Teachers across the world report that students are lethargic and struggling to adapt to ordinary classes after the disruption to their school careers with the Covid-19 pandemic. Quality Circle Time is a proven classroom method that works well in helping students re-socialize after lockdown.
Priya, a headteacher with eighty teachers working under her, shares ideas on how teachers can help their students get back to class after the Covid-19 lockdown. See Priya’s channel Yearn 2 Learn, at the following link: ► https://www.youtube.com/c/Yearn2Learn
Quality Circle Time
Teachers are finding it difficult these days to manage children because when they have joined back after the pandemic
they seem to have a lower attention span than before.
Things have changed since learners were so much in online classes and got used to that pattern, that it is now difficult for them to re-adapt to the offline mode and the regular number of periods.
This is the practical problem teachers are faced with. So, how can we address this problem?
“Within our curriculum, we introduced some of the fun periods with more physical exercises to get students happy about being in class,” Priya explained.
“Start it off with quizzes so that they get back on track and again enjoy the company of each other because children have forgotten how they used to interact socially, face to face.”
It was about the same with the teachers. They otherwise would stand in the class and move around energetically, but because of the pandemic they now got so used to sitting while teaching, that they now sit in front of the class.
So, we needed to do some sort of transition and did some brainstorming and came up with QCT – Quality Circle Time.
What is QCT?
“Quality Circle Time is simply to sit together in a circle and discuss or brainstorm problems together, it is a kind of group therapy. We found that this really helped both students and teachers to re-socialize.”
“I suggest that all educators out there – irrespective of the age group of your students – conduct weekly QCTs with them.”
“There are certain rules you can establish for the QCT, but let them not cause an obstruction to the goal of communicating,” Priya explained.
Let students sit in a circle so that everyone can face each other. Guide them with some sentence stems for starters. Do not judge anyone when they say something or share something. Encourage everyone in the circle to talk, comment, and share their feelings and ideas. This beautiful exercise for you as an educator as well as for the students.
