A fearful and Impatient Student: Saumya RPKM

What is fear? 

Fear is a powerful and primitive human emotion which alerts us to the presence of danger. It is the good side of fear but on the other side, too much fear can harm self-confidence, it can prevent from achieving heights of success by destroying reality or being grounded in false beliefs. 

A fearful and impatient student 

There was a child in my class who used to stammer. He found it impossible to participate in any competition like poem recitation or elocution etc. When he stammered, he got anxious and when he got anxious he stammered even more. He used to sit still in the corner, knowing all the answers and just watching other kids— never participating in the activities. He also never participated in any conversations for fear that he might stammer. 

He was known as a good listener, but the fact was he just avoided talking because he knew what would happen if he spoke. I observed him for a few days to know the reason behind his behaviour: why he was so shy or different from others?

One fine day, I got to know about his stammering issue. I started talking to him, being friendly with him but he didn't involve himself much. It didn't stop me from encouraging him. I used to encourage him and provide him with chances to speak so he could regain his confidence.

It took time but his stammering lessened which boosted his confidence. Through encouragement, he got the courage and strength to face his fear and regain his lost confidence. In the teaching profession, we see these kinds of children who are struggling with speech issues. But with patience and consistency, teachers can help them. 

Advice to educators: As an educator, I and my group would like to suggest- 

1. Teachers should deal with these kinds of children (lack of confidence, shyness etc.) with calmness. 
2. Teachers should encourage children by giving them as many chances as possible. 
3. Teachers should teach them the attitude of never giving up in difficult or frightening situations (like exams, competitions etc). 
4. Teachers should boost children's morale so they can stand up on their feet firmly (without hesitation). 

"Courage is the Power of the mind to overcome fear" - Martin Luther King JR. 

Patience is the art of concealing your impatience.

In the past, I encountered an impatient student who was eager to move ahead with the lesson. To address their restlessness, I took a moment to talk with the student privately after class. I listened attentively to their concerns and empathised with their desire for more challenging material. 

I acknowledged their enthusiasm for learning and explained that while I understood their feelings, it was crucial to ensure that all students grasp the foundational concepts before progressing. 

To keep the student engaged, I promised to explore more advanced topics in the near future and encouraged them to take an active role in class discussions. 

This way, they could contribute their knowledge and potentially spark deeper conversations. By validating the student's eagerness and providing a plan for future learning, I aimed to channel their impatience into positive motivation for academic growth. 

Patience is the skill to accept or tolerate delay without becoming annoyed or anxious and without responding in disrespect or anger. 

Experience has taught me, that we undo ourselves through impatience. 

"To lose patience is to lose the battle" - By Mahatma Gandhi 

Saumya @ RPK School Moradabad

Rashmi Wright, Ekta Sharma, Rajni Gupta, Shafali Johri, Asha Singh, Beena Singh, Nidhi Narula

Honesty and Respect - Byju Joseph

Honesty is one of the most important moral values to possess and practice everyone. It helps to develop discipline, respect, kindness etc. Being educators what is our role? What are the things that we can do to inculcate the moral values in the present and coming generations? Education does not mean acquiring knowledge in a certain field. It means the all-round development of an individual. At present, the educational system is value-based. By education, a trustworthy, and honest, a dedicated and respectful generation should be evolved. The new generation thus coming out should be able to face the world fearlessly and should be able to solve the issues in a sustainable manner. 

There is a proverb “HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY”. It makes clear that honesty is the best way to achieve success. People often say that the truth is God and that only honest men are entitled to heaven. Even if a person does not believe in God he should be honest, if he wishes to succeed in the world. If a man is honest people will trust him and will be willing to have dealings with him. Honesty is, therefore, the best policy. Honesty makes a person free of all troubles and fearless and it leads him to mental satisfaction and happiness.  

Honesty and Respect are related to each other. If we are honest in all aspects, others will respect us. ‘Respect is the reward for being honest.’ It is something that we cannot buy or cannot take from others forcefully. It naturally comes as a result of our behaviour. As human nature, it is deeply existing in our mind that everyone should respect us every time without thinking whether it is deserved or not. If we want respect from others, we should respect others more. We should respect not only other people but also their properties or belongings. Self-respect is very important in this regard. 

If we consider the life of a human being we can understand how he develops the quality of respect. At an early childhood or before schooling, he learns many things from his parents. Parents usually tell their child to wish and get blessings by touching feet or by other ways when relatives or elders come to their home. When parents take their child to get admission in the school, they tell, ‘This is your teacher and this is the principal, wish them.’ The child obeys and at the same time, he observes his parents and others what they are doing. By these small things or happenings, gradually an admiration towards parents and others germinates in the child. This admiration towards others slowly changes to respect and develops in the child. Further nourishment he gets from the school.

Byju P. Joseph
The Fabindia School

Courage and Patience: Super 7

“Courage is knowing what not to fear”- Plato

Courage is a simple but profound word. In our childhood, we have written many essays and narrated several stories to prove to the world how courageous we are. However, the reality is that very few of us have mustered this virtue, in reality. We think, re-think and then think again before standing up for a cause even though we know that it is just. Only courage can help us deal with our inner fears and overcome them. Professor Andrew Martin explains, “Courage is defined as perseverance in the face of academic difficulty & fear.” Very often we need a guide or facilitator to help us. Thus, it is important that we teach our students to be bold and stand up for the right cause. Teaching students to have courage in the classroom not only increases engagement and academic achievement, but it also helps them enhance their self-belief and face every adversity fearlessly. 

One of us recalls the incident involving a boy, named Ajay, in her class. He was acrophobic (fear of heights) - a fact mentioned by his mother during a Parent-Teacher interaction. A few months later, our school organized a Rock-Sport event in which there were many adventure games. All students including Ajay had enrolled for this event. The game started with many activities including rappelling which required a child to tie himself up to a rope at a certain height and then climb down. While others were excited about this new sport and were animatedly chattering, Ajay was silently standing in a corner. His pale face portrayed his paralysing fear and the dilemma that tore through his little heart.

With the intention of soothing his nerves, the teacher walked up to him, spoke for a few minutes and helped him with the safety harness. Just when he was about to move down, Ajay started sobbing uncontrollably and refused to descend. He untied himself, shakily drank some water and sat down. After some time, the teacher went up to him again, spoke to him at great length and helped him overcome his fear. Ajay agreed to try again and this time he managed to complete his activity. Later on, he even admitted that after the initial few moments of abject terror he actually enjoyed himself.

Rudransh Awasthi of Grade IV feels that
Patience is the key to success. 

It is, however, not possible to be courageous in a day– one needs to steadily build up this trait. Patience plays a key role in this process. 

One of our teammates visits a class once a week as a reading teacher and after about a month she took notice of a timid child named Arghya. His passivity was of a different kind. It was not merely about being introvert– there was something more to it. He refused to speak even when spoken to.

Her initial efforts of striking a conversation failed. She did not give up and continued with her efforts. Slowly she started receiving monosyllabic answers from him, though there was still a sense of unease in the child. The teacher then tried talking to his friends and came to know that in Grade 5 he was once rebuked by a teacher for a mistake. The incident was reported to his parents as well and this caused him to recoil into a shell. He intentionally avoided speaking too much with teachers. Upon further inquiry, she found out that his behaviour was very different when he was with his friends. She decided to do something about it and came to meet him every day before dispersal. She shared her day’s experiences with him and urged him to do the same. There was a lot of resistance from his side but gradually he started to open up and after a few months, they shared a unique camaraderie. Arghya is now an enthusiastic member of the class.

Courage and patience is valued intricately connected to manage negative emotions and they draw on many of the same characteristic adaptations related to emotion regulation. It is important that we let both these virtues enlighten our paths in this journey of life.

Super 7 @ Billabong High International School, Thane 

-Sayantani Mukherjee, Dimple Awasthi, Ritu Chitnis, Manjusha Saji, Jyoti Ramdhave, Vijaylaxmi Ramesh, Sumati Muthukumar

पूर्णता पाने की कोशिश करें

1. इस संसार मे हर कोई सफल होना चाहता है।सर्वश्रेष्ठ बनने की होड़ होती हैं , जो कोशिश के द्वारा पूरी की जा सकती है ।
2. अपने कार्य को स्वयंकरना चाहिए। हर बार प्रयास करते रहना चाहिए। इस दौरान कभी - कभी असफलता भी मिलेगी परन्तु निराश नही होना चाहिए और निरन्तर प्रयास करते रहना चाहिए।
3. व्यक्ति को असफलताओं से घबराना नही चाहिए , बल्कि असफलता के द्वारा व्यक्ति अपने जीवन में नई - नई चीजें सीखता हैं ।
4. व्यक्ति सफल होने का प्रयास जरूर करेगा एवं पिछली असफलताओं का मूल्यांकन करते हुए अपने जीवन में वापस वो गलती न दोहराते हुए पूर्णता प्राप्त करने कोशिश की ज सकती है।
5. सफलता पाने के लिए छोटी - छोटी बातों का ध्यान रखना अति-आवश्यक होता है । सकारात्मक अति चिंतन बहुत जरूरी होता है।
6. हमेशा किसी कार्य को करने से पहले ये नहीं सोचना चाहिए कि "मैं ये कार्य नही कर सकता / सकती हूँ । "
7. नकारात्मकता को अनदेखा करें , अपनी सोच को सकारात्मकबनाये रखें ।
8. अपने सहयोगियों को भी साथ में लेकर कार्य करें । समय - समय पर एक - दूसरे से परामर्श लेते रहें । कभी -कभी किसी व्यक्ति की सही सलाह हमारीसफलता में सहायक हो सकती है।

हमारीसीख;आइसक्रीममेकर, लेखक - सुबीरचौधरी

समूह अध्यापकगण - आयशा टाक, प्रेरणा राठौड़, सुरेश नेगी, स्वाति सूद - The Fabindia School