Teodora Cosmina Chiuoru has achieved several notable achievements in the three years since she has been teaching: most of the 8th grade students passed the National Assessment, other students were awarded at an international competition of literary creation and she is always a source of inspiration for children .
Teodora Cosmina Chiuoru PHOTO Teach for Romania
Teodora Cosmina Chiuoru (25 years old), teacher of Romanian language and literature at “Comandor Alexandru Cătuneanu” Theoretical High School in Lunca Cetătuii, Ciurea commune, Iași county, won this year the trophy at the 2024 Rural Teacher of the Year Gala, in the category “Beginner teachers”, organized by Teach for Romania.
After graduating from the Pedagogical High School in Bârlad, she attended the Faculty of Letters at the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University in Iași, she has a master's degree in Linguistics, and is now enrolled in the first year of her doctorate.
She developed her passion for the art of teaching thanks to her former teacher of Romanian language and literature in high school, who inspired her with her way of being as a person and her teaching style.
“I really wanted to teach them to high school students, and this became a reality in 2024, when a high school was established at Lunca Cetățuii”, Teodora told “Weekend Adevărul”.
She is from the village of Crasna, Albești commune, Vaslui county, but she confesses that she fell in love with Lunca Cetătuii because she discovered there a community with a state of mind that encourages her to always go beyond her limits and do many things.
Good development and grades
Teodora has only been in education for three years, but she already has remarkable results with her students. From the first year at the department, he did a lot of remedial hours with secondary school students, focusing on the preparation of those in the 8th grade so that they could pass the National Assessment.
The results practically speak for themselves: most students passed the exam with flying colours, the highest grade being 9.90.
“I took advantage of every opportunity I had to do recovery classes with them. I did remedial classes with them during the holidays, at the School Otherwise, during the Green Week. They assimilated the information faster and he saw it”, explains the teacher how she achieved this feat.
Teodora involves her students in many activities and competitions. For example, they participated in an international contest of literary creation entitled “The Universe of Words”, where the students have so far won two prizes with the poems they wrote.
Teodora involves her students in numerous activities and competitions PHOTO personal archive
He wants to train more students for Olympics and competitions this year and to organize the second edition of the project “A book donated, a library saved”,
a reading club that will last seven days, during which he also wants to do a mini-excursion, like a literary session, where students can talk about the experience of reading.
It also organizes reading and theater clubs for students. During the Altef School, the Lunca Cetătuii high school organized a competition called “Through the universe of words”, a kind of “Romanians have talent” to literature, in which Teodora also got involved.
“Through all these competitions and clubs, we try to bring the students to light, to assert themselves”, explains the teacher, who also involves her students in many extracurricular activities.
Personal life, class lesson
The teacher works a lot with her students on managing their emotions – she talks to those who are down or sad after class and encourages them to tell their stories so she can help them overcome them.
“It is very important to keep to yourself what the student tells you. This is how you gain his trust. Plus I can see them feeling better. I don't know if that's because I said something encouraging or because there was someone there willing to help them.” Teodora tells.
She gives them examples of various events from her personal life or that of her friends, to show them that she too has gone through the emotions and stress of exams. They are small inspirational stories that help children to realize that exams, like the National Assessment, are something natural in every student's life, and with work and perseverance they will manage to pass them well.
The biggest challenge for her so far was when a 7th grade Roma girl got pregnant and she managed to convince her to return to school.
“I found out from her colleagues that she had gotten married in the village. I managed to bring her to school right at the end of his studies, when he also took his exams. It really was a success, because it is very important not to drop out of school, especially from the 7th grade,” remembers the teacher with emotion.
At the high school in Lunca Cetățuii, students of Roma ethnicity, even girls, are now coming, given that there is a tradition that they do not go to school, get married at a young age and then take care of the family.
Teodora tells how she convinced the girls not to give up their education: “I explained to them that, among other things, they will receive a scholarship if they come to school, provided they do not have more than ten absences. Now the girls come to school regularly and I think it's a big gain”.
word of the day
The teacher uses various methods to make the Romanian language and literature interesting for her students. For example, in each class he teaches, a student prepares daily what he calls the “Word of the Day”
from DEX online.
“He presents to his peers what he understood about that word. It can come with a poster or a picture about that word. This makes them responsible, because every student knows that they have to do the word of the day and they take care of it”, says Teodora.
In the 5th grade, he introduced a contest called “Reader of the month”. The students receive a reader's calendar, on which they write down how many pages they have read in a month, and at the end they also present what they have covered.
Teodora always challenges her students to read PHOTO personal archive
Students who win the competition are awarded with educational games, books and puzzles. The school also organizes general culture and poetry recitation competitions between classes.
“We try to challenge them as much as possible and thus become as active as possible”,
explained the teacher.
The teacher, a friend with limits
Although she has just entered education, Teodora believes that any teacher must have some basic qualities, without which she cannot achieve results with students. First of all, it must be dynamic and energetic, because students feel this and become much more involved in classes.
He must work hard, be serious and never break his word. Equally, it is necessary to constantly innovate, because only in this way can it keep the students' attention and challenge them to get involved in the lessons. Last but not least, the teacher must know the subject he teaches very well and become friends with his students, but within certain limits.
“I want to inspire them as a human first. When they become adults and go somewhere, they will not be asked about morphological values. I want them to remain patient and self-controlled, to be good at heart, to be ambitious, independent, hardworking and to become as beautiful people as possible”, Teodora lists some of the qualities she wants her students to retain.
