Experimental Learning

Taking forward MHRD’s vision of experiential learning in government schools

Posted by: Adhyapak ki soch

Source: Sri Aurobindo Society

With ample resources and teachers fully equipped, private schools in India have been shifting their focus from traditional methods of teaching to activity-based learning. However, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) too has felt the need to introduce child-centric education in government schools and have initiated steps towards preparing and training teachers to incorporate learning in students’ day-to-day routine in the given limited resources and encourage creative thinking in them.This approach will help improve learning outcomes and put a check on the drop-out rate of students in the given limited resources.
 

Sri Aurobindo Society’s one of its kind initiative- Innovative Pathshala- aligns with MHRD’s vision. Innovative Pathshala is the new age guide for experiential teaching in government schools. It is completely based on the Society’s largest mass-education outreach program Zero Investment Innovations for Education Initiatives (ZIIEI) that aims to bring out the best practices of teachers at the grass roots and scale them up to thousands of schools.
 

Innovative Pathshala is the renovation of the existing school syllabus, converted into evolving experiential learning content. It is compliant with the National Curriculum Framework 2005 and mapped with state-level curriculum for the whole academic year to impart value education through life skills and achieve learning outcomes specified by the Ministry of Human Resources and Development. It also focuses on learning outcomes for children with special needs.
 

How can teachers incorporate everyday activities of students in the learning process? Here are some activities that teachers can conduct for Class I students.
 

Subject: English

Chapter 1: Letters and Sounds

Overview

The chapter focuses on English alphabets, their pronunciation, and different objects starting with a given alphabet.

Objectives

    • To enable students to name familiar objects in pictures and associate words with pictures.

    • To enable students to respond orally to comprehensive questions.

    • To impart values through life skills that will be inculcated during the execution of the plan.

Activities

Meditation and Warm-up

This section of the plan deals with meditation, body exercises, and sitting exercises to trigger the lesson. It focuses on breath during meditation and reciting poems with actions as warm-up.

Learning Through Pictures

This technique works as a dynamic teaching methodology focussing on the visual aspects of learning. It depicts the words based on alphabets and encircling the alphabet in the given word.

Wheel Game

The teacher will call one student and ask him to rotate the wheels and map the correct sequence of any one object. This game will go on in the same manner for the rest of the students. The teacher can use this activity for the revision of topic ‘Letters and Sounds’. The wheels must be, properly visible and clear, with colourful pictures and must be easy to rotate.

Wrong Chart Method

The teacher will prepare a chart based on ‘Alphabets and Related Pictures’.
    • The teacher will divide the chart into two parts. In the first part paste the pictures of different objects or things starting with different alphabets.
    • In the second column write the alphabets. Teacher will show this chart to the students. Students will identify and circle the correct alphabet.
 

Sports Grid Game

The teacher will prepare a grid with related pictures of different objects, things, etc.
    • The teacher will give an alphabet to one student and the students will identify the picture related to the alphabet.
    • The same will be repeated with other students and other alphabets. For example, for the alphabet A: Picture on the Grid - Ant, Arm and so on.

Theme-based Attendance

Students will sit in the class in their own places. The teacher will discuss the way of taking attendance with the students.

    • The teacher will call the roll number for the attendance and the student will answer with an alphabet followed by the next student calling out the next alphabet. 'For example: When the teacher calls out Roll Number 1, then the student will respond by calling out A; for Roll Number 2, the next student will respond with B, and so on.'

    •  In case a student calls out a wrong alphabet, the teacher needs to correct it to maintain the sequence.

Naming Method

Teacher will write the alphabets in big fonts on paper chits to be allotted to the children.

    • Teacher will allot 26 students a chit each with an alphabet written on it. This chit will be worn by the student on the pocket with a stapler pin.

    • Students will call each other by the allotted letter for next few days (till they memorise the alphabets). For example: The student with a C on the chit will be called ‘C’.

    • After some time the teacher can add a picture related to the word. This time students will call other student by the name of the object allotted to the student. For example: The student allotted with the alphabet C will be given the picture of ‘CAT’. So everyone will call him by the name of ‘Cat’.

Experiential Learning in Surroundings

After the chapter is taught in the class, the teacher will ask the students to identify the objects, things, etc. In their house and surroundings with the alphabets learned in the class.

Learning Outcomes

    • The students will try to describe the objects starting with the different alphabets there by learning to appreciate the beauty in self and others during the meditation and warm-up exercises.

    • The students will speak and listen to others which will create a ground for effective communication among them during the warm-up activities.

    • The aspects of creative thinking will develop when the students will read the ‘pictures’ and comprehend them and identify the given alphabets in their mind and on paper.

    • The students will improve critical thinking to identify the errors in the given charts and solve the problems thereby deciding the correct sequence or match in the chart or wheel game or answers to the questions in grid game.

    • The students will be able to work in the vicinity of each other or in groups where under the supervision of the teacher, they will learn to cope with their emotions, create space for themselves as well as give space to the other students.

    • All these will help to create values and inculcate a sense of responsibility and care in students towards self, people as well as things around them.

Learning Outcome For Children With Special Needs
LD - Learning Disability, SL - Slow Learner (Borderline Intelligence), ID - Intellectual Disability -Mentally Retarded, ASD - Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

    • Meditation will improve concentration and creative thinking in children with LD, Mild ID and SL.

    • Learning through pictures is a creative way of providing interactive learning to children and this will improve focus, participation and creativity.

    • Wrong chart will help ADHD child to increase focus in the class room.

    • Wheel game will be very helpful for each child to understand the lesson better.

    • Through grid game activity, children with ADHD, LD and SL will improve their cognitive ability.

    • A child with Nutrition Deficit Disorder (NDD) will be more attentive in the class through the theme-based activity.

    • A child with ID will be able to understand the environment, nature and surroundings through the experiential learning method and will be motivated towards vocational skills like gardening, animal husbandry etc.

A taste of empathy in the Social Science Class

A Taste of Empathy in the Social Science Class

Posted by: Adhyapak ki Soch

Teaching social science in upper primary has its own uniqueness since learners can understand changes in human society through the community around us, by close observations at homes, through newspapers, media etc. A teacher also gets similar experiences from community. But there is a big difference between adults’ and children’s experiences: children observe the things around them closely and build views after continuous brainstorming over social issues, facts, happenings, unlike adults who may have vast exposure but they are somehow conditioned about issues in a certain way. Thus most social issues may not surprise adults.

Let us think of a situation when a child, especially at 12 or 13, comes across a social evil for the first time. I usually meet such learners of social science in my school and spend my happiest hours with them when they ask me questions as, for example:

Why are some slogans like ‘Save the girl child’ written all over the wall around us?

Why is it not written for boys?

Why are only our mothers always busy doing household work?

Why have female family members been burdened from morning to night?

‘’Why is some work, like cleaning utensils and housekeeping done only by female members?

For a teacher, the learner’s involvement around community matters and the way they see the world usually comes through the questions, talks and reflections, especially during the classroom processes.

Here I am sharing some hands-on ‘pictures’ of my last year’s classroom learning. Questions were frequent and close friends during our entire interaction when I was planning for my classroom and thinking of teaching the topic Social changes between the 6th and 12th centuries. I was at the point of assigning a project work and was trying to interweave their questions in my assignment plans and was completely absorbed in the process, keeping in mind the 7th class, of the age group of 13/14 years. I was very excited about my preparation. Subjects like social science have wider angles and a great scope for unlimited discussions and debates. One can create, feel and pave the platform where children can cultivate their own interpretations irrespective of books.

Keeping all such things in my mind, I happened to design a project work for class 7 learners. We had thirty learners in our class and divided them into six subgroups. It was a relevant topic, in which the children were familiar with the complexities of medieval society and customs. We started working on Comparative study of the Status of Women between 6th and 12th Centuries and the Modern Age.We had chosen the course books, other medieval history books, library, newspapers. We also had resource people, like other teachers or resource persons from the school-DI, parents etc. It was planned to expand our catchment areas.

Projects took seven days to complete and learners were working beyond our regular classes,. They then came to certain conclusions and had differences in their opinions, which made me very happy. Here are some discussions:

Teacher – Can we begin class by getting clarity over some words / terminology used in our textbooks? ‘’

Learners – Yes!

Teacher – So give me some examples!

Learners – Sati pratha, parda pratha, baal vivah, shiksha se varjit hona etc.

Teacher – Can anyone describe her understanding of sati-pratha?

A group of children – A custom where living women were forcibly put on the pyre of her dead husband.

Teacher – Can we imagine what pain a woman had during this? Was it as simple as talking about it?

A group. – No it was really a tough time for the entire family and village. Moreover, what happened to the children? We haven’t learnt about them.’’

As adults,we work on contents and specifics whereas children concentrate on feelings. They ask about and feel about brutal events as they are part of joint families and emotions are contextual wealth in rural communities.

As adults, we focus on the contents and specifics, while children focus on feelings. Being in joint families, they asked about the children of these brutally burnt mothers. Feelings and emotions are contextual wealth in rural communities. Unfortunately, children in metros are worst sufferers of this

Another group – I can imagine pain like once my finger burnt in a candle flame and it took weeks to heal.

Teacher – Oh! What do you think of the women who were burnt in the name of custom? Would have they agreed to it?

Learners – Perhaps not......

Teacher – Lets discuss our findings. Could you suggest few comparisons between the past and present?’’

A group – As a group we have come to the conclusion that there are as bad or even worse customs in modern times.

Teacher- How?

The group – We have lots of newspaper cuttings clearly showing that female foetuses are killed assert that girl children are killed at foetus.

Teacher – Yes It is being done. Sad to read this. Learners – This and other evils such as child abuse and sexual harassments still exist. That means we are not different from the medieval age. Woman and girl children still struggle for existence.

Teacher – Unfortunately, this is our real world. But we have walked miles ahead of the old customs.

Learners – But we are in disagreement. Teacher – Ok could you elaborate? I believe that we have travelled a good distance in education, poverty, technology etc.’’

Teachers feel elated when children express their views, pause to think and reflect, talk and debate so that we can face the world with our own opinions.

As a teacher one gets elated when children have their own views, they pause to think and reflect. After some reading and debate, we had gone forward on the path to the social world with our own viewpoints.

Below are some notes from notebooks which they have discussed and written in the form of comparison.

 

Another interesting follow-up was the open ended responses, similar in appearance and making the project sequential in terms of connectedness with the previous topic. Here is a part of it.

Q- What are some basic women’s rights in your view?

They have jointly developed and written:

1 – Right to travel freely.

2 – Right to work.

3 – Right to marry a person of her own choice.

4 – All women should live together.

5 – Women should have opportunities to increase their self-esteem.

6 – No one has right to kill/burn a woman.

Views written above have come after analysis and a level of understanding which is shared in brief and has a glimpse of larger society which we would like to see. Trust grows through dialogue and debates and is an intrinsic part of teaching social science. How a child aged 12 or 13 years sees women rights is a good example of this.

Some of these opinions come from the children’s context, some from their experiences and some from understanding the contents of Social Science.

-------------------------------------------------

Prakash has been teaching at Azim Premji School, Dhamtari, since February, 2012. Prior to this, he was a school teacher for over 16 years in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, which included tribal, rural and urban setups. He has worked with children of standard 1 to standard 12. English, History and Biology are the subjects he teaches. He has also worked as a casual announcer in AIR Raipur, Chhattisgarh. He may be contacted at
prakash.gautam@azimpremjifoundation.org

Eight Great Indian Teachers

''A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others" - Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

Posted by: Adhyapak Ki Soch

Teaching is one of the most noble professions. It is a career which not only helps a child gain knowledge about various subjects and domains, but also helps a child recognise his strengths and weaknesses, helping him/her to become a better human being. India has a deep rooted history as far as the field of education is concerned and the contribution, talent and skills of our very own educationalists, teachers and lecturers have been acknowledged globally.

September 5, the birth date of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, is celebrated as Teacher's Day. Have a look at the finest teachers who made India great and who have left evergreen marks in the field of education.

DR SARVEPALLI RADHAKRISHNAN

• His birthday is celebrated as Teacher's Day in India

• He was the first Vice President and the second President of the country

• Taught at Madras Presidency College, University of Mysore

• He earned high acknowledgement as a teacher of the most difficult concepts of philosophy

• Laid great emphasis on spiritual education

• Whenever he used to teach students at his home, he used to welcome them himself, offer them tea and even see them off to the door

• Once few students asked him if they could celebrate his birthday, he replied, "Instead of celebrating my birthday, it would be my proud privilege if September 5 is observed as Teachers' Day."

DR APJ ABDUL KALAM

• Scientist and India's 11^th President

• He was a huge advocate of education as the primary driving force of personal growth

• He believed that apart from holding a mere academic degree, a student should also enhance his personal skills and calibre which are utilised more in shaping an individual's career and life

• He was a guest lecturer at IIM Shillong, Ahmedabad, and Indore and an honorary fellow of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

• He taught IT at the IIIT, Hyderabad and technology at Banaras Hindu University and Anna University.

Chanakya

• Also known as Kautilya, he is the first famous Indian scholar

• He served as a professor of political science and economics at the Takshila University (in the Punjab province of Pakistan). He later became a teacher at the same university

• His two famous books are Arthshastra and Neetishastra

SWAMI DAYANAND SARASWATI

• Founder of Arya Samaj, a Hindu reform movements of the Vedic tradition

• He was a well-known scholar of the Vedic lore and Sanskrit language

• Worked towards promotion of equal rights for women, such as the right to education and reading of Indian scriptures

• His commentary on the Vedas from Vedic Sanskrit in Sanskrit as well as in Hindi is quite famous

RABINDRA NATH TAGORE

• Tagore took teaching out of the confines of the four walls and formed a school which he hoped would be 'the connecting thread' between India and the world

• Teaching at his school was often done under trees

• He reinvented the concept of 'gurukul'

SAVITRIBAI PHULE

• First female teacher of India's first women's school

• Founder of the modern Marathi poetry

• At a time when women's potential and calibre were underestimated, she worked for the upliftment and education of females in the country

• With her husband's help, she opened a school for untouchable girls

• Orthodox individuals from the upper cast used to mock at her efforts and throw stones and dung on her. Nevertheless, she continued with her teaching

• The British government honoured her contribution to education later on

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

• His famous saying: Education is the manifestation of perfection already in men

• He was the man behind 'Ramakrishna Mission', in which monks and lay people would jointly undertake propagation of Practical Vedanta, and various forms of social service

• His teachings and philosophy applied this reinterpretation to various aspects of education, faith, character building as well as social issues pertaining to India

• He propagated the Gurukula system, where the educational institutions and the home are blended together and where the teachers and pupil live together and work in close and harmonious relationship

• He empowered students to handle different life situations and become good citizens

• He believed that every individual had infinite potential which can be manifested as excellence in every walk of life.

PREMCHAND

• Known for his contribution to modern Hindustani literature

• He was also a teacher in a school in Chunar (Uttar Pradesh)

• He was influenced by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda.

Letters from students to a teacher

As students, we always waited for the summer vacation to begin. But after we had all our holiday fun roaming around the neighbourhood, visiting both grandmas and sometimes going on a family tour, we just couldn’t wait to get back to school. There was something about teachers and school that we loved so much!

Posted by: Adhyaapa ki soch

Srini Swaminathan, a Teach for Indiafellow, photographed some letters that his Grade 2 students wrote to him. These pictures are a couple of years old, and they will surely make you smile. You will remember #GoodOldSchoolDays and wish a time machine could  transport you back to that golden time.

A teacher who is tall, handsome and brings gifts! Could students ask for anyone better?

Image courtesy: facebook.com/srini091/

Question: Who is a teacher? Answer: A superstar!

Image courtesy: facebook.com/srini091/

How do you make sure that your letter stands out from those of your classmates? Kajal has an idea!

Image courtesy: facebook.com/srini091/

I like this letter “vary much” too. 

Image courtesy: facebook.com/srini091/

A teacher who shows empathy gets a star and a letter of appreciation.

Image courtesy: facebook.com/srini091/

After reading this letter, I wish my office would grant me a “Holleday.”

Image courtesy: facebook.com/srini091/

When your teacher leaves for another city and you know you’re going to miss him!

Image courtesy: facebook.com/srini091/

What do you do when you know you’re going to miss your teacher. Ask for his phone number!

Image courtesy: facebook.com/srini091/

The ‘Finish Letter’

Image courtesy: facebook.com/srini091/

Changes Around Us

Basic Information

Changes occur everywhere, and every moment around us. Everything in the world is subject to change. But why and how do things change? Do they all follow the same pattern? Or do different things change differently? What are the different kinds of changes? These are the questions that this lesson seeks to answer.

Lesson plan Details

Duration: 

03 hours 00 mins

Introduction: 

Change  is the only constant in this world and nothing else is.  In our everyday life we observe so many changes around us—of night turning into day, of our piping hot breakfast turning cold before we consume it,  of fresh flowers in the morning drooping by evening. While these are more immediate changes, there are also changes that take place over a period of time. So how does one teach such a ubiquitous topic? This article tells you how the inductive teaching method can be used to teach about the changes around us. This approach can, in fact, trigger multi-dimensional learning in children. 

Objective: 

• To understand terms like slow change, fast change, reversible change, irreversible change, periodic change, desirable change and undesirable change.
• To distinguish one kind of change from another.
• To be able to give examples of the various changes discussed.

Steps: 

Changes around us

Changes around us is a topic that has a lot of scope to be taught in an interesting manner, especially because change is all around us and children can see different changes occurring. Although they may not yet be able to apply scientific principles to ‘change’, children do know what change is. So why not begin with what they know.

Step 1:

You can start the discussion on this topic by asking children about the changes they have seen.

Have they seen a bud becoming a flower, or night becoming day?

The Inductive Thinking Model has three strategies— concept formation, interpretation of data and application of principles.

Accordingly, begin by building on what the students already know: the various changes occurring around them in their daily lives.

Note for the teacher: Show the children pictures of young and old people and ask them to comment. Display some ice cubes and ask the children to observe. Get a student to stretch a rubber band and ask students to see what happens.

Once the children have made their observations, you can introduce the topic– Changes around us.

Step 2:

Take the topic further by asking students to list five or six changes they have seen around them. Add some more changes not mentioned by the students.

A list of changes  

• Child becomes man
• Plant becomes tree
• Seed becomes plant
• Burning of paper
• Shoes become old 
• Uniforms become old
• Pencils become short
• Boiling of water
• Night becomes day
• Hot becomes cold
• Rusting of iron
• Ripening of mangoes
• Earthquakes
• Accidents
• Summer season
• Fading of wall paint
• Milk becoming curd
• Stretching of a rubber band
• Melting of ice

Now get the children to group these ideas under various headings. Rather than giving them the heads, let them decide the criteria for grouping.

Here is an example of the different groups that can be formed for the above list of changes.

Group A	Small to big
Group B	Becoming bad
Group C	Becoming old
Group D	Change in time
Group E	Change in temperature
Group F	Becoming good
Group G	Happens suddenly

Once the children have grouped their list of changes, ask questions like which changes take more times? Which less? These will be the slow and fast changes. Which changes give us new things? For example, when raw mango becomes ripe, is it possible for us to get back the raw mango? Tell children that such a change is called ‘irreversible change’. In this way, slowly introduce scientific names of the various changes to the children.

Earlier, the children had observed the melting of the ice cubes. Ask them what will happen if you put that same water back in to the freezer. Ice cubes form again. These are therefore, reversible changes.

Step 3:

Now you can show the children pictures of 

• A young lady and an old lady
• A seed and a plant
• A raw mango and a ripe one
• A burnt piece of paper and a fresh one
• A child and a man

Ask the children to write down the type of changes these are. Based on what they have learnt so far, the children will be able to identify the type of change. For the changes that they don’t still identify, you can follow the same method of eliciting the answers from them asking probing questions.

Make a chart with a list of changes and write down the different types of changes there are. Against each item, tick the type of change it is. And together with the children fill up the chart. There are desirable and undesirable changes as well, which you can add to the list. Like milk becoming curd and nails rusting respectively.  Changes that happen again and again after a fixed time are called periodic changes, like morning turning into evening or every Monday followed by a Tuesday.  Do accidents happen after a fixed time? Do earthquakes and volcanoes occur every few months? Such changes you can point out to the children are non-periodic changes. Add these to the list of types of changes on the chart. (For an example of a chart with the changes and the different types see resources 1 and 2 - Tables 1 and 2).

This lesson first appeared in Teacher Plus, Volume 3, Issue No.2, March-April 2005 and has been adapted here with changes. 

Support Material: 

resource_1-tp-changes.pdf

resource_2-tp-changes.pdf

Posted by: Aks group of Series

Tools that can Help Teachers Design Great Lesson Plans

Tools that can Help Teachers Design Great Lesson Plans

03.05.2018

You have probably heard it one time too many but we will say it again: teaching is a huge responsibility. Shaping the younger generation's minds and preparing them for life outside the classroom is a tall order which becomes easier with proper research and planning. Moreover, you also need to find the balance between teaching the students what they need to know and giving them enough space to discover and learn by themselves. Feeding them with all the information they need can be quite tempting, but that will work to their disadvantage once they graduate from school. That's why it's important to come up with great lesson plans so you don't lose your way when you're teaching your students.

The quote “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail” rings true even for teachers. Lesson plans are prepared before each semester so teachers can visualize how to teach subjects, especially the difficult ones. It sounds glamorous, but the reality is that creating lesson plans is something that most teachers frown upon because it's a task that they find daunting. Why? Well, aside from teaching, they need to prepare the grades, assess the performance of the children, research about the next lesson, and design a lesson plan. These are the tasks that teachers juggle every single day. Fortunately, and all thanks to the innovations in technology, there are tools that can help teachers design great lesson plans! Their goal is to lift some load off the teachers' shoulders and help them come up with great lesson plans. To know more about them, read on:

Learnboost

 

Learnboost is an excellent reference for teachers who want to organize and construct their lesson plans. It's very simple, easy to understand and use, and teachers are given the freedom to customize the lesson plan. Learnboost also allows teachers to upload photos, videos, and other media files. This tool also allows them to track the progress of their students.

 

K-12 Reader

The K-12 Reader has a wide variety of lesson plan templates, activities, and worksheets that teachers can choose from. They can opt to go for multi-subject or unit specific templates for their lesson plans. For advanced students, K-12 Reader offers complex plans which gives flexible options to design lesson plans that will fit their needs.

 

Canva

 

Canva Lesson Plans are probably a surprise for you because you know Canva as a design tool but yes, you can also use it to create lesson plans. It has a vast array of templates and visual aids that you can use for that epic lesson plan. You can easily navigate through Canva's interface and the best part is, you can create your own images. It's like unleashing your inner artist while teaching your students. Awesome, we know.

Universal Design for Learning Lesson Builder

The UDL Lesson Builder gives the teachers the framework that will help them design lesson plans. This allows teachers to create lesson plans that are flexible when it comes to hitting the goals, materials, and assessment that are all crucial in helping the students. There are lesson templates too, for when teachers hit that block and find it difficult to move forward.

Google Docs

You may or may not be surprised to find that Google Docs can be used to create lesson plans. It has countless templates that teachers can use whenever they want. Google Docs also has weekly, monthly, and unit planners plus templates that are easy to customize. Creating lesson plans is a breeze with this tool.

Have Fun Teaching

You will definitely have fun teaching with this tool. It comes with printable templates that you can apply to different grade levels. Have Fun Teaching also has daily and weekly planners, plus templates on common core state standards. ESL and ESOL lesson planning? This one's for you.

If you find that you are running out of ideas on how to design your lesson plan, you can give Education Oasis a shot. Aside from the plethora of lesson plan templates, Education Oasis also offers resources, guidance, resources, and examples that are your disposal. All these can be applied for different grade levels.

Posted by : aks groups of series

The story of a humble beginner as a teacher

By Chandrasekar S 

What's the story of a humble beginner to become a good and happy teacher?

A practice of education must enable its beneficiaries to attain the balance of mind by which we become also mindful of needs of others.

This quote has been a huge inspiration for me to get up and walk on this profound journey of Teaching-learning. It has been 8 such months since I started helping children to learn.

On the very first day of my teaching, at a low-income school (MGPS) in Ahmedabad, we, which includes me (as a teacher) and my kids, sat properly in a circle and thought together about a theme on Perfection with a lot of thought provoking questions such as – why does a human being need to have a thirst for perfection? what is perfection? how does one could work towards becoming perfect? In fact, I say, I was the one privileged to see those moments of how the kids had been engaged to seek its answers; I went jumped up and said to myself that - they can also become someone who can make difference and touch other people's lives. At the end, we came to the conclusion of the theme, and that is: "Each one of you has at least one gift. There is no human being on earth without a gift. Sometimes, it may be the gift of helping someone in need, studying everyday, giving respect to teachers and students, encouraging somebody, taking the troubles of someone, gift of telling the truth, and bringing out the best from somebody else and etc. All of these are great gifts. Whatever the gift is, improve it and move towards Perfection. You should not be today with respect to that gift what you were yesterday. At the end of this year, you should be able to look back and say to yourself I have moved on." After this, in order to put such themes into practice; we started doing morning meeting everyday along with a goal setting up for the day (by referring it from the student vision scale).

I believe, learning is a life a long thing. Especially, in current times, one should have at least the values of collaboration and ownership. Having a firm belief in this, while I teach, I raise questions through which I can implement the Think-Pair-Share (T-P-S) strategy in my classroom. Why is it necessary? It enables a kid to be curious to think and next collaborate with the other and take responsibilities of sharing it with the class. So, together, we believed and simply worked hard to practice the strategy while we kept learning. As a result, my kids have performed well in Mathematics in the Mid-Year 2017 assessment (was conducted by TFI) says the MY 2017 data. Taking a huge pride in saying, we have, finally, created a proper classroom culture where it helps us to to be disciplined while we learn, working proactively, following up the structures of the class, and consistently, opening the day with morning meeting and closing the day with reflection questions. Also, in the middle of the day, we have a two minutes silent time by which we get into a reflective space and get ready for the next session.
 

Having said that, I must also say, before this learning culture started budding, the same classroom was a boring and an uninteresting place for the kids. But, I am an ardent believer of education, so I believed, one's growth can be measured through amount of challenges that he or she faces. These simple words are always beautiful but difficult to follow. But, I had eyes to see through a light of possibility. Thus, I was able to transform the same boring classroom into a vibrant and effective learning space with a lot of interest among the kids to love that place.

On 6th Jan 2018, during a Parents-Teacher Meeting (PTM), one of my student’s fathers who came to attend the meeting said,

Sir, on the other day, my child had a high fever, but, he wants to come to school because of you and your way of teaching. So I am happy that my child is with a right person.

This one small episode of Hitesh's Father's testimony is a small fraction of the Impacts (I) we are trying to create through our creative learning approaches. In future, I hope to reach out to many such kinds of schools. With all humility and truthfulness, I would like to give my heartfelt gratitude to my PM Ayesha Kumar who has always given her valuable time and consistent feedback. I would also like to thank my school team members, and the headmistress who have given their presence in and around the class and their innovative ideas to overcome immediate challenges.

Finally, many thanks to my parents, as they have always been a huge source of inspiration and encouragement for me. And, the kids where I teach are my greatest source of happiness and satisfaction.

Posted by: Adhyaapak ki Soch