Each of us carries in our hearts an attachment to our class and the belief that it will remain "inseparable", just as it is sung in the song "Tonica". But what does it look like when you become a class teacher yourself?

In the section "Teachers of Bulgaria" this time we present a young teacher from the Sofia Primary School "Grigory Tsamblak". Although only 30 years old, Rosen Bogomilov confidently claims that he has already fulfilled his childhood dream -  to be a teacher. He is lucky to learn from motivating, inspiring teachers, whom he admires and imitates. In the first grade it was difficult for him to write the number two and he makes a lot of efforts not to disappoint his favorite teacher. Imitating her unique handwriting, he eventually mastered calligraphy. Even the many notes at the university failed to overcome his calligraphy and to this day Rosen often hears - "how can you be a boy and write so beautifully." 

He is an excellent student, although like any teenager he goes through a difficult period. From an early age he realizes that man himself takes responsibility for his decisions. His family expects him to become a doctor, but Rosen finds great passion and love in teaching. He applied to three universities and, ironically, on the same day was accepted in all three. He chose the University of Veliko Tarnovo, where he completed his bachelor's degree. He arrives in Sofia to teach. He is one of the few who applies with a prepared portfolio, albeit from his student internship. He got the chance to teach at Grigoriy Tsamblak Primary School. "My school is unique," said the young teacher proudly. He has been teaching history and geography there for eight years. But from the very beginning this was not enough for him. He joins the Summer Academy "Together in class", which helps him to look at the profession from another point of view, to realize that this is not the picture he wants to see, that there is another truth and that there is a solution to the problem.

A "no" obedient class

In order to apply what she has learned, the principal entrusts Mr. Bogomilov with one of the most difficult classes at the school. Thus, the young teacher, with only two years of experience, became a class of 25 violent children, of which 20 were football players. "Come on, work!" His colleagues tell him. But how do you respond to this challenge ?! For the first month, Rosen literally can't sleep looking for the right strategy to work with these children. He realizes that the key is not in what you teach, but how you teach it: "You can say a lot of important things that are relevant, but if you can't manage the process in the classroom, if you don't put the student at the center, if you don't show that you want this formal group to become a community, things won't happen." First he gathers the parents and with their support introduces the first condition to the children: the trainings are stopped until the discipline improves in the class and the absences stop. Although they are in the fifth grade, Rosen always treats his students like adults. He gives them an example with football as a team game - if you don't respect your teammate, if you're late for training, it's not ok. The children meet the challenge and exactly a week later, as a reward, the classmate goes with them to the football field to support them, because they are "his" children. "It's important for students to feel that they're important to you, that they care about them," Rosen said. After these first difficult days, together they create class rules, a birthday calendar, set goals, and with the results come the rewards. The children choose for themselves, if at the end of the month the class does not have many absences, if the average success is one, if no one has broken the rules, etc., they go together to the cinema, theater, for a walk or a game. They write everything on the board, which to this day Mr. Bogomilov keeps in the history office. Thus, the incentives, not the punishments, help, and in the seventh grade some grown-up boys and girls come out with habits, skills, and a desire to develop. The strong connection has been established to this day and they first consult with Klasnia, and he continues to support them. "If I go to class and just" sing "my lesson, it's over and gone. Things happen when we learn to manage the processes in a classroom, when we have a vision for that class where we want to bring it, how we want it to look. ”

The combined energy of the class often goes beyond the classroom, the school is involved in a national campaign to clean up the neighborhood, organizes donations for disabled children, and Rosen himself is an activist in various organizations and always responds when needed. Helps a talented Chinese girl to go on a program in China. The sum of BGN 3,000 seemed impossible at first, but in three days Rosen found supporters, bought the tickets, the visa and the passport. Thus, a child at risk of dropping out of the education system is now a student of Chinese studies at Sofia University.

The new vision of the school

Somehow, by the way, modestly, Rosen mentions that in addition to being a teacher, he is also a deputy principal. He accepts the post as something normal, because he has taken on administrative duties before. In 2017, when he graduated, the school principal addressed him with the words: "We've been watching the vision for your class for three years, now I want to make the new vision of the school together." From now on, Bogomilov sees himself not so much in the position of director, but as a person who can change policies, even though at the local level: "If I want to change something in my classroom, I'm a reader and I change it in it. If I want to change it in 20 classrooms and influence 20 teachers who can influence in their classes, I have to be a school principal. Power tools can bring about change in scale. ”

For the future of Bulgarian education

Rosen has hope and it is in the generation of millennials, they have the courage to dream, to explore, he says. "Let them be awake, angry, the role of the teacher is to properly manage the process.Children can learn facts from history, but what if those facts don't go through them if they don't come up with something useful for themselves .Man is responsible for his own future ”- these are the messages with which Rosen stands in front of the class at the beginning of each lesson.