#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. This time our heroine is Natalia Garmashova, a teacher of the Russian language and literature from the Norilsk gymnasium No. 1, who won the municipal stage of the Teacher of the Year – 2021 all-Russian competition.
The teaching profession requires full dedication and a non-standard approach to lessons every day. This is Natalia Garmashova’s opinion. Since 2001, she has been working with children every day, trying to find an approach to each child and instill love for the immortal Russian classics. Having moved from Krasnoyarsk to Norilsk in 2017, the teacher did not abandon her beloved profession, but continued using her own methodology to show that literature is not dead works, and with their help moral lessons can be learned.
“Initially, I was curious how to instill children’s interest in literature, works, the actions of which took place many centuries ago. It’s no secret that not all children read with enthusiasm, they are frightened by the volume. Communicating with the students, I realized that everything should be presented in comparison with the present. For example, giving an open lesson within the competition based on Nikolay Gogol’s play The Inspector General we used the well-known TV program of Elena Letuchaya and watched why people got fear when being checked, compared, transferred this situation to ourselves. This practice attracts the children’s attention, later on they readily read works”, Natalia Garmashova admits.
Learning poems is even more interesting for our heroine’s students.
“Agree, just learning the quatrains by heart is boring, another thing is to draw a comic strip, working on which children will quickly remember the rhyme”, says Natalia.
Another technique that high school students love is debate. According to Natalia Garmashova, the ability to listen to a different opinion and tactfully defend one’s own point of view, to hear another person, to correctly understand and accept his arguments are the qualities that a student needs in adult life.
“If kids are children who want to know everything and be more creative, then high school students are more selective, they like to discuss something. We hold debates, everyone expresses their point of view. At any age there is a zest, the main thing is to find an approach and interest the child. You know, every student feels a human attitude, our task is not to crush them with our authority, but to give them an opportunity to open up, express their opinion”, the interlocutor shared.
At the end of the conversation, Natalia Garmashova recalled a story showing that all children are different, and their ideas about nature depend on where they live.
“There are always some circumstances to consider. For example, when I moved to Norilsk, during the lesson the children described the famous painting The Rooks Have Arrived, they were sure that it was May, as spring comes to Norilsk late. There were many funny moments in practice, children always discover something new for me, they learn from me, and I learn from them, for example, study digital technologies to be closer to them”, Natalia Garmashova summed up smiling.
Text: Ekaterina Elkanova, Photo: Vladimir Makushkin, personal archive of Natalia Garmashova
