Teacher Stories Brighten Classrooms
Once upon a time, there was a little rubber duck named Teto, who lived in a bathtub. Teto enjoyed splashing around in his tub, but he also dreamed of big adventures beyond the bubble that he lived in.
One day, he decided to take the plunge, and explore the world beyond. Can you guess what happened next?
Well, there won’t be any spoilers here, but let’s just say that Tito learned an important lesson about growing and life on the pages of this charming tale by teacher Deyfi Yomara González.
Deyfi created the book as part of Global Learning Exchange Initiative’s teacher training program, from which she graduated in January.
Her book, which is geared toward first graders, was selected as the top book among all 57 books created by teachers who participated in the Open Books, Open Minds training program this past year.
We were delighted by the projects that this class of GLXi® graduates created, and we are excited to now begin sharing them with you.
As first place winner, Deyfi, from the Department of Mazatenango, was invited to read the book aloud at the Jan. 20 graduation ceremony. The second place winner, teacher Marlyn Ambelis, from the Department of Sacatepéquez, also read her story, "Fight for Your Dreams," a creative and sweet story for third-graders about pursuing dreams and achieving goals.
Three others also received special recognition during the ceremony.
Third Place: Teacher María Batz, from the Department of Guatemala, and her story for first-graders titled "Tita and her Magic Blackboard," a lovely tale about learning to read and write with enthusiasm and support.
Fourth Place: Teacher Edgar Soliz, from the Department of Sacatepéquez, and his story for third-graders titled, "Mycol's Adventure," a creative tale about imagination and the power of the mind.
Fifth Place: Teacher Karla Conde, from the Department of Guatemala, with her story for second-graders titled, "A World Made of Books" which is a lesson in creativity and love over effort. It's a story designed for second-grade children.
The creation of these digital books – which serve as the final graduation project for the teachers – is an important part of GLXi’s teacher training program.
Every year, a new class of teachers takes on this challenge, and each teacher imparts their own background, ideas, and interests on the storytelling process.
The teachers work on their projects over the course of eight months, fine tuning their ideas over Zoom sessions, organizing ideas with Google Classroom, and finally, creating the actual book – along with an audio version – through Canva.
GLXi is there to support teachers along the way, helping with ideas, tools, and techniques, and implementing such.
Not only does this book project help the teachers use their newly acquired skills, but it also adds to the growing digital library that is available to all students who are involved in the GLXi program.
With this year’s graduating class of 57 teachers, there are now 57 new children’s books that consider the different ages and stages that children go through in learning to read. From pre-primary, which covers letter and sound review, to advanced reading, there is a diverse range of topics for students’ enjoyment and interest.
For new GLXi teachers, creating a children's story represents a significant challenge, but also an achievement. They recognize the chance to tailor the books to the needs of their students, and many seize upon the opportunity to develop a special narrative developed uniquely for their classroom. The children enjoy recognizing themes within the books that directly relate to them, such as living conditions, or certain names of people and locations in their region.
Sometimes the stories are fictional, sometimes not. But always, they capture the essence of the teacher who wrote the book and the students who will be reading it.