a pgt mathematics from a rajasthanbased school who adopted various innovative methods to make learning the subject of a funfilled activity has been shortlisted by the ministry of education for this years national awards to teachers natachala verma a teacher at birla balika vidyapeeth pilani deepak joshi teacher government senior secondary school dandusar bikaner and jaisingh a senior physical teacher at government senior secondary school devroad jhunjhunu have been selected for nat 2021 they will receive the award from president ram nath kovind on teachers day september 5verma has been nominated for nat for her initiatives on projectbased teaching which includes integration of art and technology and reallife application methods to teach mathematics i also collaborated with the school counsellor to understand the needs of the children to bring out their true potential says verma who is third from her school to get the nat born and brought up in hyderabad verma who started her teaching career in 1994 moved to pilani in 1997 apart from recognition the award is an inspiration for me and other teachers to continuously work for the holistic development of students especially slow learners says verma who followed in her fathers footstep to become a teacherresponsibility at a residential schoolbeing a teacher at a residential school enhances responsibility manifolds towards the students in addition to helping students cope with subjectrelated problems residential school teachers need to learn how to counsel the children understand their emotional needs and learning abilities and support them as a guardian says verma adding that the teachers are supposed to work as a connecting link between students and their parents she emphasises on the significance of supporting students to deal with emotional aspects providing constructive feedback and a space for effective dialogueachievement as a teacherfor verma mentoring students to pursue math and making them understand the importance of the subject is an achievement teachers must encourage students to participate in competitions where they can express their knowledge and exchange ideas develop confidence to present their work at the workshops she says