy and received her formal training from Saint Mary’s College of California. Having been inspired by her instructors and peers, Manju began consulting with Saint Mary’s in 2013 as a Montessori teacher trainer. 

跨越这些不同的学科, Manju strived to embed learning in a way that enabled students to apply themselves and further interact with the environment outside of the classroom setting.

“不管我在哪里教，教什么, I created opportunities for students to have experiential learning to connect the classroom and the real world. Bridging the gap between these two is one of my goals as an educator. The opportunity for education doesn’t start or end in the classroom, rather it continues far beyond into everyday happenings.”

鉴于她对教育的热情, Manju actively identified opportunities to integrate the arts, 诗歌和科学在课堂上. She considers science a form of observation and something students can engage in without needing elaborate equipment or tools. As a preschool teacher prior to the introduction of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), Manju began class by encouraging students to brainstorm a question they were collectively intrigued by and conducted an experiment around it. She would then share the experiment guidelines with the families so that they could support the child to extend the learning. 通过这些活动, students were able to apply their learnings at home and repeat similar experiments. 

在发现 文字之河(ROW) in 2018, Manju felt further empowered to continue integrating the arts, 诗歌, 把科学带入她的课堂.  Attending a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Mathematics (STEAM) pedagogy training event titled ‘Exploring the Watershed Explorer’ showed her how activities such as writing poems and creating artwork can enrich a student’s learning across classroom topics. Through hands-on learning experiences inspired by STEAM education accompanied with accessibility to nature, Manju’s students are able to communicate their personal stories through creative mediums.

“I recollect taking my students to Mount Diablo in the Bay Area where they eagerly surveyed the wildlife, jotted down information and simply appreciated the flow of energy within their surroundings. 这个练习之后, students brought back their inspiration and creativity and continued to apply learnings to their outlook and work.”

过去两年了, Manju’s students have been submitting their pieces to the ROW competition and have received finalist recognition in both art and 诗歌 categories.  

This year, Manju joined the Union City School District as a science education specialist. 在这个新角色中, Manju continues to exercise her passion for experiential learning by facilitating activities to engage students in science and engineering. 给n the ongoing global pandemic, one of Manju’s current focuses has been educational equity. While this has always been a challenge due to varied needs of students, the pandemic introduces layers of inequity such as access to online education that were previously negligible. Through a unique STEAM based approach, Manju believes she can mitigate the inequity.

“我理解在线工具的挑战, but I know if I can give them some guidelines  to interact with nature and use their own watershed as a science lab, 股权将不再是个问题.”

在接下来的几周里, Manju is working with science specialists across the Union City District to develop a Google Site and weekly videos with experiment recommendations. She hopes that through a STEAM centric learning environment, students can continue to develop themselves and their respect for the natural world even during these challenging times. 

Please enjoy a few submissions River of Words has received from Manju's students

乔治娅的《十大网赌平台》

看这株植物
Oh! 看看我找到了什么
小杂草使
嘎嘎的声音!

这个带刺的球不会发出声音
但它确实是圆的.

这是什么??
两片叶子，一片蓝，一片绿
恶!
我只希望它们是干净的.

一丛红色
有点像我头上的痂

从叶子上长出来的非常直的茎
确切地说，是一片枫叶
这是一个明确的事实!

鼠尾草，鼠尾草，毛茸茸的植物
圣贤，圣贤，我们一起唱圣歌吧!

地上那个有弹性的东西，
我找到了一根橡皮筋!

葡萄柚树上一片非常绿色的叶子
这片叶子一定很甜!

这是我发现的最漂亮的石头
那是一块褐色的岩石吗.

松果，松果的穗子很粗糙
A pinecone, a pinecone which eating would be tough

我的岩石很光滑，我的岩石很光滑
但遗憾的是它不会动.

 

乔治娅，8岁

卡斯楚谷，加州.

"Swan Lake," Nyles, age 7; Castro Valley, California; Art 2019 Finalist.