I think they would see lots of laughter, discussions, hands up, students asking questions, many activities with flashcards, diagrams, etc. I always liked watching TV shows and I have managed to use their ideas to create a plethora of games for students with educational purposes. I like to improvise and try new ways to teach. And I think today’s students really benefit from the gamification of learning. Of course, it does not mean there is no note-taking and ‘boring’ listening to me in my class while I try to explain new topics. I experienced four education systems myself (Slovak, Czech, English, and Canadian) and I have friends from Germany and France, so I always try to implement something from a different system that could work in the setting I am in. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. It is all about creativity and improvisation for me.

There would be many of them. As a young teacher, I do not have as many ‘funny stories’ as my more experienced colleagues, but if I can highlight one moment (period to be precise), I think it would be teaching Grade 11 Chemistry in summer 2023. As aforementioned, my experimenting with new ideas sometimes works, sometimes it does not, I would say the same for summer school. Sometimes you get students who just want it to be over with and sometimes you get students who are extremely passionate about something. What happened last August was a perfect ‘alignment’ of my creativity, students’ character, interest in the source, eagerness to learn, and tell funny jokes. There was not a single day when I did not laugh. Every day was just remarkable.

I think it is to see the surprise and astonishment on students’ faces when something ‘suddenly clicks’ and they just know it. And from that moment on I think that even if someone woke them up at midnight, they would still know how that process, concept, idea, etc. works. I also enjoy comparing students with their older Grade 9, Grade 10 version of themselves. It is simply mesmerizing how they grow intellectually and you see them slowly narrow down their interest into either sciences or business, etc. I was blessed to be able to teach multiple courses and every course is different. Humanities kids are different than science kids. Nevertheless, it is always a pleasure to be a part of their learning process.

Picking only one is very hard. For me, it was undoubtedly how to understand the concept and present it with a slideshow. I made dozens of slideshows at high school and I was lucky to be a part of several national competitions and championships in presenting various scientific ideas. So I would say the same - being confident in what one knows, believing in themselves and present it in a simple, easy-to-understand way. But what comes before we achieve this is having a strong understanding of the topic, being able to contrast pros and cons aka knowing how to be objective and acquire critical thinking.