As a student, imagine being told by your teacher that you can find out who his favourite student is by looking into a cardboard box. And, when you do, you see your face.
That was how George Walker, a 25-year-old teacher at Clan Carthy High School, was able to put a smile on many of his students’ faces.
How did they all manage to see their face when they looked inside the cardboard box? There was a mirror in it.
Video shared on TikTok by George Walker showing students’ reaction to a planned activity.
Their reactions were captured on video and shared by Walker on the social media site TikTok.
Walker, who teaches social studies and is the assistant grade coordinator of grade nine at the Kingston school, has been a teacher for four years.
He told Loop News that, after seeing other Jamaican teachers sharing the love with their students on TikTok, he, too, decided to do something similar but for a trend that had not yet been done by a local teacher.
“I was brainstorming and found this idea from TikTok, where a teacher from a different country did this experiment, and the students’ reaction was priceless.
“Having seen the condition of today’s society, I saw it fitting to share ‘love’ with my students,” he said, adding that while he was a form teacher he did a lot of activities, including personal development sessions.
He, therefore, wanted to do something special as an assistant grade coordinator and then came the idea of the cardboard box and the mirror.
According to the young teacher, the students shared that it was a great idea that they are all his favourite students and that it speaks to equity.
He admitted that some students did not get the concept immediately, but after explaining, they had their “OMG” moments.
Walker, who is also a cricketer, explained that he got the idea for the video from TikTok but that, generally, as a social studies teacher, he tries to incorporate technology and music in the classroom to enhance learning and engagement.
“Apart from sharing knowledge with my students, I am helping them to be better individuals for tomorrow,” he said, adding that he also uses his YouTube channel, Gw13 Empire, to power learning.
Though admitting that his aim had not been to become a teacher, but that he got a four-year scholarship to attend The Mico University College, he is committed to his students and only wants to highlight positivity.
“I had that one teacher, Rosemarie Lester, who believed in me,” he recounted about his own high school experience. “So, as time had gone by, I realised this is something I’m actually good at, so I then poured all my interest into teaching and my cricket career.”
Pointing out that he started the YouTube channel during the height of COVID, Walker said that is the main platform he uses to power learning, with TikTok as an additional medium.
The TikTok video has racked up almost 30,000 likes and just over 2,000 comments on the social media platform, with users expressing how much they love the gesture.
“This is so touching. I smiled all the way through the video. I just knew it was a mirror; very creative,” one user commented.
