Iryna Rozhok is a teacher of Ukrainian language and literature at an ordinary Novohrad-Volynskyi school. However, the winner of the open popularity rating «Pride of the City 2017» is known not only in the district center, but also outside it. Ms. Iryna shared her victories and dreams with Zhytomyr.Travel readers

«I wanted to be a teacher since childhood. I have a younger brother whom I taught to read and said, “If I teach you to read, I will be a primary school teacher. «Well, unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out – I chose the profession of a Ukrainian language teacher…»

«I remember how I had an internship at the Mokren school. At that time, I really wanted to conduct lessons full of interactive methods and techniques, using clarity. That’s why I sat in the evenings and drew the visuals myself, so that it would be interesting and accessible for the children»

«The teaching profession is complex, time consuming: you work at work, come home after work and then prepare for lessons or check notebooks. You can say – from table to table. I believe that this is a vocation to be a teacher»

«A good teacher needs a combination of teaching methods and techniques with an open mind, a desire to teach»

«I remember my favorite teacher from school. This is Alla Vasylivna Kalyuzhnikova (Kravchuk), a teacher of Ukrainian language and literature. Her lessons were exciting… She taught at Mokrenska Secondary School for only one year, but even then I wanted to see and communicate with her… When she moved to the city school, I didn’t know exactly where to look for her. But at one of the seminars I met my mentor. Now we have a very warm relationship. This is really the teacher I am equal to»

«I have no «favourites». For me, children are all equal, everyone is treated the same – I do not single anyone out. I try to teach everyone and find a common language with everyone. If a child has behavioral problems, it does not affect his assessments and my attitude towards her. Students know this»

«I like to practice something new. I worked in the creative group for the introduction of OZONE (ed. – personality-oriented learning) under the leadership of Anatoly Fasoli. I liked the technique, but adjusted it a bit»

«Life is not an easy thing at all, and we have difficulties at every step. But in my work I do not see such problems that could not be dealt with, that could not be solved. There just has to be a desire to overcome these difficulties»

«In school, I like not only to teach children, but also to see the result… It’s nice when children win competitions, contests, when after school they thank you for your knowledge. When my children win competitions and contests, I feel joy. For the children, for the fact that everything worked out, that our work was not in vain and we are on the right path»

«Am I a good teacher? I think it is wrong to evaluate myself. The children I teach, parents, the administration have to tell about me. However, I think I succeed. When the children were asked to write the traits that characterize me, they identified fairness and demandingness»

«Every year we take part in the All-Ukrainian radio dictation and write it together with children. I think we should be an example. In the radio dictation of 2016 I was the absolute winner, then a year later I won again – I have two diplomas of the winner of the All-Ukrainian radio dictation. I tell my students that such an event is not so much a literacy test as a proof that we are united by the Ukrainian word»

«In Novohrad-Volynskyi, I know two stores that have signs with an error. And in principle, I do not go to such stores. It is unpleasant when we teach children to write competently, to speak correctly, and we have such examples in the city»

«I think that the teacher of modernity and the school wants to see modern. I want to go to seminars, I visited one of the best schools – Novopechersk. This is exactly the kind of school a teacher dreams of – one in which there are absolutely all the conditions for learning»

«After school, I go to the editorial office, to a small group of like-minded people who work to create a newspaper. Here, everyone cheers for everything to be the best in their work; here we can talk on any topic. The work of a teacher is my vocation, and the work of a proofreader of a district newspaper is a hobby. It’s not easy to combine all this, but I like it»