“There aren’t 25 equal students in my classroom, there are 25 different individuals, dreaming different dreams and hoping for different future lives.” – Susanna Jilka
Connecting her students to new classrooms and experiences is a big part of Susanna Jilka’s mission.
“It’s a small world – isn’t it? Every child deserves an education,” Jilka says. “I like to work with other students from around the world, so we do a lot of Skype calls to gain knowledge, to share our work, to collaborate and to experience that education is the window to our future.”
Jilka sees many benefits to building these connections for her class, from seeing how other students learn to improving their English skills. But the activities have proven to be life-changing for Jilka, too.
“Looking into the eyes of students from Kakuma Refugee Camp [on a Skype call led by fellow Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert (MIEE) and Austrian Judith Schittenkopf], something happened to me, and changed the way I’m working with my students,” she explains.
“This experience showed me that students long for education,” says Jilka. “Everyone needs to be educated in a way in which he/she will be empowered to achieve more. There aren’t 25 equal students in my classroom — there are 25 different individuals, dreaming different dreams and hoping for different future lives. So, I decided to study again and now I’m learning how to foster different abilities.”