Reflections from Learning Forward Saturday sessions

Learning Forward Saturday sessions are held every Saturday at 3:00 PM on Zoom and are open to all members of the Good Schools Alliance

Right vs Wrong

As a teacher, I can utilise this story to teach students important life values along with academic learning. I would use the story to spark discussions about trust, safety, peer pressure, and responsible decision-making, so students can connect the story’s events to real-life situations. 

Through the character of Roma, I would explain how a teacher should be caring, approachable, courageous, and supportive towards students. I can also use this story in value education classes, counselling sessions, and group activities such as role plays, debates, and reflective writing to help students develop empathy, confidence, and moral awareness. 

The story would help me encourage students to speak openly about their problems and understand that seeking guidance is a sign of strength, not weakness. As a teacher, this story also reminds me to maintain a balance between discipline and compassion, to understand students’ emotional needs, and to create a safe and trusting classroom environment where every student feels respected, protected, and guided.

Regards 
Ms. Rekha Sharma 
Sunbeam School Mau

Like vs Unlike

We learn that a teacher should not always react aggressively. 

We also learned that students share their problems only when they trust their teacher. Therefore, teachers should keep such matters confidential and not discuss them with everyone. In the chapter, Roma informed the parents, but the matter was kept private among the counsellor, the class teacher, and the parents.

Overall, the chapter teaches us that a good teacher should understand students, guide them positively, maintain confidentiality, and handle every situation with patience, care, and understanding.

PYDS Learning Academy

Courage and Patience - Welham Boys' School

1. A Fearful student

Every time we encounter different types of students who might be fearful or impatient. These students should be dealt with carefully and patiently to cater to their needs. We need to be patient with these students as we don't usually know what triggers their behaviours and why they behave the way they are. Child psychology plays a significant role here in both situations.

First, let us talk about a fearful child.
A child usually fears the teacher because he/she feels that the teacher might scold or make fun of them for something easy for students to understand but difficult for that particular child. The child fears that other fellow students might make fun of him for asking such a silly question, or the child might simply be introverted and scared to speak up in front of everyone. As a teacher and an efficient educator, I would like to hold a personal question-answer session where children can come up to me personally and ask me questions if they fear asking in front of the whole class. I also appreciate the students if they ask questions in the course no matter how big or small the question is because no two people have the same ability to understand. Every student is essential and unique in their own way.

2. An Impatient student

In the second situation of an impatient child, I usually tell them to wait for 5 seconds in their mind and then speak. I also often encourage them to be more patient before asking questions or doing a group task. These children are more challenging to deal with than fearful students because they are hyper and impatient. They have to be trained gradually to wait and think before speaking and doing a task or submitting their homework. They should be taught that everyone will get a chance to speak or volunteer, and they have to raise their hands and wait for their turn to say or do any work.

We conclude that roses and lilies cannot be compared; likewise, two students with different needs and personalities should not be compared to each other, as every student is different and unique in their own way.

As teachers, it's our responsibility to ensure that all the children get equal attention and guidance according to their own personal needs.

B) Advice to educators who want to inculcate the values of courage and impatient in their students.

Teaching students courage in the classroom increases engagement and academic achievement but also helps students learn how to handle adversity. You might not think children endure many hardships, but they do — they try new things every day at school! You can effectively inspire courage in the classroom by teaching students what it means to be courageous and what it looks like in real-life situations.

Let your students know that when things are difficult, it's OK to be fearful and make mistakes — that's how we learn! Encourage students to try new things that seem difficult, including trying fresh foods, learning a new sport, speaking in front of the class, or standing up for a friend in need.

Courage does not need to be a big affair; it can be as small as raising your hand to ask a question. Sometimes courage is quiet, meaning there is not always applause at the end. Teachers must encourage, recognize, and celebrate when students show courage because they might not realize they're doing it. Students also need to learn how to voice their opinions and respectfully disagree with others, which can come in handy when the time comes for them to stick up for what they believe in.

To inspire your students to be courageous, you can discuss characters in stories and novels that could have shown courage. Ask questions and listen to what they think courage looks like. You also can purposefully study famous courageous figures for the students. Discuss with your students and see what they have to say about the courage these figures have shown.

Patience is more than just the ability to wait. It's how we behave while we're waiting. Not only is patience a success principle, but patience is also a skill. And like all skills, patience can be learned. There are many benefits of patience. From the ability to make more rational choices to the craft of focusing and obtaining long-term goals, patience can make a big difference in a person's life. The best way to learn patience is to practice patience, but sometimes, that is easier said than done.

Patience is essential for everybody to learn. And you know, It's easier to be patient as an adult if you learn to be patient as a child. Children whose parents strive to teach patience when they're young grow up to have more self-control and long-term critical thinking skills. In fact, many child development experts argue that teaching children to be patient is an essential step in child development.

5 Steps to Teaching Kids Patience

Step 1 – Teach Patience by Starting Small. Most young children aren't born patient.

Step 2 – Wait for A Little Longer (Avoid Instant Gratification).

Step 3 – Acknowledge The Difficulty in Waiting Patiently.

Step 4 – Practice Patience through Play.

Step 5 – Model Patience Yourself!

Neelima Parmar, Vandana Sahay and Monika Gupta
Welham Boys' School 
JOL Cohort 2022

Courage and Patience - Nitin Sharma

1. A fearful student:

“Fear is a fundamental human emotion that can help us protect from danger and prepare us to take action. 

Here I would like to share the story of Sujal, who joined the school three years back. He used to sit at the last desk in the class. He was not very comfortable sharing his response with the teachers. After noticing, I met Sujal’s mother in this context a month later. After meeting them, I learned that in his previous school, in his class, 55 students were there, and no personal attention was paid. Sujal used to sit on the last seat and also had a short vision. His math teacher was very harsh and used to run the syllabus fast. Sujal had never matched his speed, so he kept lagging behind. His work remained incomplete, and he even got corporal punishment from the teacher. He kept telling his parents that he would no longer go to school. So, his parents decided to change his school. His mother burst into tears after narrating this incident, and also, the whole scene of corporal punishment was running before my eyes. I promised to help this child the best I could and requested my colleagues support him in overcoming his fear. 

2. An impatient student: 

Patience is not the ability to wait but to keep the right attitude while waiting. In today’s scenario, students quickly lose their patience in the classroom. Here I would like to share the story of one such student Manya of class VII, a very restless and outspoken girl. Her response in the class was good. Manya was in the habit of passing the comments on to others whenever reading was done in the classroom. She used to intervene by saying that she would do the reading alone and not give a chance to other students. Even though she was in the habit of disturbing the teacher in the class by passing small comments like this boy is saying this and that to me. Thus, the whole teaching environment in the class was disturbed by her. Many students in the class had written a letter regarding her behaviour and requested to take action against her. One day I called Manya and gave chances to others. She was responsible for class monitoring and helping the weak students to come ahead. 

How did/will you deal with the student? If it was a real-life situation, were they successfully helping him/her overcome their problem?

Yes, it was a real-life situation in both cases. To help the fearful children, the following steps were taken:

1. All subject teachers were requested to hand holding, that is, to give sufficient time to complete their work. 

2. Buddy was assigned 

3. More exposure was given (involvement in the activities) 

4. Good appreciation was given even for small response 

To help the impatient child:

1. More responsibilities were assigned, such as helping other students. 

2. Some actions of teamwork were assigned. 

Advice:

Courage and patience are very essential values not only in teachers but in our life also. These two values will help us to attain our teaching goals. As we know, patience usually wins in the end. A student needs to be courageous enough, and a teacher must be patient for effective teaching. 

Ms Nitin Sharma 

Kamla Nehru Public School, 

Phagwara 

JOL Cohort 2022

It’s Never too Late to Start - Bharti Rao

Courtesy: Reddit.com

Today’s world is full of hustle & bustle. Everyone is trying to keep pace with this fast & moving world. Everyone is trying to grab each opportunity that comes in their way. Due to our failure we feel as if we are left behind. We start losing our confidence and feel that now we are too old to prosper. It’s too late to start again. We forget to remember that it’s never too late to start.  There is no age barrier to start. Always keep in mind that age can never stop you from flourishing until you want to 

There are many living examples who started and succeeded in their late years like Laura Wilder, Harry Bernstein, Gladys Burrill, etc. These personalities succeeded at the age of 62 to 92 years. We should never give up, we should always push ourselves forward and will surely achieve our goal with the light of hope. 

Surely it may be a slow progress but remember it is still advancement. You will always reach your goal if you have a positive approach and strong determination. Seeing you people may doubt your abilities. If you have belief in yourself and passionate, then you will prove that the doubts against you were wrong. 

If you want to make your dreams come true and become reality you have to face all the challenges, criticism that comes in your way bravely. If you want to enjoy the fruits of your hard work you need to be determined, courageous, hopeful, patient etc.

Bharti Rao

The Fabindia School

bro@fabindiaschools.in

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

Courage and Patience - Ajay Vijayvargi

These two values are a two-way street. We need the courage to be patient and patience will help you to be courageous. These two values are to be inculcated in students and educators, play a very crucial role in nurturing and developing them.

Students need the courage to overcome the exam fear, speak the truth on committing mistakes, overcome nervousness before a crucial match, keep patience before exam results or in exam hall so as not to leave the questions or make silly mistakes, undertake difficult sports and so on.

We have seen multiple examples in History which demonstrate these two attributes, one of them is about Maharana Pratap, the courageous ruler of Mewar who once lost his kingdom to Akbar but kept patience with his family in jungles, suffered hard times gathered his army and again won his kingdom.

In today's scenario, the Corona Fighters (medical staff, police personnel and even teachers doing a survey) who in spite of knowing the fact that it can be fatal to their lives and their near and dear ones if they catch infection are showing great courage in performing their duties and the citizens also who very patiently are staying at home and following the guidelines of lockdown thereby minimizing the spread of the pandemic.

Thus, whether be it History or the present,  deadly battles can certainly be won by courage and patience and thus, one should always try to be courageous and patient while dealing with any situation at hand and one will succeed.

Ajay Vijayvargi
The Fabindia School

Honesty and Respect: Usman Gani

A major component for developing moral character is Honesty. Honesty helps in developing good attributes like kindness, discipline, truthfulness, moral integrity and more. Lying, cheating, lack of trust, steal, greed and other immoral attributes have no part in Honesty. Honest people are sincere, trustworthy and loyal, throughout their life. Honesty is valuable and it is the habit of utmost importance. There are famous quotes, said by a great personality like “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom”. It holds good due to its ability to build, shape and motivate integral values in one’s life.

Honesty removes fear from the heart. It makes a person courageous and confident. It certainly takes a huge amount of courage to speak the truth. Speaking truth is a sign of bravery. The one who lies is a coward. Speaking falsehood is a sign of low self-confidence.

Honesty will certainly result in high-quality friends. An honest person will make lifelong friends. The friendship will be very close and strong which involve such individuals. Most people go through life and always hear about the word respect, but they don’t know what it means. Respect is the esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person. There are things in life you need to hold in respect. 

Respect for yourself, respect for others, and respect for property. Respect is taught to people everywhere and it is even taught to them in their religions. Respect is the very aspect that keeps everything in your life. Respect for yourself is very important to a person because it can be the balancing factor of your life. If a person has no respect for themselves the will most likely go into depression. Respecting yourself is also important for your self-esteem.

Usman Gani

The Fabindia School

Patience and Courage - Byju Joseph

Patience and Courage are connected to each other in some ways. We need the courage to be patient. At the same time patience leads us to be courageous. If we analyse the social life at the present time we can understand that we are losing the value of patience day by day. Patience is the way to simplicity and it is the key to success. Beyond all discoveries, inventions, productions or any attempts, there must be patience and hard work for many days. It is time-consuming. In the present world, nobody is ready to waste precious time.

The world is running fast with technologies and everything is available instantly. Everyone is influenced by the scenario and getting addicted to consumerism.  We are also acquiring the tendency to gain without pain. We are not thinking of the consequences and thus we are becoming jealousy and impatient. Impatience may lead to dangerous situations. We need to stand courageously and patiently to work against the present-day issues that we face. We need to overcome them effectively and to do maximum for the betterment of the coming generations.

Patience depends on our self-discipline and self-control while courage depends on our confidence. Confidence depends on our knowledge. It is very clear that patience and courage together make success. There are many such examples which are inspiring everyone. Albert Einstein could not speak until he was four and he could not read until he was seven. Teachers thought he was slow and that’s why he was expelled from school. Later the world identified the most genius person in him. Thomas Alva Edison’s teachers said he was “too stupid to learn anything”. So he was also expelled from school and his mother took him off the school and taught him herself. Later he became one of the greatest inventors of all time having more than a thousand patents. He invented the bulb. During his attempts to invent it, he failed more than ten thousand times. From these, we can understand how much patience and courage they possessed which ultimately led them to success.

I would like to bring your attention to a small creature which I used to observe mostly in my childhood. It was a spider and it was so interesting for me to observe the weaving of its web. During its attempts to make the web, it fails many times. But it never gives up till it accomplishes. It tries many times patiently to achieve the goal. At that time it was not very thoughtful for me. But later on, I read a story of the king of Scotland named Robert the Bruce. In the story, it states that he fought against England six times and he was defeated in each war. The king escaped to a cave in the forest. There once he noticed a spider weaving its web. Six times the spider failed to throw its thread to the next end of the cave but it did not lose hope. It tried again and in the next attempt, it succeeded.

The king got inspired by the act of spider and as a seventh attempt, he collected and trained his soldiers to fight against England. He waited patiently and all arrangements were done and he became confident. The patient preparation and courageous step to the battle led him to golden success.

Byju P. Joseph

The Fabindia School

Courage and Patience - Bharti Rao

Courage and patience are the virtues that go hand in hand and help us to reach the ladder of success. We are always haunted by the fear of not doing anything. We should have the ability to overcome our fear and exhibit courage. We should relish challenges with determination, courage and patience.  If we are courageous we can live a life with honour and respect.

We should always accept to take up challenges and show our courage and patiently wait for our results. If you are courageous and patient you can conquer anything. Children should be motivated by their educators to step by step patiently reach the ladder of success. I recall the incident of one of my students who with motivation has gained success and achieved his goal. Arvind Sonigra did not speak much because he used to stammer and so all the students made fun of him. 

First counselling of the students was necessary so I started motivating Arvind to show his talent in sports. Slowly his classmates understood that we should not make fun of anyone for everyone is unique and are talented in some way or the other. Then whenever I took reading classes I asked him to read and told him that he can do it. He showed his courage and overcame his challenge of stammering. He gained his self-confidence and even participated in competitions and was even secured positions.   Today he teaches English in Jodhpur. In this way, he was able to overcome his disability of stammering and is successful in his life. 

So be patient and with courage and perseverance, you can achieve everything. I would like to end by quoting Winston Churchill’s words, ‘Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts.

Bharti Rao, The Fabindia School

Human Nature

The nature that a human possesses is far similar to that of animals regarding territory. Most human beings do not go beyond their own territory. Instead, every human being must explore in other territories.

Everyone is a lion in his own kingdom, but one must not become a cat in other's territory. This is a very important quality in all human beings that they must not hesitate while discovering another territory.

For this purpose, one must have the confidence to show his talent in the other area. One must believe in him/her self. Believing is a strong power that can make you do everything. One must never be shy. If you are blessed with a talent, it is just needed to be explored. One must have a courageous heart and shine everywhere.

One must be capable to do everything and have the guts to bright in others territory too. His ownership must be shown into next territory. These qualities will make a man perfect.

At last, we would like to conclude that people should try more and more to interact instead of being aloof. One must have good behaviour and must be filled with good qualities that will help a human being to achieve more in life.

By Archana Koratkar, Kritika Rajpurohit, Yukti Kansara
The Fabindia School