Education has a massive role, in developing the world, as well as having a large impact in our personal lives. Education not only allows people to obtain important knowledge, but also provides them with many career opportunities. Only 66% of people in the world, have completed their secondary education. Many children in poverty stricken countries around the world, are unable to afford any form of education. This prevents them from breaking out of their poverty cycle. Without educating the youth, we will not be able to develop and improve the world in the future. This is my experience of working for an NGO, in which we educated under privileged children, in many topics.

What is Shawls4Shelters?

In the summer of 2021, I started working for an NGO called Shawls4Shelters. In July, we started a project called Impact 2021, where we aimed to virtually teach children between the ages of 10-13, numerous essential skills such as basic coding, finance, mathematics, art, and debate. These skills are essential in the development of our word, and the future generations need to know these skills. We also aimed to primarily teach under privileged children. I chose to teach the basics of coding, as I have some experience, in many languages such as C, Python, and JavaScript.

The entire course lasted for a month, and in each week we had a 1 hour class. I designed a presentation for all four of the weeks, and started preparing. I started the first class with the basics of Scratch (the platform I was using to teach).I then went into more detail about specific blocks such as operators, loops, condition, and variables. Every class, when I would finish teaching I allowed the students to use the remaining time to create their own projects. I was amazed, as many of the students who had never touched code in their lives were creating beautiful games, and even complete stories. It was an exhilarating experience, and I felt honored to teach these children. Having gone through this wonderful experience, I would like to give students a few tips on how you can learn effectively while also having a lot of fun.

Tips to study better:

1.Have fun

The most important thing is to enjoy learning. If you don’t enjoy what you are learning, than you will not be able to learn effectively. To make your learning more fun, try to relate the knowledge you are being given, to something that exists in your own life. This would help you better understand the material being taught while also making it more relatable, and enjoyable.

2.Listen to your teacher

Try to be focused during your classes. Try to listen to everything your teacher says, while also trying to understand what is being said. Many people who do not focus in class, but study later, will not do as well as a person who is 100% focused in class. The teacher is there to provide their knowledge with their expansive experience, so it is best to soak all of it in.

3.Be engaged

If there are any discussions, or other students ask doubts, be engaged. This will allow you to gain an even better understanding, as ideas, and thoughts can be shared between students, helping you learn more. You also may have had the same doubt as another student, and this could be answered by the teacher.

4.Ask questions

Do not be afraid to ask your teacher any doubts. They are there to help you, and will do their best to make sure you understand the content that is being taught. Even if you think that your question is dumb, do not be scared about what the teachers will think. Not asking questions is harmful to your learning, as you will not have a complete understanding of the subject.

5.Learning outside the classroom

Even when class is done, try to implement whatever you learnt into your daily life. For example, in math if you have a learnt a new technique to perform addition, use it the next time you visit the grocery store. This will help you understand the information even more.

I hope you find these tips useful, and I wish you the best of luck with your education!