To Copy Vs Not To Copy -Sunbeam School Sarnath

Today, I want to discuss a question we've all faced at some point: should we copy or not? We've all experienced moments in class, struggling with a tough assignment, and thinking, "Why not just copy from someone else?" It’s quick, easy, and tempting.

However, let’s be honest—copying may seem like a shortcut, but it’s not worth it. When we copy, we’re not just missing out on learning but also denying ourselves the chance to grow and improve.

Roza khan

Ankit khare
Gautam Verma

Sunbeam School Sarnath

Happiness and Tolerance - Shalini Solanki

   Dealing with ‘An Unhappy student.’

I still remember a student studying in my class 3 years ago. I was the grade mentor of one of the sections of K.G. She was a new student in the school, and I knew nothing about her. I met her for the first time and made a perception that this child has some special needs and she is not able to understand instructions. She started coming to school regularly, and I noticed a similar pattern each day, like not eating her meal; after circle time, she used to stand near my chair without speaking anything, used to get shocked at any sound and would not make friends. 

Every day during circle time, everybody used to have free discussions about their likes/ dislikes, favourite person, place, problems etc. One day, every child spoke, she was quiet, and even after motivating her, she chose not to speak. I thought of giving her some more time. That day she came to me and asked me to write a letter to her mother. When I asked her what to write, she told me the entire story that her mother was living in London and expecting another child. The mother couldn’t come to India because of her work commitment and medical issues, and this child was not able to go with her father because of some visa issues. For 6-8 months, she stayed without her mother.

Every day this child would come to me after the circle time and share her feelings. She would come with a piece of paper every day with colour pencils and used to dictate her letter. She wanted me to draw her mother with her baby sister and some gifts. Surprisingly, she would keep all the letters with me and not take them home. I got to know about the root problem. After speaking to her father and mother, we started working together in a similar direction, where we gave her enough time to speak her heart out. Her mother was advised to speak to her every day and explain that soon she would be with her mother. On the PTM, I handed over all the letters from Aadvika to her father for her mother.

She was an entirely changed child and used to participate in all the activities, laugh, make many friends, and improve her academics. Finally, she went to London, but the habit of discussion in circle time activity continued. She would call me from there frequently to discuss her new school and life.

My advice to educators:

• To be patient
• Never jump to a conclusion
• Make a habit of changing perceptions
• Give time to your students
• Trust students- sometimes they know more than us
• Respect their feelings and be alert to their silence
• Teachers have a magic wand that can make desirable changes

Dealing with ‘An Intolerant student.’

I had a student in my class who was very bold, talented, outspoken and intelligent. She had a problem agreeing with others. She would go to any extent to show her disapproval. If she was asked to share anything, she would run from the class, not eat anything or sit on the floor. Even in the class assemblies, she wanted a solo role without anything scripted. She would listen to no one in the school. Parents also had a similar opinion about her. Once, another teacher in my class said her ‘no’ to check her work first and asked her to wait for her turn. This student punched the teacher in her stomach. 

Now we know that she will not be handled by anyone this way. So we started avoiding her behaviour for some time after speaking to this student’s parents. When she used to sit on the floor to grab attention, we would praise her and say that we must respect her choice; she is more comfortable sitting here. When she used to disagree to share things with her peers, we stopped insisting she share, and after a few weeks, she realised that everybody was sitting in different groups and working, and she was sitting alone. When she insisted on participating independently, we would tell her that we do not have such roles with us, and she would have to wait for other assemblies to experience them. We used to share stories related to her problems during circle time, where indirectly, she got messages of loving, caring and sharing.

Gradually, she was a changed girl totally. Now she realised that she would have to give consideration to get the respect. She started loving her teachers, and she made almost everyone her friends. She participated happily with the entire group on an annual day. She is a changed and happy child now. Her parents are pleased with the changed personality of their child; they always wanted to see her.

My advice to educators:

• To be patient
• Sometimes a different approach can work
• Share stories indirectly catering for the problem
• Give time to your students
• Trust yourself and your capabilities
• The child is a clay container. Mould the way you want.

Shalini Solanki
Gyanshree School, Noida

JOL Cohort 2022

Courage and Patience - Richa Solanki

How to teach the courage to students in their day-to-day school life can improve their learning, performance, at school. Teachers and Parents can make aware the students who lack confidence and encourage them. They can have good academic outcomes by matching that of confident students at the same level of ability.

Teachers and Parents can use it to boost and encourage students to set goals; to decide what they are aiming for and how to achieve goals. It is important to teach them that they walked along for a short time but lost courage or became impatient. Patience and courage are related to each other and good judges who are coming to show a radiant way of being in the world.

Patience is not waiting for something to pass because patience is not waiting for anything to pass; because courage is living with patience. Courage and patience are related together: courage is what you have to face with confidence and patience in the presence of doubt. Patience is not about waiting; it is giving us the time we need to think seriously and make the correct decision. Courage should not be confused withdrawing back, turning back or speeding on, going forward into an unknown future. Richa Solanki The Fabindia School

Simplicity And Trust - Optimizer BHIS

Leadership is an achievement of trust

We must be the poets of our own lives and of a new generation. Every teacher works hard to instill the values of simplicity and trust in the lives of his/her students. Have you noticed that simplicity and trust go hand in hand? The story of Rahul upholds both the values which are the greatest treasures of a human’s life.

Rahul was simple and kind but lacked good communication skills, was academically poor and had illegible handwriting. Ms. Ritu, his class teacher, tried using simple strategies to improve his weakest areas since the exams were approaching. However, the outcome was not encouraging. She had a counseling session with Rahul and realized that he wasn't afraid of hard work but was terrified of failure. The complexity of the subjects just added to his fear that eroded away his confidence.
            

Ms. Ritu decided to explore alternative ways of helping Rahul. She tried simple methods by creating situations where he could rely on her. She first made him realise that she trusted him completely - a slow but steady process. Later, she analyzed his study pattern, gave practical suggestions and then reminded him to read the lessons thoroughly by creating mind maps.

The simpler she began to make the concepts, the more it helped improve Rahul’s efficiency and focus on studies. He started scoring good marks in weekly tests as well as improved his communication and writing abilities.  The class began to notice and appreciate his efforts. Ms Ritu often reminded him of the famous quote “It is always the simple that produces the marvellous”.

Rahul believed in those words strongly and it encouraged him to thrive as a student in the class. When he shared his story of transformation with his classmates, he never forgot to highlight his teacher's trust in him. The teacher praised his simplicity, his patience and faith which had brought him success.

“Be all in or get all out. There is no halfway.”

Optimizer@Billabong High International School Thane - Madhubala Saji, Kalyani Chaudhuri, Ajita Bhoir, Rupal Trivedi, Kshama Rajgor, Momita Banerjee, Sanket Patel.

Lets us Improve Ourselves

Socrates, the great philosopher was once asked by one of hisdisciples, “Why is it Sir that you tell everybody who wants to become your discipline to look into this pond and tell what he sees?

“This is very simple, my friend, answered Socrates, I am ready to accept all those who tell me that they see the fish swimming around or stones in pond. But those who see only their own image mirrored in the water are in love with their ego. I have no use of them.”

Man’s greatest mystery is man himself. The purpose of life is to have an ultimate knowledge about one self.

The positive response to our behaviour develops confidence in the development of our personality which is being appreciated where as negative response negates the understanding of one’s self and leads to feeling of inadequacy, discomfort, anxiety and tension. The concept of ‘Self’ is formed by behaviour of others towards one self. Whenever an individual interacts, there is a social self. The gap between the self image and social self, determines the effectiveness of the individual. The feeling of inferiority is rooted in the human beings because a man compares his “insignificance” with the immensity of the universe”. This can be overcome by developing social interest.

There is a saying ,“Courage is the health of the soul.” The inferiority complex can be overcome e by developing courage. It can be overcome if we are not afraid of making mistakes. Both making mistakes and learning how to work on mistakes, demand courage, which will ultimately improve both our social self and self image by reducing the inferiority complex. The process of self improvement calls for reducing the gap between social self and self image. 

- Agya Kour is a teacher at DBN SNS School at Jammu, her email is Akr.sns@dbntrust.in