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MCU’s doctoral student wins newly-employed teachers’ contest

The results of the annual contest Moscow’s Teachers of the Year have been recently announced. Denis Slonimsky, a doctoral student at the MCU’s Institute of Digital Education, has won the Teacher Leader Award in the Teacher’s Start nomination.

Denis Slonimsky has been a Mathematics teacher at the 1574 Moscow school for 5 years. Denis Slonimsky is quite a young teacher, he is just 26; however, it allows him to be on the same wavelength with his students.

The awardee has wanted to become a teacher since his childhood. He has been raised by famous Mathematics teachers: his parents, Lev and Irina Slonimsky, are authors of dozens of Mathematics textbooks and manuals.

I got keen on mathematics when I was a 5th-grade student. At that time, I started participating in various Olympiads that allowed me to get enrolled in the university. I believe, my parents have cultivated in me an interest in mathematics.

Denis Slonimsky graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics at HSE University as he wanted to obtain a fundamental education. Then, he entered the Master’s degree program Teaching Mathematics in General and High School at the MCU’s Institute of Digital Education. This year, Denis Slonimsky graduates from the postgraduate program Theory and Methods of Teaching and Upbringing, Mathematics.

Denis Slonimsky has shared his secret to engaging students in mathematics:

There is much beauty in mathematics which I try to show to my students. I do not always succeed during basic lessons but try to uncover it in extra classes. As my dean says, mathematics is a science to resolve new tasks. And the tasks emerge every day.

However, Denis Slonimsky won the contest with a project which is not related to mathematics. He has proposed an idea to establish a consistent learning system within an educational institution: from kindergarten to the final school year.

I’d like to explain to parents that the school is a center of attraction, and we not only teach different subjects to students but also arrange various events during working days and weekends for both children and parents. Within my project, I propose to organize events for residents of the Tverskoy District so that they, firstly, get acquainted with the school, secondly, become introduced to their children’s teachers. So that they can see teachers not only at meetings but also in different roles.

Besides, Denis Slonimsky suggests opening new tracks of pre-professional training in his school: media class and teachers’ class.

The awardee has shared his ambitions:

Obviously, I’d like to win the award Moscow’s Teacher of the Year. I believe, it will be my next step as one should win in a teachers’ contest to be nominated for this award.

This year, almost 1,800 applications were received from Moscow’s teachers for the Moscow’s Teachers of the Year contest of professional excellence. The Teacher’s Start nomination has been introduced for newly-employed teachers. It provides them with an opportunity to show and prove themselves to participate then in the main tracks of the contest.