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

Honesty and Respect - Swabhi Parmar

Honesty and Respect are the most important attributes that any individual should possess.

These two simple values lead us to live a better life. Honesty is a reflection of your own thoughts and feelings. If you want people to know who you are, be honest in your self-expression. Honesty shows maturity and self-acceptance.

Honesty can bring people closer by creating a safe connection. It forms a context for the relationship within which both parties feel secure enough to be genuine in their interactions. The relationship between students and teachers should be one of mutual respect. Students should listen to the teacher and try their best in the class. Teachers, on the other hand, need to do their best to give their students a quality education and respect them as individuals.

But how do we react when a child disrespects us? The solutions are not that simple if you, yourself do not have the quality of patience. A teacher should be capable of accepting and have the tendency of patience inside him or her. The suggestions could be, we should not react to disrespect but we should act to correct it. We should never overreact over the action of disrespect taken by the child. We should correct them and avoid their disrespect. This will create a feeling of sorry in the child from within.

Children should be always treated with respect and love. They should feel a kind of belonging with the teacher. Teachers should not be judgemental. A teacher should not take anything personally but be patient. There are situations in which we are not appreciated for the hard work we put in every work. We should not lose heart in this situation. We should keep up doing the good work. If it is not appreciated but someday it will inspire people. Respect is always a two-way street if we give it we get it. Same goes with the relationship between a teacher and a student. If we give respect to our children, they will give us the same. There is a saying if you want to see good in others we should be good in the first place. If honesty becomes an unconscious habit, you will become very attractive to other honest people and you will receive immense respect. A life filled with authentic people will be vastly enriched. 

Swabhi Parmar

The Fabindia School

Sharmila Vijayvargi: SPEAKING

Speaking is sharing of thoughts, ideas and knowledge verbally.  Speaking adds value to our expressions and improves our communication skills. A good orator is always a treat to the ears.

Speaking, alike reading helps to organise our thoughts and communicate well and thus leading to better expressions. Speaking improves pronunciation, brings clarity of words and helps in understanding different sounds.

Speaking has a positive impact on your personality. It helps in communicating with peers, groups, students and everyone around. Speaking does not mean using only one language. Like reading, speaking in multiple languages makes one an effective communicator. Speaking is expressing feelings and thus should be done in the language in which one is most comfortable.

Speaking helps children learn better and faster because of the practices and approaches adopted by educators/teachers for pre-schoolers including saying aloud songs, rhymes, the story actually leads to powerful learning.  Learning through speaking at a young age helps the child has a clear speech which ultimately leads to better and effective communication.

Speaking has a lot of benefits. It helps children put out their opinion and suggestions during discussions. Organising activities such as debate, extempore helps bring about clarity and coherence of thoughts in children leading to better communication. Speaking helps students develop a habit of reacting and asking questions and builds critical thinking. It also helps shy and introvert students come out of their comfort zone and speaking leads to develop listening skills simultaneously.

Sharmila Vijayvargi

The Fabindia School, svi4fab@gmail.com