Teacher of ORT Riga Jewish Secondary School named after Shimon Dubnov- among the winners of the prestigious national competition «Ekselences balva» («Award of Excellence")

Competition «Ekselences balva» (“Award of Excellence”) is held for the fourth time. The organisers of the competition are the Educational Center of Science and Mathematics of University of Latvia and the National Centre for the Content of Education with the active support of industry associations.

This competition can be called a contest under the title as "Innovative Teacher of the Year." As first the real work in class, progressive and creative approach to teaching the subject are estimated, not the teacher's seniority or past services.

Five finalists in each subject - Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology from thousands of applicants from across the country were selected. Grand Prix (prize "Glass apple" and 1400 euros) had to be won in the acute competition. In the final which took place on February, 25, contenders for the top prize had to conduct an unusual open lesson, so-called workshop with elements of creative, innovative approach to teaching.

Among the finalists there was Biology teacher of ORT Riga Jewish Secondary School named after Shimon Dubnov Nadezda Malinina. As a motto of her presentation and approach as a whole she chose the immortal phrase of genius playwright Grigory Gorin: "Smile! Serious face - is not a sign of intelligence! ". She held an interactive session and together with the children created at hand visual aids - models of human muscle and fascia from simple materials.

"In the classroom I showed how during the 20 minutes to explain the theme "Muscle". The teacher does not tell the new information, but only helps students to get new knowledge independently. At the lesson the students independently read material about the structure of the muscle. Then simulated the structure of the muscle in the form of a layout of the proposed material: clay, tubes, ribbons, napkins, etc. At the end of the simulation they told about the structure of the muscle. In the second part of the activity the groups were shown 1-minute film "Structure of Muscle," which they had to comment by their own words. It was a game "Journalist’s live." Knowledge of the structure of the muscle they independently got in the first part of the session – modeling, and scoring of the film was to fix material. Here is an interactive lesson I conducted. For that all I had a time 20 minutes exactly, "- says Nadezda.

Participants were evaluated by the special commission of experts. That same evening, February 25, all the winners and award winners, holders of the Grand Prix in each subject were honored. Ceremony at the University of Latvia was attended by President Andris Berzins, Minister of Education Marita Salem, heads of University of Latvia, industry associations and sponsor organizations.