Happiness & Tolerance - Vandana Sharma

"Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions." 

This quote highlights how happiness comes from within and is not dependent on external factors. It also emphasizes how unhappiness can make life difficult by causing us to focus on what we lack rather than what we have, and how it can lead to a negative self-image and an obsession with others' opinions. Ultimately, the key to happiness is finding contentment and fulfilment in oneself and one's life. 

As an educator, I love doing my job with complete sincerity and commitment. I try my best to understand the needs of the students and deal with them most appropriately so that they succeed in their paths. Overall, being an educator can be a challenging yet rewarding experience, as it allows us to make a positive impact on the lives of the students and communities. 

There are a lot of challenges while upgrading ourselves and working day and night for our students. One of the biggest challenges is failing to understand the needs of a student. I generally overcome every challenge efficiently because of my compassionate attitude. 

In my teaching career, I came across a student who literally gave me a different outlook to understand problems. I would like to share that experience. 

I met a three-year-old student who just started his first year in primary school. He had always been a shy and introverted child who struggled to make friends. He found it challenging to speak up in class, and as a result, he needed to catch up on his studies. 

As the school year progressed, He began feeling increasingly unhappy. He felt isolated and excluded from class, so he dreaded going to school. He felt embarrassed and ashamed about his struggles and was afraid to ask for help. 

Despite my efforts to engage him in class and provide extra support, his grades continued to suffer. He started to act out in classes and became disruptive, which only made him feel worse. I noticed that he seemed unhappy. I tried speaking to him to find out what was going on, but he didn't want to talk about it.

Eventually, I reached out to his parents to discuss his behaviour and academic performance. Together, we tried to develop a plan to support and address his needs. I gradually developed an understanding and convinced his parents to cope and start engaging him in activities that he liked. With the help of his parents and a counsellor, he began making progress. He learnt new coping strategies and social skills, and he started feeling more confident and happy in school. 

In this scenario, his unhappiness is related to his struggles with socializing and academics. By working together, I, his parents, and a counsellor were able to provide the support he needed to overcome his challenges and thrive in school. He made me understand how important it is to understand the needs of a student and engage him in his interests throughout his educational journey to make him feel better and smarter. 

There could be different meanings when describing an intolerable student. To be honest, I have never come across an intolerable student. Though if I have to describe an intolerable student, I would say, an intolerable student is a student whose behaviour is not acceptable and creates a negative impact on the learning environment. 

This behaviour can range from disruptive, disrespectful, or aggressive behaviour towards peers, teachers, or school staff. Intolerable behaviour can cause harm to students, themselves, and the learning environment as a whole.

It's important to address intolerable behaviour early on to prevent it from escalating and to ensure a safe and positive learning environment for all students. Hypothetically, if I had to deal with an intolerable student, I would do the following:

1. Identify the root cause: Understanding the root cause of the student's behaviour is essential. It's important to talk to the student, listen to their concerns, and try to understand what's causing their behaviour.

2. Set clear expectations: Set clear expectations for behaviour and consequences for breaking the rules. Make sure that the student understands what is expected of them and the consequences of their actions. 

3. Use positive reinforcement: Positive reinforcement is an effective strategy for encouraging positive behaviour. Praising the students when they display positive behaviour can help reinforce that behaviour.

4. Use consequences: Teachers can use consequences when the student exhibits intolerable behaviour. Consequences should be clear, consistent, and fair. 

5. Provide support: Provide support to the student by offering resources and counselling. Working with the student to identify their strengths and areas of improvement can help them develop a positive attitude towards school and learning. 

6. Involve parents: Involving parents in the process can be helpful. Parents can provide insight into the student's behaviour at home and be a valuable ally in developing a plan to address the behaviour.

7. Be consistent: Consistency is key when dealing with intolerable behaviour. Students need to know what to expect and what will happen if they continue to exhibit such behaviour. 

My suggestion to all my fellow educators:

Building relationships with students is crucial for effective teaching and learning. Take the time to know your students, their interests, strengths and weaknesses and create a positive learning environment for their success. 

Encourage positivity, respect, and inclusivity in the classroom. With gradual efforts and a "never give up" attitude, every educator can achieve their goals and the students can achieve success in their educational journey.

 Vandana Sharma @KNPS Phagwara, India

Happiness & Tolerance - Sharda Pullabhatla

An Unhappy Student:

I am also one of the admission team members at our school. Every day I meet students from various schools of different classes with different mindsets, skills and hobbies. Last week I met a girl child who hadn’t cleared her grade IX final exams in her previous school.

She wanted to be admitted to grade IX in our school. Her parents were very tense and worried about her being very quiet and shy. They said that until grade 7 she was an active and enthusiastic girl. However, after the lockdown, she has changed a lot and does not want to talk to anyone. 

Gradually, she became lonely and this resulted in her inattentiveness to her studies. As a result, she could not score well in grade IX exams. While I spoke to her she expressed her sadness about not having friends. She said she was unhappy because she did not have friends to share her feelings and thoughts. 

During her interaction, I motivated her to stay happy and keep smiling. I also told her that we would make new friends for her in this school. Her buddies in class will help her settle down in this new school. She may share moments of joy and happiness with them. 

Even our school Principal motivated her very much and encouraged her to perform well in class. Be happy and do every work with zeal. She told her to forget the past and put her efforts into the present task. 

She was admitted to our school. I met her every day for one week. Gradually, I noticed changes in her. It's almost 15 days since she joined our school. She is paying attention in her class studies, sharing lunch with friends, making new friends and has started smiling as well. 

Educators who wish to inculcate the value of Happiness in their students may refer to these points:

i) We should always support students. 

ii) Lend an ear to their issues and concerns. 

iii) Make them understand the positives and negatives of the situation and then resolve the issues.

An Intolerant Student -

Early morning after the assembly while students were settling down for their periodic assignment, suddenly we heard a loud noise from a teacher. I ran towards the classroom from where the disturbance was coming. Two teachers were already scolding two students involved in the quarrel.

On investigating the matter, we found out, that one of them had posted some abusive/unwanted comments on the social media account of another classmate. As a result, the first student was irate and held his collar and asked him to apologize. Instead of apologizing he commented by saying - “I have done the correct thing”. 

We made both of them sit in different rooms, gave them a glass of water, heard the complete situation and counselled them about their behaviour and approach. We spoke to them about the method they have used to solve this situation. Also asked the students to write a realisation letter, promising this shall not repeat and they shall be more tolerant in future. I also made them say sorry to each other and shake hands. 

After a week, just went to meet them and gauge the situation. While I observed them, they were not talking to each other, but then the quarrel had come to an end. My advice to teachers who wish to inculcate the value of tolerance in their students shall be –

I) Consider every situation as separate. 

II) Take action based on a case-to-case basis. 

III)Share different stories and situations where people demonstrated 'the value of tolerance to achieve victory and succeeded with students during class.

IV)Be friendly with students.

V) Be tolerant of students.

Sharda Pullabhatla @KNPS Phagwara

Happines & Tolerance - Jaswinder Kaur

Unhappy Student:

I addressed an unhappy student because she was dissatisfied with the marks allotted to her in two questions. She expressed that the answers were absolutely correct, but the marks were still deducted. 

I listened to her very carefully, and patiently let her vent her anger. After that, I analyzed the question with her help and told her to underline the keywords to be answered in the questions. 

Then, I read out her answers that were out of context. She had not answered the keywords in the questions. She was convinced afterwards and her unhappiness at the mark allotment disappeared. 

My advice to colleagues:- 

(a) First of all, don’t become defensive when you are questioned. 

(b) Listen 100% to the query/ coup of the student. 

(c) Rather than pointing out the mistake at the first instant, be the focus of the student first on all that is correct ( eg. keyword in question).

An Intolerant Student 

There was a student in the third grade who would not be ready to sit with another student during the rotation of the seats. I called the student during recess and tried to probe as to what was the reason for his behaviour. Initially, he did not divulge anything, so I listed out the positive qualities of the student he did not want to sit with. 

The boy listened to me and then said that his parents had told him not to sit with that student. After listening to him, I arranged a meeting with the parents. They disclosed that since the other students were from a different community, they had told their son not to sit with him. 

After a few meetings with the parents, I successfully convinced them that every child must learn to accept others, whether in school, college or the workplace. After that, the boy was able to become more tolerant. 

My advice to colleagues is that you must try finding the root cause of the disruptive behaviour of a child because it may be related to family and home. 

My suggestion to all my fellow educators is to be gentle and calm with students. We should make friendly relations with our students. You have to know your students' interests and weaknesses. Your attitude should be positive in the classroom. With a positive attitude and effort, teachers can achieve their goals and help students achieve success in their lives.

Happiness & Tolerance - Baljit Kaur

This is the story of a student in grade 8 in a Social Science class who was not happy with the system of the Punjab government. I was teaching them about the importance of the Indian Constitution and its features. 

We were discussing equality and how our Constitution followed these ideas. However, one of my students said, "No, Ma'am! There is no equality in the country because our community is facing inequality as many times it did not get justice." So, he said, "I am not happy with the Constitution". 

I tried to make him understand that the Constitution is fair to everyone, but a few people in the government/system take some actions that are not good for everyone. We have the right to ask questions of the government; why are they not implementing the ideas of the Constitution? 

We should not disrespect our Constitution because it protects our interests and rights without discrimination. The child understood what I said. I explained to him that we just need to find the right reason for the problem and also make our parents alert to examine these types of situations so we can avoid communal disputes. 

Another incident is from grade 7 when students were making fun of a student because of his eating habits and also maintaining distance. In our school, students observing Zero period started discussing their favourite food items. 

One of my students said, "I love eating chicken, especially fried and grilled chicken". He was very happy to share this information, but at the same time, most of the students in my class were displeased as he was talking about non-vegetarian food. Actually, the majority of students in my class are vegetarian because of their religion as well. That student felt uncomfortable after the reaction of other students. I observed that students started irritating him. 

That's when I came forward to explain that every person has their eating habits and choices because of their community, religion and culture. We should respect each other’s eating habits. I talked with students and discussed about few non-vegetarian dishes and with others about vegetarian dishes to make them comfortable. In the end, they all were happy and satisfied. Now when we normally discuss these types of dishes they do not react negatively. 

Baljit Kaur @KNPS Phagwara (India)

Happiness & Tolerance - Pooja Seth

Dealing with a Disruptive Student

I had a student in one of my classes who was disruptive. He often interrupted the class by talking out of turn, distracting other students, and being generally disrespectful to the teacher and other students. 

I addressed the behaviour in class by setting clear boundaries and expectations for how students should behave. I also spoke with the student privately to understand their behaviour and provided them with resources for managing their behaviour, such as counselling services and strategies for self-regulation. 

I also collaborated with the student's parents to develop a plan for supporting the student's behaviour in and out of class. Over time, the student's behaviour improved, and they became more engaged and respectful in class. 

Advice to Educators:

My advice to educators dealing with disruptive students is to address the behaviour immediately by setting clear boundaries and expectations for how students should behave.

Try to speak with the student privately to understand their behaviour and provide resources for managing their behaviour. Collaborate with the student's parents to develop a plan for supporting the student's behaviour in and out of class. 

Finally, be patient and consistent in enforcing boundaries and supporting the student's growth and development.

Pooja Seth @KNPS, Phagwara (India)

The trails of adventure in Schools- Neetu Koranga

Recently, I had a golden chance to represent My Good School while attending the Heritage Xperiential School Conclave 2023 alongside some of the most extraordinary and progressive educators. The conclave included five fantabulous workshops on experiential learning that have made the school what it claims to be. 

Educators attended the workshop on Project-based Learning, The Human Framework, Heritage Literacy Framework, Design Thinking and Maker Engineering and Continuous School Improvement Ecosystem (It was no surprise that the school also focuses on the quality teacher training program). The conclave also raised some serious questions like: “When is learning relevant?” or “What is learning with purpose?” 

At present, schools are failing to interact and build relationships with parents and other stakeholders. Heritage Xperiential School is setting an example for other schools by involving teachers, parents and volunteers in the joy of learning. It has created a flawless framework which works well with the learning community.

Here are some of the highlights from the conclave on Learning: 

• Project-based Learning: The school propagates and practices Project-based Learning. In Project-based Learning, the student works according to the objective of the instruction. They explore, ideate, create, and participate in the field and with the help of projects.

• Deep Reading: The school promotes Deep Reading. It strictly acknowledges that reading is more than just comprehension and decoding the text. It’s about analysing, building points of view, having perspective, and critical reading. Pam Allyn’s quote beautifully describes their motto- ‘Reading is breathing in; writing is breathing out’.

• Community Engagement: The school works with parents, volunteers and other stakeholders to provide relevant knowledge to the students. It believes in “Public Collaboration of Learning” and “Engaging with the community"; doing so, it dodges the elements of “Purposeless Learning”. 

• Design Thinking: The school also heavily focuses on providing students with a “Problem-solving” or “Creator mindset” with the help of an integral “Design Thinking” curriculum.

• Happy Teachers: The school focuses on improving teachers' skills and well-being, preparing them to work with data and modern technologies like AI to enhance, support, and assess student performance.

Imagine going to school and not following the textbooks but the trails of adventure. India has a long way to go before providing quality education and passionate teachers to schools. However, a few progressive schools and organizations, such as My Good School, have maintained hope for the future of education.

Neetu Koranga @My Good School

Happiness & Tolerance - Rajvinder Kaur

Dealing with an unhappy student in a classroom:

In the early years, children should learn that learning is fun and that mastering academic challenges is thrilling. At this age, they are very open to whatever is going on in the classroom and at school. And, an instructor, who can bring together the twin threads of learning and play, and do it in a happy, loving way, will be very successful. 

I, being a Kindergarten teacher, would like to share my experience of dealing with an unhappy student. 

When the student got admitted to the school, he didn’t want to come. He didn’t feel happy in the school environment as it was a new experience for him. He was so attached to his parents that he used to cry in the morning when his mom came to drop him off at school; even his mom was not willing to leave him. I tried everything possible to engage him but a couple of times the parents took him back with them in the morning.  

Then I counselled his mom that until she would not be ready to leave her child, he would not adapt to the school environment, as he was facing all this for the first time. And, eventually, it worked. She started dropping him at the entrance. Though he was crying and unhappy for a couple of days, when I made him sit in the class with other little companions, he started enjoying himself with his new friends. He loved the dance and physical activity classes. To see him in all smiles was a feeling of great satisfaction for me.

Dealing with an intolerant student in a classroom:

It would be very unfair to categorize a Kindergarten student as an intolerant student. They are in a grooming stage so in my opinion we as educators/mothers should deal with them with all patience, love and care. They come to school leaving their family where they enjoy complete freedom. There might be some children who are highly pampered by their parents, so they may carry the same feeling to school, but we need to make them understand everything in a playful manner. 

We should keep in mind that they are learning everything from the grassroots level. So, to make them understand about certain things is not a difficult task. We just need to incorporate some joyful techniques and these little ones agree to what we want them to learn. 

Advice to educators to inculcate these values in their students-

My advice to the educators is to deal with the students with utmost patience and a positive mindset. Teachers must lend an ear to each and every student because ‘Every student is important’. Listening habits should be promoted and each student should be given a chance to speak. The educators should praise the efforts of a child. This motivates and encourages a child to do his best. 

Rajvinder Kaur 

Kamla Nehru Public School, Phagwara

Learning Forward with Harish Bhat

Learning Forward with Harish Bhat, Season 13, Episode 2. 

Harish Bhat, currently the brand custodian at Tata Sons, has held many roles in the Tata group over the past thirty-four years, including Managing Director Of Tata Global Beverages and Chief Operating Officer of Titan's watches and jewellery businesses. Harish is an alumnus of BITS Pilani and the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. An avid marketer, he has helped create many successful Tata brands. He writes extensively and is a columnist for The Hindu Business Line and Mint. 

Autor of #TATASTORIES: 40 timeless tales to inspire you. Tatastories is a collection of little-known stories of individuals, events and places from the Tata Group that have shaped the India we live in today. 

We ask Harish questions about the book and why the Tata Group is deeply respected and valued for its contribution to the growth and development of India. Harish highlighted the words of Jamsetji Tata in the book. He said the community is not just another stakeholder in business but is, in fact, the very purpose of its existence and throughout the numerous tales. In another book, Tatalog, it is particularly emphasised that the DNA of every TATA enterprise is a combination of pioneering, purposive, moral and ‘not perfect’. 

While reading #TATASTORIES, a feeling that is uniform for many is that we feel like a participant and not mere passive observers. Dancing across this long arc of time are thousands of beautiful, astonishing Tata Stories, many of which can inspire and provoke us, even move us to meaningful action in our own lives. These stories bring to vivid life the extraordinary longevity, vibrancy and success of Tata. But at their essence, they are simple, moving stories of great teams, men and women, which hold profound lessons for all of us. 

Coming soon!

Enjoy our shows on www.DilJeeto.com. You will love the stories our students, teachers, and passionate educators share. Please find out more about My Good School at www.SchoolEducation.com.

Happiness & Tolerance - Charu Chhabra

Situation 1: An unhappy student because her teacher told her to wear her skirt to the knee.  

As the Academic Principal, I recently encountered a situation where a student was unhappy, upset and crying because her teacher had instructed her to wear her skirt to the knee, not above the knee. The student felt insulted and humiliated by the teacher's words. 

To address this situation, I discussed it with the student privately and empathetically, listened to her concerns and opinions, and assured her that it was okay to wear short skirts. I also explained the teacher's perspective on maintaining a safe and respectful learning environment for all students. 

Later, I discussed the issue with the teacher and reminded her of the importance of communication and empathy when enforcing certain opinions. 

In a real-life situation, it was emphasized that educators must understand the significant impact their words and actions can have on students' emotional well-being and act with kindness and respect towards all students. The importance of respectful communication between teachers and students was highlighted.  

My advice to educators who want to inculcate core values in their students is to lead by example. Teachers must model empathy, kindness, and respect towards all students, especially in situations that can be emotional and sensitive. They should also communicate clearly and effectively with students, explaining the reasons behind their opinions and providing opportunities for students to ask questions and express their concerns.

Situation 2: An intolerant student is upset by a negative comment on Snapchat by his classmate:

 

In a recent incident, I had to deal with an intolerant student who was outraged and sought revenge against a classmate for a negative comment made on Snapchat. The student felt sad, isolated, and angry due to the incident. 

To address this situation, I had a one-on-one conversation with the students, acknowledging their feelings and emphasizing the importance of respect, empathy, and kindness towards all students, regardless of differences in opinions, backgrounds, or beliefs. 

In addition, I organized a special session with the IT department of the school to educate the student's teachers on digital citizenship and social media etiquette. A counselling session on cyberbullying, online safety, and responsible social media use was also conducted.  

Fortunately, we were able to help the student overcome their problem by talking to them privately, validating their feelings, and providing education on digital citizenship and social media etiquette. The student learned the importance of respect and empathy towards others, both online and offline. 

My advice to educators who want to inculcate these values in their students is to promote digital citizenship and social-emotional learning. Students should be taught how to use technology responsibly, ethically, and safely, while also understanding the impact of their words and actions on others. Teachers can facilitate this learning by incorporating digital citizenship and social-emotional learning into their lessons and modelling respectful and kind behaviour towards all students. 

Dr. Charu Chhabra 

Principal (Academics) KNPS Phagwara, Punjab

Happy Teacher Manisha Khanna at My Good School

The Learning Forward Podcast Season 12 Episode 5, "Away With The Chalkboard Blues". My Good School is not just two but out of the blue! We fell in love and found our mojo by talking and walking together. In the episode, we share our passion for the School and have our friends and family join us to help us understand how we learn from our peers, what it means to experience the joy of learning, and why teachers matter. 

Our new loving Principal at the Sunday School joins us and shares how this seventh working day of her week is extraordinary. Manish Khanna Ma'am joined My Good School, and her first Sunday School with us was on the 1st day of October 2023; you will find out why she already means so much to us.

Rishona and Yashraj share why they are madly in love with the School and all we do to spread the joy of learning. We don't want to share the show's script, so you better tune in and experience how Chalkboard is passe and why our School is #FutureReady.

Hosts: Oshi and Simar

Guests: Rishona, Yashraj and Ms Manisha Khanna

Podcast stream on www.DilJeeto.com

For more about the Good Schools Alliance and My Good School, please visit www.SchoolEducation.com.

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/learningforward/support

Humility and Appreciation - Aadhya RPKM

Topic- Humility 

Activity- Students were asked to prepare worksheets for any teacher whom he/she has hurt, admitting his /her mistake and apologizing for the same.

Student's response- Students put their feelings in writing and acknowledge their mistakes:

• I'm sorry for _____________________
• In the future I will_________________
• Will you please forgive me? __________________
• Teacher's Response - ____________________________

Teacher's  role:

1. Ask students to accept their faults and express their sincere regrets.

2. Ask students to forgive the apologizer and move on.

3. Teach students to learn from their mistakes.

Impact on students:-

1. It teaches students to put others before themselves and encourages them to be better learners and problem solvers.

2. It helps them to build strong relationships.

3. Facilitate the ability to learn from mistakes.

4. Encourage personal growth.

Teacher's learning:- If we want our children to learn, we must in return enter the classroom as learners.

Topic - Appreciation

Exercise - Ask students to think of something they are grateful for and express their thanks to someone who has made a positive impact on their life and thank you notes for their classmates and teachers.

Student's response-

• Some students were thankful to their friends for adding colour and fun to their lives. Some students were thankful to their teachers who inspired them and added value to their lives.
• Some students were thankful to their parents or family for taking care of them and giving good upbringing.

Teacher's role:- As a teacher, I share stories of my personal life about to whom I am thankful and about positive effects on our behaviour and attitude.

Impact on Students:-

1. Trained their needs to focus on the positive aspects of their life and build a habit of appreciation.

2. Create a powerful and positive effect on them.

Teacher's learning:-

1. A positive attitude creates positivity and changes the environment and life.

Aadhya @RPK Moradabad

Deepa Khanna, Rachna Bisht, Asma, Farida, Sushma, Kulmeet, Krishangi.

Humility and Appreciation - Samridhi RPKM

When someone has humility, it means that they have a humble or modest view of themselves. In other words, they don’t think they’re the centre of the universe.

A famous quote about humility reads, “Humility is not denying your strengths, humility is being honest about your weaknesses.” Our students can do a self-reflection exercise on humility by journaling about their strengths, weaknesses, and humility.

We can give our students a lesson on intellectual humility. This humility type is the acknowledgement that you don’t know everything. Developing this type of humility can be especially important for our students who are constantly expanding their knowledge.

Be an example of humility: As in anything, our students will imitate our behaviour. The more we can live in a humble way, the more our students will absorb from us.

We can build our students up and teach them where their true value lies: most of the time, when students are looking for attention, it is because they are not receiving enough feedback or positive attention. The more that we can give them honest, positive feedback, the better. 

Also, teach them that their value does not lie in what they have or what they do, but in who they are. This way, we can teach our students the truth about themselves. Coach them on how to respond to praise. Just as we teach them to say “Please” and “Thank you,” we need to teach students the appropriate, humble response to praise. The more prepared they are, the more graciously they can respond.

Don’t confuse “humility” with “humiliation.” Try not to humiliate the students. Humiliation does not help, since it is something that can hurt a child rather than help teach the lesson of humility. If the students need correction, be sure to correct them, but in a way that is as loving, patient and personal as possible. This can help prevent the harm and resentment that intentional humiliation breeds.

We need to teach our students to serve. Among the many activities we do with our students are some that imply service. There are so many ways we can serve, and so many people that need simple acts of service: the poor, the elderly, family members, friends or classmates. If you are able to incorporate various “service projects” into your life, service will become a habitual behaviour for your students, and they will be more sensitive and open to the needs of others.

Appreciation is the act of recognizing and valuing someone's efforts, qualities, or achievements. In the classroom, it can be a powerful tool for fostering a positive learning environment and encouraging student growth. 

Here's how we can use it in the classroom:

• Encourage Effort: Appreciate students for their hard work and perseverance, even if they haven't achieved perfect results. This motivates them to keep trying.
• Recognize Achievements: Celebrate students' successes, both big and small. Acknowledge their accomplishments to boost their self-esteem.
• Feedback: Provide specific and constructive feedback, highlighting what students did well. This reinforces positive behaviour and helps them understand their strengths.
• Peer Appreciation: Encourage students to appreciate each other's contributions, creating a supportive and inclusive classroom atmosphere. Appreciation can have a significant positive impact on students in various ways:
• Motivation: When students feel appreciated for their efforts and achievements, it can boost their motivation to excel academically and socially.
• Self-esteem: Genuine appreciation can help students develop healthy self-esteem, as they learn to value themselves and their abilities.
• Engagement: Students who receive recognition for their contributions tend to be more engaged in the learning process and are more likely to participate actively in class.
• Confidence: Appreciation can build students' confidence in their abilities, making them more willing to take on challenges and persevere through difficulties.

Teachers play a crucial role in showing appreciation towards students. Here are ways in which teachers can effectively express appreciation:

• Celebrating diversity: Recognize and appreciate the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and talents that each student brings to the classroom.
• Positive reinforcement: Use positive reinforcement techniques to reward good behaviour and academic achievements.
• Open communication: Keep the lines of communication open, allowing students to express their thoughts, concerns, and ideas freely.
• Empathy: Show empathy and understanding towards students' challenges and difficulties, offering support and encouragement.
• Surprise gestures: Occasionally, surprise students with small gestures of appreciation, such as handwritten notes or awards for outstanding performance.

By actively practising these strategies, teachers can create a classroom environment where students feel valued and appreciated, which can have a profound impact on their motivation, self-esteem, and overall learning experience.

Samridhi @ RPK Moradabad

Seema Kulshreshtha, Rakhi Gupta, Saraswati, Gurpreet, Meeta Gulati, Anju Gupta, Saloni.

Humility and Appreciation - Saumya RPKM

  

Humility:

Humility is freedom from pride or arrogance. It is the quality or state of being humble. Humility makes people better thinkers and learners, it also makes the person's patience level high.

Humility is exhibited by respectful behaviour towards others. A humble person does not think they are superior to others. That’s why we should make our future generation learn humility.  

Activity:  

To develop the quality of humility in students, we conducted an activity called "Humility Scavenger Hunt"- After giving a lecture on humility, the children had a solid understanding of the topic and its importance in life. We encouraged them to look for incidents of humility in action. The humility scavenger hunt included real-life situations at school, in the neighbourhood or at home. We also included books, our children read or television and movies they had watched. We got the opportunity to discuss behaviour and actions, talking about what people or characters did and the outcome of their humble actions. 

A) Initial responses from students:  

Each student has tried his best by taking part in this activity. They have given happy and healthy responses as they shared their life experience of humility and being humble with others. Sharing their experiences and stories they showed satisfaction and happiness too. 

B) Your role/ contribution: 

As educators, we played a key role in this activity, where we tried to develop the power of humility in our future generation. We tried to make sure that the students see themselves and each other as beautiful human beings who welcome each other's opinions, insights and questions. 

C) Impact on students:  

This activity has made them more open to other people's views. In other words, students were feeling happy (safe) to engage in a discussion in which they shared their experiences with others. It helped them to look beyond the praise and attention of others and focus on learning and personal improvement through realistic views of the self and the situation. 

D) Takeaway/Learning for you: 

Humility is a powerful trait that is often overlooked in our fast-paced, success-driven world. As educators we learnt the role of humility in personal growth, the ability to handle failure, and the impact of humility in the workplace, including improved leadership, teamwork and the ability to handle conflict. 

Appreciation  

"The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness."

Appreciation is the highest form of prayer, for it acknowledges the presence of good wherever you shine the light of your thankful thoughts. Students should learn to appreciate the efforts someone makes for them and should be genuinely grateful for it.  

Activity: 

Students were asked to write appreciation notes for someone whom they really wanted to appreciate for what they do and later give them those notes. Another activity was done wherein the students were asked to appreciate their classmates and later go home and express their appreciation and gratitude for them.  

Impact: 

All the students participated in the activities with their full zeal and enthusiasm. An increased sense of brotherhood and sisterhood was evident in their learning. All the students made it their primary responsibility to always be humble and truthful, appreciate one another, and be grateful.  

Teacher's Role: 

The teacher was like a facilitator who guided and motivated all the students to actively come ahead and take part in the activities. 

Saumya @ RPK School Moradabad

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

Humility and Appreciation- Ashtalakshmi RPKM

Being humble is basically about reflecting maturity. A person who is humble deserves to be the first role model for everyone who wants to evolve into a better individual in the future, and for those who want to sculpt their personalities into something ‘good’.

Humility is the best value a student can imbibe. I, as a teacher, try my best to imbibe; some good values into my students, so as to make them understand the importance of practicing values in their day-to-day lives.

I would like to share an amazing and inspiring incident as I trudge down memory lane. It was a bright day and I could sense that my students were dreading the Monday. So I decided to make things interesting for them. 

It was their English period, and I took them to the school playground. Confusion, laced with fascination flashed through their faces, as they saw some balls scattered all over the ground. I decided to make them learn the synonyms and antonyms of some words; on the balls were written some pairs of the same (antonym on one and synonym on one). They all had to find the other pairs of each word and put the balls together. There was a time limit of 10 minutes under which they had to do the task.

I could hear excited murmurs all around me as they started to perform the task. I couldn’t believe that everyone was calmer than I had imagined them to be, the teamwork and humbleness were at their peak.

Everyone was helping each other find the pairs; if someone found one and the other found another they would shout what they found and put them together. Some students couldn’t find the pairs as they did not know their meaning, the others did not tease them for not knowing the synonyms and antonyms. I felt so proud that my students followed what I told them to, and that they were so humble with each other. The students who could not complete the task even came to me to apologize, that they would learn the topic thoroughly and wouldn’t repeat the mistakes again.

Such sincerity and humility in my students made me feel extremely proud, as I appreciated each and every one of them for the amazing achievement they made in such a small activity like this. 

I would like to share another incident that happened. It was a pleasant day, but not so pleasant for the students as I was going to distribute their answer sheets back so that they could see what mistakes they had made and how they could correct them.

I observed the students as they cross-checked their answer sheets once again, some faces looking satisfied, some disappointed, and some horrified; until one student made her way towards my table. I inquired if she was facing any problems. She told me that I had overmarked her answer sheet and that she wanted me to deduct her marks. I halted, as I looked at her in astonishment. 

I had never encountered a student coming to me to get their ‘marks’ deducted, although I had seen many trying to make them ‘increase’. I deducted the marks, and I then decided to announce what she did to the other students. The student got shy as I asked everyone to clap for her for her honesty; the student rightly deserved that. I appreciated that student once again as she went back to her seat.

I can never forget those days, when I made my students learn that being humble can make us achieve everything that we want to, including gaining love and trust from everybody who gets to encounter the values you possess.

One day I kept a glass jar in my class and asked my students to think of at least three things throughout their day that they are grateful for and the most important step that this will be repeated every day. It can be something as small as a coffee at your favourite place, or as grand as the time you spent with your friend or someone you really care about. I asked them to do this every day, write down what they are grateful for on little slips of paper and fill the jar. I told them that over time, you will find that you have a jar full of different reasons to be thankful for what you have and enjoy the life you are living. It also will cultivate a practice of expressing thanks.

Ashtalakshmi @ RPK School Moradabad
Ritu Goyal, Poonam Sharma, Meenakshi, Sonia Gupta, Tabinda Jabeen, Charu Sharma and Krishangi Sharma.

Talking Pen - a letter from a happy teacher!

Keeping kids away from screens

Sandeep Dutt
My Good School
Dehradun - 248001

Dear Mr Dutt, 

Children are not just curious but far more intelligent and receptive to layered information than we, as adults expect. The demerits of mobiles and screens at a younger age when the physical and mental strengths are at the formative stage are far more than the merits of engagement and entertainment. Until 4-5 years of age, when the children cannot read and write very well, their ability to speak and hear is far more vital. It’s the best time to help the children love the sensibilities of hearing and speaking instead of remembering it as a struggle or limitation in communication. We can create more avenues for them to listen and talk and build this into their daily narrative, regardless of their background or environment. 

When my daughter was around 12 months old, I started developing books with the ‘talking pen’ technology. With a lot of work going into ensuring excellent audio quality, developing kinesthetics, language and speech skills, and observation of words, their context in sentences and visuals, I created the first set of interactive books for 2-4-year-olds and called it SmartBook. 

Today, we have close to 10 ranges for 2-10-year-old children. Both curriculum-based and age-focused. Simply speaking, we develop paper books with audio. The layered information in this medium is a pure treat to a child’s learning through play space. 

We have all the ranges available in toy stores across India (due to the electronic pen component) and have also had some success in Delhi municipal governments. It’s in the schools where the most significant impact happens by almost having the teacher/coach be with each child 24/7, in the form of interactive books. 

I am looking forward to connecting, please.

Warm regards 

Sonia Choksi 

Founder 

www.godiscover.in
#HappyTeachers

Thank you, Sonia, for writing and sharing your incredible innovation. This is exciting, ideal for homeschooling and will help parents detox the child from mobile or TV screens. A toy, a book, a fun learning device! - Sandeep Dutt