Freedom and Peace - Kusum Sharma

Freedom is the ability to act without constraint. It can protect humans against social

problems. Freedom and Peace are both the values that are very important for us. If we feel freedom for our growth then only we will feel true happiness and can learn and create new things. I have observed these things in my classroom also. In one of my classes, I taught a lesson to the children and gave them assignments to do at home. That class was filled with lots of brilliant children.

It was a strange thing for me that children never completed their home assignments on time. I called a few students from that class and asked them the reason for the poor performance in their homework. After a few minutes of conversation with them, I got to know that some children from that class belonged to agricultural backgrounds so after going home they used to help their parents, so they were not able to complete their assignments.

They gave a few suggestions and asked permission to complete their work within the school, which I agreed. Then I was happy to see that they completed their task within the classroom whenever they got free time and even with great interest. After that children were very happy and used to finish their work before time. Now I observed that freedom actually provides growth and peace of mind.

Kusum Sharma

The Fabindia School

ksa@fabindiaschools.in

Quality and Love - Bloom BHIS

Love, Care and Respect. The first two you give. The last one you earn..!

"You always gain by giving LOVE"

Reese Witherspoon

As teachers, we can inspire and encourage our students to love what they are learning and doing in the school or around them. We can create an atmosphere or surrounding which on its own will blossom the love for what they are doing in the school. One such incident which I remember is of Firth.

Firth was a sweet child but I could always feel him disconnected when he came to school. Thought he was regular in school, he was physically present but not mentally. He didn't have any friends. He used to be in his own world. He was average in studies and use to always peep out of the window.

Later, I can to know that he comes from quite well to do family but his parents were too busy and in their own world. In fact, there used to be days when a poor child after coming to school use to take my permission to refill his water bottle as his mother didn't bother to do the same for her child.

After some months of observation, I realized that the child is brilliant in penning down his thoughts and imaginations. He came up with some amazing piece of writing considering his age. I started encouraging him by providing him with the right kind of atmosphere. Soon, he started opening up in front of me. He even started talking with his peers I could see him developing a good rapport with his fellow mates. He felt wanted in class. His academic performance also showed upscale.

Firth was a happy child thereafter and till date. Hope you remain the same all throughout your life. Love 

Bloom@ Billabong High International School, Thane

- Priya Wagle, Rinku Lapasia, Manisha Joshi, Ranjana Solanki, Sharanjeet Kaur, Savita Rane, Manjit Kaur

Quality and Love - Engaging Minds BHIS

To Teach 

Is to

Touch 

Lives

Forever

Ms Patricia’s life always revolved around her connect with her students. She enjoyed each day laughing, enjoying, sharing her teaching and learning with her students. The new academic session had begun. She was given a middle school class this time. It was a big leap for her as she was a primary teacher. It was a challenge but she was ready for it.

The class had a blend of students. Smart, brilliant, artistic and creative learners. Ryan, a bright child but was very notorious. He was an energetic cricketer. Tall, good looking and always took pride in challenging any new teacher that would teach them. Not only his teachers but his family members too would yell at him for all the trouble he caused.  This time it was Ms Patricia that he decided to pick on. He displayed his arrogance on the first day itself. Ms Patricia did not take it seriously and ignored as they were all children for her.

In the few days that came, it was getting difficult for Ms Patricia as Ryan would disturb the class by asking questions not relevant to studies, making fun of his peers and trying to create chaos while the class would be on.

Ms.Patricia decided to speak to Ryan on a one-to-one basis. One day she told Ryan to stay back after school. Ryan was not worried about this. He waited. Ms Patricia sat in front of him. She did not speak for quite some time and just looked at Ryan. Ryan was confused not sure what was happening. He asked Ms Patricia about the reason for this meeting. He behaved as if nothing had happened.

Ryan was waiting for Ms Patricia to bellow harsh words on him as this is what all did to him. But to his utter shock and surprise, Ms Patricia smiled and took Ryan’s hand in hers. She had the school organizer in her hand that had pictures of Ryan and his performance. Ryan looked at them and looked back at Ms Patricia puzzled. Ms Patricia now came out with only a few words. “Why?”

She reminded Ryan of his qualities, the quality that not everyone had. She evoked his love and passion for his sport. Then why was he displaying a negative side which is not helping him but is ruining his image as a good sportsperson. Ryan was deeply touched and was speechless. He had nothing to say at all. For the first time, he felt truly ashamed of all his deeds.

Ms Patricia appreciated this good quality with all her heart. Ryan had tears in his eyes. He promised Ms Patricia that he will change for the better. He fell to Ms Patricia’s feet for the trust and love she showed to him instead of the harsh words which he was always gifted with.

From that day on, Ryan was a completely different individual and when he won his first Man of the Match in the cricket series, this time he requested Ms Patricia to come on the stage and give him his trophy.

Listen to the podcast

Love has the magic to bring out the true n good quality in a person.

The well-being of a mind depends on the quality of the thoughts.

Engaging Minds @ Billabong High International School Thane 

- Ginny Franklin, Yojana Suryarao, Ishita Thakkar, Kiran Pandey, Nilka Gandhi, Geeta Mali, Meenaz Khan.

Hope and Friendship - Kusum Sharma

Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on positive outcomes. Hopeful people believe that they can influence their goal. Hope and Friendship values are very much connected to each other. True Friendship is when someone knows you better than yourself and takes a position in your best interests in a crisis.

I remembered one incident in the classroom where I saw a real example of hope and Friendship. Sneha was a very brilliant student in her class and even excellent in all other activities also. Observed that from a few weeks she was not able to concentrate on her studies and always refused to take part in other events. I wanted to know the reason for this.

I called and asked her about her negligence of work, but she was not interested to share her problem. Next day her very close friend Reena came to me and disclosed that she was very tense due to her parents' separation and divorce.

I observed Reena was very helpful and caring for her and always tried to help her in every small thing. She motivated her to take part in games and other activities and also get her ready to talk to me for her problem. I even started playing extra attention towards her, now she was very friendly with me. We both tried our best to overcome her through that tough time. I was wondering if the support of her friend brought new hope for her. Now again she is doing best in academics and athletics as well.

Kusum Sharma

The Fabindia School

ksa@fabindiaschools.in

Play, Curiosity & Enthusiasm: Byju Joseph

Being educators we are handling students with different capabilities daily. There are many students who are brilliant. They learn whatever the teacher teaches or individually by their efforts. But there are students who are not interested in learning at all. Teachers and parents put their maximum effort in these students. Then also no visible changes occur in them. This is a serious case that we face nowadays. As Educators, we need to think about this matter and to find out a proper solution.

Interest is one of the important factors to do or to learn something. If there is a curiosity to do something, a strong interest will develop which is the enthusiasm. At this point of view, the teacher has the role to create a situation to develop curiosity in students. The teacher should be able to keep the developed curiosity in students throughout the learning process for better outcomes.

Recent studies have revealed that learning is possible before birth also. The fetus can identify some sounds and is able to respond to them. When a baby is born, it is able to understand many things. A newborn baby can identify its mother easily by smell. If any other person reaches to the baby, it quickly responds.

If we observe children of below 5 years we can realize that they are more curious about knowing many things. They are more energetic and having intense feelings Parents and teachers should carefully handle their queries and eagerness to know.

Albert Einstein says, “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.” A curious student can be more attentive, which will help them to learn, understand and explore more and more.

Byju P. Joseph
bhj@fabindiaschools.in
The Fabindia School, Bali