Live recording Masterclass 2024 Session II

#HappyTeachers

Welcome to the first episode of season 16, where we meet Sandeep Dutt, a School Improvement Coach and the mastermind behind The Teacher's Academy at the Learning Forward India Foundation. 

Don't miss out on the Masterclass 2024, inspired by Kavita Ghosh's book "Wanted Back­Bencher Last Ranker Teacher." This unique program facilitates collaborative efforts among teachers in reading, writing, and research. By sharing real-life learning experiences, teachers create presentations that improve student learning outcomes.

Equip yourself with the tools you need to thrive through the power of reading, reflection, and building relationships. As teachers, your happiness should be a priority, and we are here to support you every step of the way. Let's embark on this journey together! (The photo used for representational purposes is from The Fabindia School, and a Professional Learning - PLP - session is in progress).

Enjoy the live recording of the session hosted on the 3rd of February, 2024.

Responsibilty and Cooperation - Shalini Solanki

Responsibility is an essential value as it makes us more focused, goal-oriented, confident and accountable. One cannot succeed without having this quality. It makes a person sorted, away from chaos. Even in challenging situations, a responsible person knows how to stay calm and deal with them. They invest more time in finding solutions and fixing mistakes instead of blaming the time, situation and others. Responsible people motivate not only themselves but also everyone around them.

Making students responsible in school:

Students learn values not by reading, listening or talking about them but by experiencing an environment where they get to live them. Teachers are critical in every student’s life; their teachers are always right and know everything. 

I remember an instance in my class from this session. Children used to keep their other subject books/ notebooks every morning on my table in a very casual manner that would scatter the entire table (I sometimes had to remind them to keep the books on my table). I would then bifurcate them according to different subjects and keep them in the designated cupboards. My students observed for a few days and got an idea of being responsible for their own things. They gradually started keeping the books, not on my table but in the cupboard in the most organised manner without reminding them. Now, they clean their own table before each period or go out of the class for any activity. They saw, they learned.

Cooperation Culture:

Shalini Solanki

Gyanshree School
Happy Teachers JOL Cohort 2022

An Imaginary Educator... - Simar Kaur

Simar Kaur from Gyanshree School, Noida

‘The best teachers are those who show you where to look but don’t tell you what to see’. 

I think that teaching is one of the most critical and challenging jobs. Teachers are the pillars in students’ lives; without their encouragement and driving force, students find it hard to explore themselves. Dealing with different kinds of students can be hectic, but teachers work hard to make sure that everyone in their class understands the concept. They ensure that everyone feels included and gets equal chances and opportunities. And that is why I admire their profession. They convert present learners to future leaders. 

Now, if I were an educator, taking my teachers as inspiration, I would deal with different students differently. 

For example: If a learner in my class was too impatient to wait for his turn, I would tell him to calm down in a classroom where everyone gets a say. I would ask him to take three deep breaths and write the answer down, and his excitement told me that he knew the answer. However, some learners are unaware of the solution. So, before giving a chance to someone who already knows the answer, we must ensure that everyone else also knows the answer. 

Similarly, a fearful learner will have trouble communicating with the rest of the class and will probably hold himself back from answering. I believe that students know the answer, but they fear getting it wrong and the embarrassment they think they will experience. So, as an educator, I would encourage them to tell their doubts in class and answer questions. Even for a small amount of participation, I will appreciate their effort. Apart from that, fear can also be generated by peers who are not friends. So I would give the student opportunities to be comfortable with everyone in the class so that he doesn't feel humiliated even if he answers a question wrongly. I would tell him to repeat these lines whenever he feels scared or fearful - ‘I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is a little death that brings total obliteration. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.’ These lines were written in the fictional book ‘Dune’; sometimes, when I feel scared, I tell myself to calm down and repeat these lines. And it works for me. 

Making students aware of the tactful techniques I use to overcome these problems would be my go-to method to help them. By telling anecdotes of my own and of other people, I would make sure that they inculcate these values. These are my current thoughts, but I know I still have a lot left to learn from my teachers and educators, and I’m looking forward to the limited years I will spend with my teachers here at Gyanshree. 

Happiness and Tolerance - Jaspreet Kaur

 My experience with handling an unhappy student and an intolerant one.

Jaspreet Kaur

Kamla Nehru Public School, Phagwara

JOL Cohort 2022

Freedom and Peace - Achievers JMMS

FREEDOM AND PEACE 

The right to act, speak and think freely can very well define freedom. Freedom allows us to be ourselves. It is the state of not being controlled by somebody else.

Peace is a situation in which there is no war or violence. It is the state of being calm and quiet. Peace is the quality of being Absent from disturbance. 

This is the story of freedom and peace. It is the story where the child realises his strength with the help of a teacher.

Achievers JMMS @John Martyn Memorial School, Salangaon, Dehradun 

- Sweta Thapli, Meena Kukreti, Dolly Pharasi, Jyoti Joshi, Nisha Pundir and Chandra Prakash.

Peace and Freedom - Triumph DGS

Attainment of Peace in life is something that perhaps all human beings aim for. They struggle all through their life in search of Peace. They spend money, devote time, try to control everything around them but, in the end, find themselves landed on an island that is isolated and deserted. This leads to unrest and discomfort in life, and they suffer.

One can never get Peace if he/she keeps himself/herself entangled with the boundaries of materialistic things. You let yourself free from these boundaries, and the sky is open for you. Your liberty to be the way you are, do the things you want to do for the betterment of people around you will open all the doors of peaceful and calm surroundings.

If one gets,

A chance to try,               

To walk on water,

on Earth thy,

When one pleases to dance,

And gets anklet bells hereby,

When one wishes to sing,

They sing without being shy,

And when FREEDOM is given to everyone,

it gives us real PEACE and wings to fly!!

In our view, the meaning of Peace and Freedom differs from one person to another. A child finds Peace when he finally gets the toy he wants and is free to express his madness for it. A teenager when gets appreciated for his/her efforts feels peaceful because he is given the Freedom to express his thoughts and use his calibre. A mother and father, when seeing their child climbing the ladder of success are filled with the feeling of Peace and contentment. Similarly, an elderly person, when given the Freedom to have an equal say in the family finds happiness, and happiness leads to Peace.

Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding

-Albert Einstein

Proudly created by the inspiring team of Triumph DGS @ The Doon Girls' School, Dehradun - Prachi Jain, Ritika Chandani, Shalu Rawat, Mohini Bohra Chauhan and Prachi Parashar

Hope and Friendship - Magnets DGS

"A friend should be one in whose understanding and virtue we can equally confide and whose opinion we can value at once for its justness and its sincerity." Robert Hall

Everyone hopes for friendship. Hope comes with faith that the friend will be loyal, honest and trustworthy.
As children, we wish to possess certain material things- toys, chocolates or even good marks. As adults, our wishes may change to more materialistic things like cars, houses, etc. A wish may push you to work aggressively towards it.

Hope is a dream, a desire, a belief that helps you stay calm and peaceful. Hope is accompanied by faith. You hope for a happy and peaceful life, good health, family and friends. You enjoy the company of your friends. The friendship that develops during school days lasts forever. You may not meet each other regularly after leaving school, but the bond is always there. The various alumni associations are proof. There is no age bar in friendship, an eight-year-old and an eight-year-old may get along well. A strong bond of friendship and understanding may be witnessed even with a pet. Good friends are honest and loyal; they stay with you, accept you, regardless of the circumstances. True friends give you honest advice and correct you when you are in the wrong. Mutual respect and admiration strengthen the bond of friendship between friends. Hope and friendship are important for mental health.

दोस्त शब्द में गूढ़ अर्थ छिपा है ,
जो दोस्तों के दोषों को अस्त कर देता है ,
वही सच्चा मित्र बन अपना धर्म निभाता है |
न कोई शिकवा न कोई आशा होती है ,
बस स्वेच्छा से त्याग की भावना होती है |        
                   दोस्ती में हर रोज़ मिलना जरूरी होता नहीं ,
                   बस एकबार दिल से रिश्ता जुड़ जाए
                   तो दोस्त कभी जुदा होता नहीं  |
                   एक सच्चा दोस्त कभी अपने दोस्त के
                   रास्ते में आता नहीं  ,
                   अगर एक गलत हो तो दूसरा हाथ पकड़
                   कभी छोड़ता नहीं |  
प्रेम और त्याग की डोर से जुड़ी एक “ विश्वास ” है दोस्ती ,
क्योंकि दुनियाँ के सभी रिश्तों में बड़ी “ खास ” है दोस्ती |
इतिहास गवाह है इस बात का कि...................
मित्रता में कोई जात-पात या ऊँच-नीच नहीं है होता ,
बस प्रेम , त्याग और विश्वास निभाया है जाता |
श्री कृष्ण –सुदामा के रिश्तों को कौन भुला है पाया  ?
बिन आशा और शर्तों के , राज-पाट मित्र सुदामा पर लुटाया  |
                  महाभारत के धर्म युद्ध में , कर्ण - दुर्योधन से
                  नि:स्वार्थ मित्रता देख ,सबने मान लिया लोहा उसका | 
बस अंत में इतना कहना है कि मित्रता में आशा रखना स्वाभाविक होता है और एक मित्र का दूसरे मित्र की आशा को पूरा करना उसका दायित्व होता है ||

Magnets DGS: Kiran Juyal, Manju Srivastava, Mezhu Chopra, Pooja Sharma and Renu Sundriyal

The Doon Girls' School, Dehradun

Courage and Patience - Prerna Rathod

Patience is the quality of being able to stay calm and not getting angry, especially when there is a difficulty or you have to wait for a long time. It is well said by Mahatma Gandhi that "To lose patience is to lose the battle." Moreover, courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear or bravely.  It is well said that courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important. 

Example: The most well-known incident that strikes my mind right now is from the great history of Mahabharata. When Guru Dhrona asked his students to attack Panchal, the Kauravas became impatient and decided to attack first, and got caught.  But the Pandavas patiently analyzed the situation and with their courage, they were able to defeat the King of Panchal.

Thus, this incident shows us that only courage to do something is not enough, rather we should also have the patience to analyse the situation to know its pros and cons and then with our courage we will definitely succeed.

Prerna Rathod
The Fabindia School

Courage and Patience - Jitendra Suthar

It is very good to be courageous. A person who never bows down to something wrong and

raises a voice against it is said to be courageous. But having patience is much more important for a person. There can be situations where time plays an important factor, where we have to keep patience for things to get back on track. If we don’t do so, things might go wrong, and our being courageous may affect us badly if we don’t stay calm in some situations. 

Courage and patience go with each other simultaneously. We can say how courageous and hardworking the Ant might be, who tries to climb long-distance walls, falls much time keeping patience trying again and again, and finally reaching the desired destination. 

Whenever a person develops the habit of saying the truth and stands by it no matter what the consequences are, they will develop courage automatically. It is the power to stand by the truth and tackle things without any hesitation. At times, there are a lot of people who work for something and expect results immediately. A kid at an early age goes to the gym for a workout with the feeling that someday he will transform himself into a bodybuilder.

He goes to the gym daily, has a hard workout, and returns home.  After 2 months, a kid starts getting depressed because he couldn’t achieve that stage and leave that gym, while others who continue to work outcome out of great results later on. That was the time when he realized that things would have gone into the correct lane if he would have kept patience. So, stay focused on whatever we are doing, learn to say right or wrong without any fear and stay calm, results will definitely go on a good track.

Jitendra Suthar

The Fabindia School

Happiness and Tolerance - Super 7

The Pursuit of Happiness

Leo Tolstoy, rightly said, “If you want to be happy, be happy.” Upon our reflection after the session with Mr Dutt, we all felt that happiness is a state of mind. It is up to us to look at everything positively which will, in turn, bring us the sheer joy and pleasure that we all search for in life. 

Many of us find it difficult to deal with the grim feelings of unhappiness which often grips our soul thereby leading us to all the negative feelings which we otherwise would want to ward off. It is then that we need to be firm with ourselves, otherwise unpleasant memories, silly fancies or even wicked promptings will soon gain the upper hand. A short meditation every day might help us steer clear of the negativity of undue anxiety, unbridled anger, envy, and other harmful emotions. It will calm our minds which will, in turn, lead us to be happy. 

To be genuinely happy, we should also learn to tolerate. Only when we can be tolerant of others’ shortcomings, can we empathize with them and together create a world of joy. Our mutual discussions brought forward many interesting incidents which we all fondly recollected.

One of us remembers having a really enthusiastic child in class who likes to add his opinion after every two minutes. In the same class, there is another child, who often lags behind and repeats questions which sometimes irritates others. The teacher loves both of them and understood their situations but somehow couldn't bring the class together. She, thus, decided to pair the two up which creates a magical situation. Both of them now sit together in the first bench and the enthusiastic kid tolerates the mistakes and repeated queries of the other one thereby helping him a great deal. Also in the process, the class doesn't get disturbed. He makes all his comments together after the teacher completes a topic. Never was the class happier. This is all about inclusive education - being empathetic towards others and helping to weaken their weaknesses thus creating a cheerful ambience around.

Thus, tolerance is the ability to respect others even though they may be different from what we are comfortable with. It is also being able to support and accept everyone regardless of the fact that they may be distinct from you. When one of us visited a class as a substitute teacher in a particular classroom, she came across a special child who appeared to be a bit violent at that point in time. Although the teacher felt uncomfortable, she was taken aback by the tolerance demonstrated by his classmates. They were all ready to calm this child down with a benevolent tune and consequently set a very happy atmosphere. This is an instance when our kids take us by surprise and thereby teach us tonnes.

In fact, taking into consideration the present scenario, none of us is enjoying staying at home. However, it is important for us to tolerate our inconveniences and try to carry on with our life as effectively as possible. This is what we are trying to do - this what even our students are trying to do. In spite of missing their school, their dear friends and beloved teachers, they are trying to stay happy and carry on their tasks with a smile. Their happiness is clearly visible when we meet them for online classes. 

We know that smile is contagious. It spreads from one to another, thus causing, the entire world around us to be happy. We are all going through hard times and this is when we should effectively try to tolerate the disruption around with a smile on our faces, thus creating happiness of a different kind!

Super 7 @ Billabong High International School, Thane
- Sayantani Mukherjee, Dimple Awasthi, Ritu Chitnis, Manjusha Saji, Jyoti Ramdhave, Vijaylaxmi Ramesh, Sumati Muthukumar

Being Polite - Jitendra Suthar

I would like to share a small story. There were two students in a class, who were totally different from each other. One was a polite child and the other one was mischievous with his own group. This group once decided to create some nuisance in class and started troubling others. All other students started responding in some or the other way, only there was one child in the class who was very calm and polite to this group. As they increased troubling him more, he responded to them more politely. Everyone tried to annoy that kid, but no one succeeded in annoying him. Self-realization in the best we can do if we make some mistake. The same thing happened with that group. They realized that they were wrong and finally felt sorry for that nuisance.

From the above story, we get to know that, No matter what are the circumstances in front of us. We should always face it politely. Remember Father of our Nation “Mahatma Gandhi” who always said, “Even if anyone comes and slaps you, don’t raise your hand rather show him the other side of your face”. Being polite is the best value, asset and weapon to tackle any situation.

When we get into some trouble or face some problem. We have the tendency to look for the person who is calm and polite in any condition. So that we can share our thoughts and take some advice. The same way others will also look to us when we will stay polite to everyone. No one can do anything wrong to you until and unless you do it for others. It is better to wear a smile and avoid misconceptions.

-Jitendra Suthar

The Fabindia School