The Lachmansingh Pri-mary School has established what is believed to be the first resource room in Region Five aimed at boosting teaching and learning strategies, rather than depending on “chalk and talk.”
The room which is the brainchild of headmistress, Monica Fraser-Carmichael, comprises teaching aids for core subjects as well as reading, Health and Family Life Education, games and puzzles.
Fraser-Carmichael told this newspaper that “the ultimate goal is to help students perform better.” She conceived of the initiative during her visits to the classrooms and watching “teachers teach.”
Recognizing the “need for improvement in the delivery in the curriculum, I thought of how I can help… New teachers can also go and learn how to prepare lesson plans.”
A committee, headed by the deputy headmistress, Janis Grant-Moriah has been set up to manage the room. Other teachers who are part of the committee are Darsanand Persaud, Cindy Nelson, Jaswanttie Singh, Marcia Brandt and Savitri Johashen.
As a way of up-keeping the room, she said, each class would have to come up with a monthly “wall aid or manipulative materials.” Fraser-Carmichael is encouraging head teachers of other schools to “run with the idea” and said they are free to arrange visits to the facilities.
In her remarks at the opening ceremony, District Education Officer, Chitraka Rampersaud said she was pleasantly surprised at the transformation that had taken place in a simple classroom.
She said the department appreciates the initiative which is the first in the region and called on other schools to follow.
She also hopes that it can be expanded and that members of the community, especially school dropouts can also benefit.
Another representative of the Department of Education, Sherry Grant-White commended the school on its way forward and hopes that it “would not stop there…”
Grant-White also promised to help the facility grow after she was challenged by the teachers.
The motto for the resource room is: “Read and Modernize Your Thinking, Lest You Derail.”
