Education In Ghana?

Education In Ghana?

Central to the rise in the number of people acquiring education in the country today, is the kind of education students are getting these days.

It is worrying how students of this day engage in the popular “chew and pour”- a term which means learn overnight or for a short period of time to write examinations and forget afterwards.  It usually involves memorizing notes and texts, including what hasn’t been properly understood. Students in Ghana these days forsake their books and resort to their phones, not for academic purposes but for other unhelpful activities like social media, pornography etc. Sometimes I wonder if our lecturers and teachers reflect over this. What exactly is happening? What is going on? Has something gone wrong? These are useful questions that need to be asked.

It is one thing to be educated and to speak fluent English, but it is another to acquire skills for application.

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, education is the knowledge, skill and understanding that you get from attending a school, college or university.

The Ghanaian educational system lacks enough practical aspect. It is usually about the theory and writing to pass, since that is what is required to move to the next level or to find a job. This is why an educated fellow will defecate and dump refuse indiscriminately not considering the implication of his or her actions.

Have we thought about hairstylists, mechanics, drivers, dressmakers and others in the country? They are the ones who can usually afford daily meals as well as cater for their families, what about the so called graduates?

Majority of them end up forming unemployed graduates’ associations and cannot afford daily meals or accommodation. It also results to the lust for quick money since the skills do not exist and whatever was taught has been long forgotten.

The aftermath of this is robbery gangs, vigilante groups or other unauthorized businesses that yield no positive results.

The educational system lacks the impartation of self-reliance, honesty, competition, patriotism, innovativeness as well as appreciating our culture, sculpture, dance, clothing and language.

We need to move from the era where students who can memorize and quote are seen as brilliant and those who cannot memorize are seen as weak. Thinking outside the box should be encouraged.  Creative thinking and contributions outside the syllabus should be welcomed. There is the need to study outside the usual courses.

It is only in this nation that science and Information Communication Technology(ICT) is studied without apparatus and tools.

There is a need for a change, or better still restructuring where talents, culture, books, technology, moral and core values need to be merged. What needs to be done is a task for the nation at large.
A Stitch In Time Saves Nine.

LET YOUR STUDENTS PUT ON THEIR LEARNING CAP

Creators creating Creators

‘LET YOUR STUDENTS PUT ON THEIR LEARNING CAP’

‘We are the Teachers, We are the Creators.’

We, the Mentoring Minds, inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instil love for learning…Let’s give something unique to our students, something special, something that they will value forever. Let them put on their learning CAP. You might be wondering which ‘CAP’ I am talking about.

Let’s all work upon three main domains:
Cognitive (Knowledge)
Affective (Emotional)
Psychomotor (Kinesthetic)

Our foremost objective of teaching is to provide knowledge to the students but in today’s world where information is just a click away, and Smartphones, Tabs, Notepads, Laptops, Desktops etc. are easily accessible to the students.
Let’s ponder over…Why do they need teachers?

We shall work upon their cognitive skills as a whole and not only the knowledge part.

We have to help them in comprehending the knowledge available to them and to enable them to apply the knowledge in their daily lives. Let them analyze and distinguish between facts and inferences, and then let them justify, evaluate and criticize.

Finally, let them be the Creators…
How creative it would be…
Creators creating another creator like a chain reaction.
Society will be best served when teachers will not only teach but also create.

Along with knowledge, ‘Values’ are also vital. Values are significant because they channel our ABCD of life i.e. Attitude, Beliefs, Conduct and Deeds… Yeah, you guessed it right! We shall direct them to develop their Affective domain.

It’s precisely cited that
"If wealth is lost nothing is lost."
"If health is lost something is lost."
"If the character is lost everything is lost."
“Best of all things is character.”
Help them be the embodiment of values. Make them share with each other and care for each other. A person with values will expect and accept all phases of life cheerfully. 

It’s well said that ‘Practice Makes Us Perfect.’
Here comes the Psychomotor Domain. This is specific to prudent bodily functions, reflex actions and development of gross and fine muscles.

It includes the following skills:
• Imitation: imitating the actions
• Manipulation: acting by instructions
• Precision: perfection in the action
• Articulation: performing various skills together
• Naturalization: performing naturally without thinking.

Let’s teach them beyond the four walls of the classroom. Give them the freedom to learn but guide them to apply and analyze, and create their own concepts.
How nice it would be if the philosopher’s stone changes the base metal, not into gold but another philosopher’s stone. Creator to Creator.

Meenakshi Narula
M.A. (Eng) M.Sc. (IT) B.Ed.
Activity Coordinator
Suncity School 37D, Gurugram

Qualities of a Good Principal

Qualities of a Good Principal

Principals have difficult jobs. As the face and head of the school, they are responsible for the education that each student under their care receives and they set the tone of the school. They decide on staffing decisions and student discipline issues week in and week out. So what qualities should a good principal exhibit? Following is a list of nine characteristics that effective school leaders should possess.

01
Good teachers need to feel supported. They need to believe that when they have an issue in their classroom, they will get the help that they need. According to a survey of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, a third of the over 300 teachers who resigned in 1997-1998 did so due to lack of administrative support. This situation has not changed that much in the past decade. This is not to say that principals should blindly back teachers without using their own judgment. Obviously, teachers are human beings who make mistakes too. Nonetheless, the overall feeling from the principal should be one of belief and support.

02
Highly Visible
A good principal must be seen. He or she must be out in the hallways, interacting with students, participating in pep rallies, and attending sports matches. Their presence must be such that students know who they are and also feel comfortable approaching and interacting with them.

03
Effective Listener
Much of what principal will have to do with their time is listen to others: assistant principals, teachers, students, parents, and staff. Therefore, they need to learn and practice active listening skills every single day. They need to be present in each conversation despite the other hundred or so things that are calling for their attention. They also need to actually hear what is being said to them before coming up with their own response.

04
Problem Solver
Problem-solving is the core of the principal's job. In many cases, new principals come into a school particularly because of the issues it is facing. It might be that the school's test scores are really low, that it has a high number of discipline issues, or that it is facing financial issues due to poor leadership by the previous administrator. New or established, any principal will be asked to help with quite of a number of difficult and challenging situations each day. Therefore, they need to hone their problem-solving skills by learning to prioritize and provide concrete steps to solve the issues at hand.

05
Empowers Others
A good principal, just like a good CEO or another executive, should want to give their employees a sense of empowerment. Business management classes in college often point to companies like Harley-Davidson and Toyota who empower their employees to offer solutions to problems and even stop line production if a quality issue is noted. While teachers are typically in charge of their own classrooms, many feel powerless to affect the ethos of the school. Principals need to be open and responsive to teacher suggestions for school improvement.

06
Has a Clear Vision
A principal is the leader of the school. Ultimately, they have the responsibility for everything that goes on in the school. Their attitude and vision need to be loud and clear. They might find it useful to create their own vision statement which they post for all to see and must consistently enforce their own educational philosophy into the school setting.

One principal described his own first day on the job at a low performing school. He walked into the office and waited a few minutes to see what the receptionist staff located behind a high counter would do. It took quite a bit of time for them to even acknowledge his presence. Right then and there, he decided that his first act as principal would be to remove that high counter. His vision was one of an open environment where students and parents felt invited in, part of the community. Removing that counter was an important first step towards achieving this vision.

07
Fair and Consistent
Just like an effective teacher, principals must be fair and consistent. They need to have the same rules and procedures for all staff and students. They cannot show favoritism. They cannot allow their personal feelings or loyalties to cloud their judgment.

08
Discreet
Administrators must be discreet. They deal with sensitive issues each day including:
Health issues of students and staff
Difficult home situations for students
Hiring and firing decisions
Teacher evaluations
Disciplinary issues with staff
Continue Reading Below

09
Dedicated
A good administrator must be dedicated to the school and the belief that all decisions must be made in terms of the best interests of the students. A principal needs to embody school spirit. Just like being highly visible, it needs to be obvious to students that the principal loves the school and has their best interests at heart. Principals should normally be the first to arrive and the last to leave the school. This type of dedication can be difficult to maintain but pays enormous dividends with staff, students, and society at large.

Time is the Costliest..

Time is the Costliest..
--------------------------------
Most people look at their bank accounts with great attention and assess how much money they have to spend, to invest, and to give away. But they don’t look at their time the same way, and end up wasting this incredibly valuable resource. In fact, time is much more valuable than money because you can use your time to make money, but you can’t use money to purchase more time.

Time is the great equalizer. Each day has only 24 hours—nobody has any more than anyone else. Everyone, from poets to presidents, fills those hours, one after the other, until they are all filled up. Every single minute is unique, and once gone, can never be regained.

When you look at someone who has accomplished a lot, you can be pretty sure that he or she has spent considerable amounts of time mastering the required skills, filling hours upon hours with hard work. There are those who look at others’ accomplishments and say, “I had that idea," or “I could have done that.” But ideas are cheap and intentions are just that. If you don’t invest the time needed to achieve those goals then all you have are empty ambitions.

People often say, “I don’t have the time to …” Fill in the blank with whatever you like: exercise, make dinner, write a book, start a company, run for political office. What makes these people think that they have less time than anyone else? Of course they don’t. We all have the same 24 hours in each day and make real decisions about how we spend them. If you really want to get in shape, then carve out time to exercise. If you want to write a book, then pick up a pen and do it. And, if you want to run for president, then get started. It isn’t going to happen if you plan your day around your favorite TV shows or spend hours updating your Facebook page. These are entertaining distractions that eat up your irreplaceable time.
There is an oft-quoted saying that "time is money." You can interpret this to mean that time is a valuable currency. In fact, each day another 24 hours is deposited into each of our “bank accounts.” We get a choice about how to spend these hours. We decide how much we spend right away, how much gets invested for the future, and how much we give away. The worst choice is to waste these hours by letting them slip away.
It is almost night, and I have six more hours to invest today!

The mistry of Luck....How to respond to what life delivers.

The mistry of Luck....How to respond to what life delivers.
__________________

Luck: Success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions.

In this definition, apparently is the operative word.

Most people believe that good luck is completely out of their control. That just isn’t the case at all. Each of us has a long list of levers for unleashing good fortune. However, luck appears to be brought on by chance because other people rarely see all those levers in action.
After years of observing what makes people successful, it is clear that good luck results from a definable list of tiny choices—micro-behaviors—that allow you to squeeze just a little more juice out of every day, ultimately amplifying your long-term chances of success.
well known quote by the famous scientist, Louis Pasteur, states that, “Fortune favors the prepared mind.” This is absolutely true… But, what exactly is a prepared mind? What makes us receptive to chance events, and able to capitalize on them?

There is “physics” to luck since all of life is a matter of cause and effect.

This can be compared to the relationship between our genetics and our environment in determining who we become. As we now know, both are instrumental in shaping us, and they are deeply intertwined—our genetics influences how we engage with our environment, and our environment influences which traits are expressed.

The same is true with luck and our behavior. Luck captures the things that happen to us, and our behavior encapsulates the things over which we have control. You can debate which comes first, but in the end, they are inexorably connected.

We are locked in a continuous dance with the world where we trade off who is leading and who is following.

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Tina Seelig Ph.D.
CreativityRulz

The Physics of Luck
How to respond to what life delivers.
Posted Jul 19, 2019

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Luck: Success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions.

In this definition, apparently is the operative word.

Most people believe that good luck is completely out of their control. That just isn’t the case at all. Each of us has a long list of levers for unleashing good fortune. However, luck appears to be brought on by chance because other people rarely see all those levers in action.

article continues after advertisement

After years of observing what makes people successful, it is clear that good luck results from a definable list of tiny choices—micro-behaviors—that allow you to squeeze just a little more juice out of every day, ultimately amplifying your long-term chances of success.

Unfortunately, we usually look at others who have achieved remarkable things and point to a few visible moments that unlocked opportunities for them, and we look at our own life as a series of lucky and/or unlucky breaks, such as meeting an influential person, stumbling upon an interesting job, having an accident, or getting fired.

Consider this example from Michael Lewis, the author of many very successful books, including Liar’s Poker and Money Ball. During his commencement address at Princeton, he traced much of his success to luck.

“One night I was invited to a dinner where I sat next to the wife of a big shot of a big Wall Street investment bank, Salomon Brothers. She more or less forced her husband to give me a job. I knew next to nothing about Salomon Brothers. But Salomon Brothers happened to be where Wall Street was being reinvented—into the Wall Street we’ve come to know and love today. When I got there I was assigned, almost arbitrarily, to the very best job in the place to observe the growing madness: They turned me into the house derivatives expert.”

He used this experience to inspire and inform his 1989 bestseller Liar’s Poker. He went on in his talk to attribute that success to luck:

“All of a sudden people were telling me I was a born writer. This was absurd. Even I could see that there was another, more true narrative, with luck as its theme. What were the odds of being seated at that dinner next to that Salomon Brothers lady? Of landing inside the best Wall Street firm to write the story of the age? Of landing in the seat with the best view of the business?”

Not so fast…

Don’t be fooled by this simple version of the story. There were countless things that Michael Lewis needed to do before, during, and after the conversation with the woman at the dinner that set him up for success. Focusing just on that chance meeting distracts us from what really happened. Yes, he was fortunate to sit next to someone who was influential in helping him get a job at Salomon Brothers. But, hundreds of people sat next to that woman over the years and she didn’t convince her husband to hire them, and thousands of people worked at Salomon Brothers but none of them wrote a bestseller about their experience.

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What set Michael Lewis up to see and seize this opportunity?

A well known quote by the famous scientist, Louis Pasteur, states that, “Fortune favors the prepared mind.” This is absolutely true… But, what exactly is a prepared mind? What makes us receptive to chance events, and able to capitalize on them?

There is “physics” to luck since all of life is a matter of cause and effect.

This can be compared to the relationship between our genetics and our environment in determining who we become. As we now know, both are instrumental in shaping us, and they are deeply intertwined—our genetics influences how we engage with our environment, and our environment influences which traits are expressed.

The same is true with luck and our behavior. Luck captures the things that happen to us, and our behavior encapsulates the things over which we have control. You can debate which comes first, but in the end, they are inexorably connected.

We are locked in a continuous dance with the world where we trade off who is leading and who is following.

article continues after advertisement

Once the dance begins, we have immense control over our luck because it is a direct result of our behavior. You certainly can’t control everything that happens to you, but you do control your responses.

Luck results when we know when and how to lead in our dance with life. For example, in Michael Lewis’s story, he randomly sat next to the woman at dinner and took advantage of that opportunity to impress her enough to introduce him to her husband. He was a follower when he sat down, and became a leader when he engaged the woman in conversation, resulting in future opportunities to lead and follow. And, we can be sure that during the process of writing his books, and his involvement in the movies based on them, that there were hundreds of times when he shifted from follower to leader as surprising events occurred along the way.

The dance we do in life includes several partners—the world, other people, and ourselves. We are, therefore, doing several dances at once. We react to what the environment throws at us; to our friends, family, colleagues, and strangers; and we hone our own thoughts and feelings. This is complicated because they also influence each other. By understanding the underlying physics of these relationships, we are much better prepared to unleash luck, and remember, “Chance favors the prepared mind.”

Don’t be distracted by the way we use the word luck in our everyday jargon. Often it is deployed as an excuse. For example, people frequently attribute their successes to luck, saying they’re “lucky” to modestly mask the skills they’ve mobilized. And, we give others and ourselves a break by blaming poor performance on bad luck. A careful observer will look behind the curtain to see what actually happened to attract or repel good fortune.

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Essentially, by understanding the physics of luck we are much more prepared to identify and capture opportunities that lead us to our desired goals, allowing us to thrive, not just survive.

Of course, all people start life in different positions—some have more intelligence, more money, more beauty, better health, and live in environments with more choices. And, really horrible things can happen to us along the way. However, we all have much more control over our lives than we imagine. We can learn how to respond to what life delivers, squeezing more luck out of every day.

Effective habits of an effective teacher

Effective habits of an effective teacher

1. Enjoys Teaching

Teaching is meant to be a very enjoyable and rewarding career field. You should only become a teacher if you love children and intend on caring for them with your heart. You cannot expect the kids to have fun if you are not having fun with them! If you only read the instructions out of a textbook, it's ineffective. Instead, make your lessons come alive by making it as interactive and engaging as possible.

2. Makes a Difference

As a teacher, you need to be aware and remember the great responsibility that comes with your profession. One of your goals ought to be. Make a difference in their lives. Make them feel special, safe and secure when they are in your classroom. Be the positive influence in their lives. You never know what your students went through before entering your classroom on a particular day or what conditions they are going home to after your class. So, just in case they are not getting enough support from home, at least you will make a difference and provide that to them.

3. Spreads Positivity

Bring positive energy into the classroom every single day. You have a beautiful smile so don't forget to flash it as much as possible throughout the day. I know that you face battles of your own in your personal life but once you enter that classroom, you should leave all of it behind before you step foot in the door. Your students deserve more than for you to take your frustration out on them. No matter how you are feeling, how much sleep you've gotten or how frustrated you are, never let that show. Even if you are having a bad day, learn to put on a mask in front of the students and let them think of you as a superhero! Be someone who is always positive, happy and smiling. Always remember that positive energy is contagious and it is up to you to spread it. Don't let other people's negativity bring you down with them.

4. Gets Personal

This is the fun part and absolutely important for being an effective teacher! Get to know your students and their interests so that you can find ways to connect with them. Don't forget to also tell them about yours! Also, it is important to get to know their learning styles so that you can cater to each of them as an individual. In addition, make an effort to get to know their parents as well. Speaking to the parents should not be looked at as an obligation but rather, an honour. In the beginning of the school year, make it known that they can come to you about anything at anytime of the year. In addition, try to get to know your colleagues on a personal level as well. You will be much happier if you can find a strong support network in and outside of school.

5. Gives 100%

Whether you are delivering a lesson, writing report cards or offering support to a colleague - give 100%. Do your job for the love of teaching and not because you feel obligated to do it. Do it for self-growth. Do it to inspire others. Do it so that your students will get the most out of what you are teaching them. Give 100% for yourself, students, parents, school and everyone who believes in you. Never give up and try your best - that's all that you can do.

6. Stays Organized

Never fall behind on the marking or filing of students' work. Try your best to be on top of it and not let the pile grow past your head! It will save you a lot of time in the long run. It is also important to keep an organized planner and plan ahead! The likelihood of last minute lesson plans being effective are slim. Lastly, keep a journal handy and jot down your ideas as soon as an inspired idea forms in your mind. Then, make a plan to put those ideas in action.

7. Is Open-Minded

As a teacher, there are going to be times where you will be observed formally or informally. You are constantly being evaluated and criticized by your boss, teachers, parents and even children. Instead of feeling bitter when somebody has something to say about your teaching, be open-minded when receiving constructive criticism and form a plan of action. Prove that you are the effective teacher that you want to be. Nobody is perfect and there is always room for improvement. Sometimes, others see what you fail to see.

8. Has Standards

Create standards for your students and for yourself. From the beginning, make sure that they know what is acceptable versus what isn't.

9. Finds Inspiration

An effective teacher is one who is creative but that doesn't mean that you have to create everything from scratch! Find inspiration from as many sources as you can. Whether it comes from books, education, Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, blogs, TpT or what have you, keep finding it!

10. Embraces Change

In life, things don't always go according to plan. This is particularly true when it comes to teaching. Be flexible and go with the flow when change occurs. An effective teacher does not complain about changes when a new principal arrives. They do not feel the need to mention how good they had it at their last school or with their last group of students compared to their current circumstances. Instead of stressing about change, embrace it with both hands and show that you are capable of hitting every curve ball that comes your way!

11. Creates Reflection

An effective teacher reflects on their teaching to evolve as a teacher. Think about what went well and what you would do differently next time. You need to remember that we all have "failed" lessons from time to time. Instead of looking at it as a failure, think about it as a lesson and learn from it. As teachers, your education and learning is ongoing. There is always more to learn and know about in order to strengthen your teaching skills. Keep reflecting on your work and educating yourself on what you find are your "weaknesses" as we all have them! The most important part is recognizing them and being able to work on them to improve your teaching skills.
Let your passion for teaching shine through each and everyday!!!
Enjoy every teaching moment to the fullest!!!

Education and Indoctrination

The difference between education and indoctrination is that education opens the mind, while indoctrination closes it.

Education is a process-driven approach to engaging in the knowledge and ideas of the world.

Education is playful, experimental, mysterious.
Indoctrination, on the other hand, is a results-driven approach that aims to instill in people a set of habits and beliefs that align with an ideology or political agenda.

Indoctrination narrows the lens through which we are able to see the world and insures that all of the information we receive is interpreted through the filter of the promoted ideology.

Education can be directly supported by data that is derived from facts. Indoctrination tends to use language that encompasses everything, referring to ‘all’, or ‘every’, as though the insights created are a statement of fact for each and every individual of a group.

Education points out that there are different solutions, often to the same problem.
Indoctrination poses the belief that there is only one solution to a problem.
Education uses statistical analysis to encourage thought toward reasoning, and proposed solution finding. Indoctrination often uses statistics, but has offered no analysis of size, duration, control subjects, criteria, or duration of the gathering of those statistics.

Education involves the seeking of facts, and learning about what is the truth, and what is not.
Indoctrination is aimed at influencing people to believe in facts, without being able to back up these newfound facts with anything but opinion.

How a teacher inspire a student?

How to teacher inspire a student?

Inspiration is the key which helps all of us to travel in a exact path. Specifically in education field that is teaching. Most of the teachers feel that by taking their kids out if the class to explore the real world, that passion will ignited in them that has the potential to drive them to succeed in life." A teacher with the ability to inspire students is the type of teacher who will be long remembered.

Inspiring students is integral to ensure their success and encouraging them to fulfil their potential. Students who are inspired by their teachers can accomplish amazing things, and that motivation almost always stays with them. That's because inspiration is one of the most important gifts a teacher can provide students. A teacher that inspires is a role model, an influence that goes beyond academic achievement beyond academic achievement. If you want to be a great educator you must connect with your pupils and reach them on multiple levels, because the best teachers are committed to their students both inside and outside the classroom. So how does a teacher take the leap from educator to inspiring role model?

The inspiring educator strives to spark motivation in all students in a way that Spurs academic achievement and galvanizes success via motivational influence. As a teacher , have you been inspired to work harder or pursue a particular goal? Were you inspired to become an educator by one of your own great teachers? Inspiration can take many  forms, from helping a pupil through the academic year and their  short - term goals,to guide them towards their future career.

Years after graduation, many working professionals will still cite a particular teacher as the one who fostered their love of what they currently do and attribute their accomplishments to that educator. Inspiration teachers can be the thing of movies, like " stand and deliver" - the story of Jaine Escalante, a high school teacher who successfully inspired his drop out prone students to learn calculus. But great teachers are not born. One can learn to be an inspiring teacher. To realize that goal, teachers need to aspire to inspire. Becoming an influence in a student's life begins by forging strong relationships. In doing so educators are able to affect virtually every aspect of their students' lives, teaching them the important life lessons that will help them succeed beyond term papers and standardized test.

• Learning to inspire...

Great teachers are remembered not for the knowledge they impart but for the way they encourage and lift their students achievement, not just in a subject but also in the important skills if living a fulfilling life. How one teaches can be taken to a new level with the proper instruction. Teaching can bring the highest degree of satisfaction to oneself and their students. These skills include happiness inspiration, compassion, curiosity and resilience are essential for both the learner and the teacher.

• Inspirational objectives:

A great teacher makes learning fun as stimulating,engaging lessons are pivotal to a student's academic success. Some students who are more prone to misbehavior, truancy or disengagement are more dependent on an engaging teacher. Making your classroom an exciting environment for learning will hold the students fascination and students learn best when they are both challenged and interested . It's part of motivating students, which may not be easy, but which will benefit students
immeasurably in the long run.

Poor WE or THE NATURE

Poor WE or THE NATURE

From last week I could not make myself to be at peace if the thunderstorms are creating crests and troughs there in the mind after looking at the frail picture of today's man.While going my school in the morning I noted that the work to broaden the roads towards Assandh is in progress to create more comforts and facilitate the public but nobody gave a single thought to the method always adopted be it to broaden or to create four to six lanes of roads for transport.

The hundreds and thousands of years old trees are cut and the construction is in process but those poor dead bodies in the form of tree trunks lying to the sides are like old skeletons crying badly on their conditions and evoking the whole lot of humans for their ever known cruelties.It made me to cry but too felt helpless with no new ideas of saving our beautiful nature.Its irony that plantation is done as a campaign every year in contrast to the deforestation but never thought of saving the treasure and precious fauna.Adding to it the government float no of awareness campaigns and schools too are instructed to complete the target of plantation but nobody took the pains of saving those which are already flourishing like the work done in Hyderabad by a resident Ramchandra Appari who runs his own company on translocation of trees where the whole trees are uprooted and planted in a new area with ease with the help of hi-tech machines.

And this practice is centuries old dated back to 2000 BC where Eygptians used to do the same to protect the indiscriminate felling of trees.

Even on the other side the idea of creating forests and micro forests is gaining momentum and the school kids are busy in preparing seed bombs to be distributed to general public but where the onus of matured individual is?Why no one or exactly the government officials took this into their own stride to be fought for for the sake of future generations and to recreate the safe healthy disease free environment for every other individual,to let everyone inhale the fresh air even Delhi govt adopted the same procedure in the nearby past.

Saving nature in its original form can be costlier but it can be much costlier on account of health and environmental hazards.

PEDOPHILE

PEDOPHILE

Cases of adult's sexual involment with children are on the increase in the daily newspaper. Most of the cases are both pathetic and precarious because of the psychological effects they pose on the Children involved and the unpleasantness of the experience. The prosecution of the offender is often not pursued to a logical conclusion. The children then become helpless and unprotected to further sexual assault or activities.

A. *UNDERSTANDING THE WORD ' PEDOPHILE'S*

A pedophile is an adult or older adolescent who fantasized about having sexual affairs with children. A person is considered to be a pedophile if he is sexually aroused by children or experiences sexual urges toward prepubescent children (generally under 13 yrs) for a period of at least 6 months. Pedophile are offten severely distressed by these sexual urges. They experience interpersonal difficulties with adults of opposite gender because of their irrational sexual orientation. Another name for a pedophile is child molester because a pedophile sexually abuse children, even as young as 5yrs old. Molester is a name often used for an adolescent (of about 13yrs) who is fond of touching the private parts of children of about 8yrs or below.

B. *CONSEQUENCES OF PEDOPHILIA AND CHILD MOLESTATION?*

Sexual abuse by pedophile has emotional, educational and health effects on the victims.
Children suffer trauma, which sometimes grow with them to adulthood. Children is at risk of sexually transmitted infections as well as vaginal injury among others. Sexual abuse sometimes aggravate when the victims fail to share their experiences because of the threats they receive from their abusers.

C. *WAYS OF PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM SEXUAL MOLESTATION.*

The first thing is prayer. Prayer is crucial for the protection and purity of children in curbing or controlling child molestation in our society.

Children should be taught to keep and respect the dignity of their body (especially genitals), they should also be informed on the consequences of sexual assault from pedophile.

The parents should sponsor and pursue effective policy against sexual molestation and also report cases of sexual abuse to appropriate authorities for prosecution.

*CLOSING REMARKS:* The parents cannot afford to fold their arms about this wicked act against children. Efforts must be made by parents  to protect children from Sexual assault even in situations where government efforts (policies) seem inadequate and ineffective.

Take time to live

Recently I overheard a father and daughter in their last moments together at the airport. They had announced the departure.

Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the father said, 'I love you, and I wish you enough.'

The daughter replied, 'Dad, our life together has been more than enough.  Your love is all I ever needed.  I wish you enough, too, Dad.'

They kissed and the daughter left.  The Father walked over to the window where I was seated.  Standing there I could see he wanted and needed to cry.  I tried not to intrude on his privacy, but he welcomed me in by asking, 'Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?'

'Yes, I have,' I replied.  'Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?'..

'I am old, and she lives so far away.  I have challenges ahead and the reality is - the next trip back will be for my funeral,' he said.

'When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, 'I wish you enough..'  May I ask what that means?'

He began to smile.  'That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations.  My parents used to say it to everyone...'  He paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail, and he smiled even more. 'When we said, 'I wish you enough,' we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them.'  Then turning toward me, he shared the following as if he were reciting it from memory.

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.

I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

He then began to cry and walked away.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them; but then an entire life to forget them.

* Only if you wish, send this to the people you will never forget. If you don't send it to anyone it may mean that you are in such a hurry that you have forgotten your friends.

TAKE TIME TO LIVE....

To all my friends and loved ones, I WISH YOU ENOUGH in life ahead.

Veil in disguise as a mark of false ethics

Veil in disguise as a mark of false ethics

For me social issues are the hot topics not for debate but for the concern and finding out the solutions for them.i know the thing which is disturbing me nowadays can be a bone of contention for some and they may call me so shameless to point towards our age old the so called culture but the self framed rules only for females.

Females are considered out to be those decorating pieces or Barbie dolls till date to procreate and fulfill the societal norms.
In no of villages even today they have to cover their faces while at home or in the village only but surprisingly they may send their daughter-in-laws to jobs working with malefolks and that too without any cover.

There are some father's still mourning on the birth of girl child and then not ready for her studies This is actually two facets they show as they may go to malls to watch movies like Dangal and Chak de India with full fervour but as soon as the topic of respect and right arises for their own ladies they may camouflage very easily.

The real concern is how and why do we expect the government to comply with what we expect and feeling proud to go along with the new technological changes in the world,ready to flaunt always with the latest gadgets but with that poor mentality or polluted minds.This too add on to non-acceptable behaviour of young males in family where gender inequality makes them to feel more powerful and exploitive in nature, moreover they are not taught for their moral duties and thus more of the sexual abuse and torture to womenfolk This head cover is right till we are praying or as per the comfort of the individual but if it becomes a stragulating cloth in the name of respect it may have repercussions.

What is the foremost requirement-the wider diffusion of awareness or self practice or wiser decision implementation?

I do leave here this for all to ponder and to seek out the solution to liberalise the women in a true sense.

Your digital footprint paints a picture of who you are !!!

Your digital footprint paints a picture of who you are !!!
                             
Every day, whether we want to or not, most of us contribute to a growing portrait of who we are online; a portrait that is probably more public than we assume.

You can not ‘clean’your digital footprints, Unless you are Internet Muture .You cannot maintain a positive online reputation .

This portrait helps companies target content at specific markets and consumers, helps employers look into your background, and helps advertisers track your movements across multiple websites. Whatever you do online, you might be leaving digital footprints behind.
So no matter what you do online it’s important that you know what kind of trail you’re leaving, and what the possible effects can be.

While it’s not possible to have ZERO footprints, the first steps toward reducing your digital footprint and managing your digital identity are not that hard.
We have to teach our student also regarding Digital Footprint…..

Learn The Basics: What’s A Digital Footprint?

Your digital footprint is all the stuff you leave behind as you use the Internet. Comments on social media, Skype calls, app use and email records- it’s part of your online history and can potentially be seen by other people, or tracked in a database.

How Do We Leave Digital Footprints? This happens in many ways.

Here are some of them:
1. Websites And Online Shopping
Retailers and product review sites often leave cookies on your system which can track your movement from site-to-site, allowing targeted advertisements that can show you products you’ve been recently reading about or looking at online.
2. Social Media.
All those +1s, Retweets, and Facebook comments (even private ones) leave a record.  Make sure you know what the default privacy settings are for your social media accounts, and keep an eye on them. Sites often introduce new policies and settings that increase the visibility of your data. They may rely on you just clicking “OK” to whatever terms they are introducing, without reading them.
3. Mobile Phones, Tablets, or Laptops.
Some websites will build a list of different devices you have used to visit those sites. While this can often be used as a way to help secure your account, it is important to understand the information being collected about your habits.

Know Why Should You Manage Your Digital Footprint.
Make no mistake about it – the web is listening every time you use it! It’s important that you understand what you’re leaving behind when you visit a website.

NOW The time is to be IMuture.

The Power of Accountability

The Power of Accountability

Many people don't understand what accountability is, why it's important, or where it starts. Yes, they understand accountability is important, but don't know how to create a culture of accountability, they just hope it will happen.

Let’s start with the definition: “the fact of being responsible for what you do and able to give a satisfactory reason for it, or the degree to which this happens”. To be accountable is to be “liable; called to account; answerable”. A synonym is “responsible”. When we closely look we will find that there are two players involved, the one accountable for his/her actions and the one to whom we are accountable. In other words, WHO we make ourselves accountable to is just as important as WHAT we hold ourselves accountable for.

It's a common story. As a principal, you end a strategic core meeting. There are several initiatives on which everyone agrees are important to complete by the end of the term. Everyone promises that they will all get it done, but when the deadline is met, very little of the list actually gets accomplished. We also often observe that it is not that these colleagues were not responsible or hardworking, they are your core member team. The problem was that no one was actually accountable for making sure the initiatives were complete.

Many of us get confused with the definition of accountability versus responsibility. The difference is simple. Many people can be responsible for helping out on a task or initiative. But accountability belongs only to one person who will be judged on the completion of the task.

On a personal front, to be Accountable is to be courageous. It takes courage to make a promise if you have even the slightest instinct to follow it through. Life changes so fast that it’s easy for things to get in the way of keeping a promise and if you have integrity then promises actually mean something to you — that’s called accountability.
Here are 5 key habits accountable people have in their everyday life.

1. They take responsibility and don’t have excuses.
Highly accountable people willingly take on responsibility and actively manage it so the work gets done. They make sure once the initiative has their name on it, no one else need worry about its completion. They seem to have amagical ability to stick to their plans, much to the annoyance of the rest of us. If they want to get up earlier, they do. If they plan to save money, it actually happens. They do good analysis and solve problems as they arise.

2. They organize their lives and don’t procrastinate.
It is all about planners, white board notes,dairy entry, calendar apps, and Post-It notes galore. They are hyper organized to an amazing degree, all in the name of keeping themselves on track. What good is completing initiatives if the usefulness of the result is long past. Highly accountable people understand that every task has a time value and that punctuality serves a purpose. This actually makes them trustworthy and dependable as they do not waste a minute of other people's time or their own.

3. They collaborate.
Highly accountable people are great at using the resources around them. They make the most of each available body by engaging, inspiring and empowering them to add positively to the result. They care for the feedback and correct themselves while collaborating. "I worked really hard on that presentation, but I'd love some feedback on where I could improve. Do you have any input?". They also look at the feedback as an opportunity to deliver.

4. They Control Their Emotions
They keep their cool, and don't let their anger or jealousy get out of hand. It’s because they know that negative emotions can quickly derail a situation (think work meeting, get together, etc.) in a way that isn't productive, or fun. They do not wait to be checked or monitored by others but work proactively and diligently with the team to finish the job. Similarly, accolades are nice, but none are deserved if the task is partially done. Highly accountable people get their satisfaction from delivering quality on time with a team that feels great about the accomplishment.

5. They Are Humble and own their mistakes
Success in life usually comes when we’re completely honest with ourselves and with others. This means setting aside our pride, and admitting when we’ve made a mistake. Accountability doesn’t stop with personal humility and honesty. If something has gone wrong, then they are responsible, and step up to set right the wrong. They Focus on making amends and building bridges, not erecting walls. They express a level of sincerity that shows the other individual that they’ll do what it takes to make the situation right.
Be accountable and be present to your inner self, to your inner child, to your teammates, to your family, to the society… and you may just find yourself happier, confident and contended a job fulfilled.

Infusing Joyous Learning to the Classrooms

Infusing Joyous Learning to the Classrooms

The increasingly focus on the importance of high-quality teaching for student learning puts a pressure on teachers to do miracle in the classrooms. The important dimensions of classroom teaching are the relationships teachers develop in a classroom and the classroom climate they create, the level of intellectual challenge of students’, activities and assignments, the quality of questions teachers use to facilitate discussion, and the ways in which teachers engage students in learning. Non-interactive, traditional methods used in classrooms end up producing children able to replicate but not create knowledge. The need of the hour is to inculcate the desired 21st century skills in our students such as thinking creatively, creating ‘‘new and worthwhile ideas,’’ ‘‘demonstrating originality and inventiveness in work,’’ and working collaboratively to solve problems.

What is a JOYOUS classroom?
Joyous learning has emerged as a powerful concept to change the way we manage schools and classrooms.  A joyous classroom is an active, bright and cheerful learning place where students and teachers are more creative and open to learning. Recent brain research reveals that the brain is increasingly open to learning when learning is joyful. A positive classroom climate is built through everyday teacher and student relationships and interactions and they reap positive results on an individual's health, both physically and psychologically.

How do we bring JOY to the classroom?
The increased pressure of completing syllabus and assessments on teachers and students has almost eradicated joy from classrooms. But as teachers, we want to create joy in the classroom as it facilitates more learning and certainly faster learning.  Here are some simple techniques which will help us to infuse joy into the classroom and create happy learning spaces:
JOY-1 Integrated Lesson Planning!
One of the best way to bring joy to the classroom is by integrated lesson planning. All the areas – scholastic and co-scholastic are to be integrated with each other in terms of knowledge, skills, comprehension, values and attitudes. When children are exposed to the linkage between the subjects then the diverse learning outcomes are achieved to a greater extent. Such interconnectedness give innumerous opportunities to the students to think laterally, critically, identify opportunities, and be open to new ideas. Children can be engaged in practices that promote physical, cognitive, emotional and social development that connect different areas of knowledge, application and values with their own lives and the world around them. Integrated lesson plans provide enough ways to bring joy and excitement to the classroom.
JOY-2: Art Integration!
Art integration is linking art with scholastic subjects such as mathematics, science, social-science, languages etc. Such integration of art makes lesson more interesting and children learn concepts happily in fun way.  Art education including visual & performing art. Visual art includes drawing, craft, paper cutting, paper mache etc and performing art includes dance, vocal music, instrumental music, drama etc. These must be integral parts of the curriculum and to be included in the routinal lesson planning for the holistic development of children. Art integration with other subjects promotes creative thinking, imagination and expression. It is often seen that children enjoy their art and sports classes the most and the teacher who teaches them art and sports are the most favourite teachers. As such art is the heart and soul of all subjects. Music and dance are taken as stress busters’ even for adult. Such activities are necessary for the development of the affective and psychomotor domain. Hence integrating art with other subjects will make classroom joyous and will give enough opportunities of leaning happily.   

JOY-2: Give special attention to the learning materials you use in class!
Learning materials or teaching aids play an important role in lesson planning. Special attention is to be given to this area while planning a lesson. Attractive learning materials such as flash cards, charts, exit cards, models, pictures etc generate curiosity and interest in children about the subject and when interest is generated then optimum learning takes place.  
JOY 3: Listen to your students’ heart & mind
It is important for a teacher to listen to his/her students. All children are different; some express their feelings and some do not express. Hence it is more important to listen to both heart and mind of your students. This will further help in building strong relationship of trust between student and teacher. Strong relationship between students and teacher helps them to grow emotionally and psychologically. When a teacher intentionally builds trust and rapport with students, she/he creates a safe place and space for joy to emerge. Student engagement and involvement in planning a lesson is also increased as they will be open to give new ideas and share what they already know, what they want to know and how they want to learn. When a teacher understands what my students want to learn and how they want to learn then innovative planning is triggered.     
JOY 4: Appreciate your students
Appreciations are like magic wrist bands. Appreciation can do wonders in terms of changing behavior and getting desired outcomes. Appreciate every child for every small or big task he/she has performed. Appreciation can be done by various ways such as public appreciation like in calling out names in assembly, classroom chart, material appreciation like giving toffees, giving smilies in the copy etc.   Some students need high degree of motivation and some needs less. A teacher has to learn the art of appreciating and must know when and how to appreciate. A teacher must know the need of kind and amount of appreciation. Over dose of appreciation may result into over confidence.  

JOY 5: Let your children feel that they are very special to you
A teacher must create a learning space in the classroom in which every child should feel special and important. Set your class room rules which give equal opportunities of participation and speaking to all in the classroom. Feeling of favoritism, ignorance, negligence, less important, not existing in the classroom, no one is concerned etc will be discouraged. If a child is made to feel that she/he is very special and important to us then the teacher automatically invite pleasure and joy to the classroom for happy learning.

JOY 6: Integrate ICT
Information technology is necessary for holistic learning that is experiential and linked to real-life situations. These children are born with technology in their hand hence if teachers incorporate ICT in their instructional planning; children will take more interest to actively participate in classroom activities while transaction of lesson. We to find situations that help students incorporate what they learned in their everyday lives using technology. ICT brings joy and makes classroom happy for learning.

JOY 7: Trust your students and let them give new ideas
Children like to create things hence provide opportunities to the students to create in the classroom. While engage children in such acts, keep in mind to trust them. When you trust your students’ creativity, they work with better ideas and originality to showcase you the best. The list of what students can create across the curriculum is virtually limitless: newspapers and magazines, brochures, stories, picture books, posters, PowerPoint presentations, role-plays, songs, surveys, graphs, documentary videos etc.

JOY 8: Differential Instructional Planning
Differential instructional planning caters to the children of different learning abilities. A teacher must know his/her students learning styles and accordingly instructional planning is to be done that will invite joy to your classroom.

JOY 9: Surprise them by exploring out of the four walls of the classroom
Surprise your students by doing something unexpected or something out of routinal classroom planning. Take them out of the classroom to take lesson under a tree, field visits can be planned to various sites, play with them and let them discover their own potential. Surprises always bring joy and hence will surely make classroom joyous.

Conclusion
A teacher is like a candle who burns itself to give light to others. When a teacher creates learning spaces by infusing joy in the classroom, optimum learning outcomes are achieved. Such joyful, active and experiential learning helps in inculcating 21st century skills in the learners of different abilities.

Skill set

SKILL SET
By Suman Purohit Das

What do you mean by skill set?

Skill set are the abilities, attitudes, knowledge and qualities to get a job as well as to keep a job. Skill is realistic and with practice it can be acquired.  The best example to understand is the 70: 20: 10 model. The model is about how  do people acquire specific skills.

70:20:10 Model

1. 70% of people acquire skills from informal learning such as tasks that challenge the learner, watching others and participating in the work place.
2. 20% of people acquire skills from mentoring and coaching (mostly from a manager and supervisor).
3. 10% of people acquire skills from formal courses and reading.

What are the types of skill set?

The skill sets are categorized as per the skills.
1. Skill: Interpersonal skill (collaborate, demonstrate, facilitate, sensitivity, resolve, support)
Skill Set
a. Effective in establishing positive relations
b. Effective in maintaining the relations
Satisfy others
c. Actively seek ways to enhance well being
d. Able to resolve conflicts
e. Skillful in developing and helpful others in order to achieve goals

2. Skill: Communication skill (Listen, speak, write, interact, promote, negotiate, consult, persuade)
Skill set
a. Effective in exchanging information through verbal or non verbal cues
b. Adept at using information
c. Skillful in influencing and collaborating with others
d. Effective in negotiation and attaining agreeable solutions of problems

3. Skill: Technical Skill/Physical Skill (observe, body coordination, technology, build, structure, design)
Skill Set
a. Skillful in using tools and equipments for optimal functioning
b. Handles perfectly software and hardware.
c. Proficient in assembling a product, building or physical object or returning something to its original state.
d. Adept at using eyes, hands and the body with precision and skill in the physical world.

4. Skill: Leadership Skill (Coordinate, implement, lead, organize, decision, envision)
Skill set
a. Skilled in coordinating, implementing and organizing
b. Skillful in creating a strategic vision and motivating others to achieve excellence in performance.
c. Ability to motivate and empower individuals and groups to greater participation, commitment and high standards of performance.
d. Ability to set to achieve and set goals 

5.Skill: Creative Skill (conceptualize, visualize, intuitive, inventive, artistic, aesthetics)
Skill set
a.Adept at using eyes, hands and the body with precision and skill in the physical world.
b.Adept at forming structures, patterns and connections from information, ideas and images.
c.Ability to express an inner ideal into an artistic, creative or aesthetic form.

6. Skill: Analytical Skill (problem solving, computational, classify, compute, estimate, analyze)
Skill Set
a. Ability to identify and define problems and solutions.
b. Skillful in compiling, organizing and using data to enhance planning and effectiveness.
c. Skillful in performing numerical and statistical calculations to provide useful information.

What are the types of skills in you?

My Profession is teaching and my role is Headmistress. I feel I have the following skills:

1. Strategic Thinking & Decisive skill
I am very much clear about my vision and what I have to do to achieve that. I have the skill of aptly planning how to achieve vision, how to deal with the challenges on the way. I delegate task to right person in the team as well as give equal opportunities to all. I support my team members when in need.     

2. 3C’s –Communication, Collaborate & Confidence I feel I am a good listener. I am very effective in delivery of planning things/events to the team. I involve and get along every person to complete the task. I treat everyone fairly. I feel I exhibit confidence while dealing in all spheres. 

3. Motivate others I feel I am skilful to influence my team members to motivate them to do the expected task to get optimum output. My team showcases readiness to work even with adequate resources at any time. My positive attitude towards them actually helps them to execute tasks peacefully and innovatively.    

4. Reviewing/Feedback I always appreciate my team for fulfilling my expectations in achieving the target set. I learn from failures and further take it up positively.  I avoid blame game and take responsibility of mistakes.   

5. Creativity I showcase creativity in giving new ideas as well as creating an atmosphere for the things to happen in right way. 

How to develop skills?

We all have some or the other skills but we need to improve our skills for better future. The only mantra’s to improve your skill is PRACTICE. In whichever skill you want to improve, you need to set that as your priority. Regularly and consistently work upon it to improve.  DEDICATION & PERSEVERANCE towards your willingness to develop the skill must be at its zenith. Be focused and use your time effectively in improving over the skill.   You need to keep motivating yourself to enhance a specific skill.  Apart from practicing, a role model, a GUIDE or facilitator in your life can be a guiding light in your life and change your life by helping you to inculcate the required skills.

How to make use of it?

First of all, a person has to identify his/her own skills and skill set. Once you have identified, you need to explore the areas within your surroundings, where you can showcase and will be benefitted.  Sometimes opportunities do not come to you but you need to grab the opportunity. You need to be proactive, need to approach, build good rapport so that your employer has faith and trust in you and your potential for giving you the desired task. Do not say no to small tasks, thinking that this will be below your dignity. Small steps will help you achieve big goals. Recall the story of hare and tortoise. 

With the use of your skill set:     
1. You may spread positivity and happiness at the work place, at home, in family and other relations.
2. You may use your skill set to earn livelihood, job security and get a job of your choice.
3. You may use your skill to be the peace setter and conflict resolver in any situation.
4. You may use it as the tool to drive change in the society or community.
5. You may handle difficult situations and challenges with ease.
6. You may use it your personal, professional, social & emotional development.

The need of character building as the pillar of Education

The Need of Character Building as the Pillar of Education

Character is a person’s usual qualities or specific traits and that are different in different individuals. It is those different qualities or traits which makes character allows a person to respond to a situation or an event. Therefore it is the character which gives the result that we achieve in any situation. There is an actual need of character building because as teenagers or youngsters are continuously hurting themselves or others. The declining qualities like concern and care in the young people towards the welfare of others is alarming. Our youngsters are facing major problems in handling pressure and it is too difficult for young people. Now-a-days, we often hear complaints from teachers or parents that the children react ill-manneredly on small issues, are becoming rebellious, are very demanding, impatient and emotionless. Often we come across news like a child committed suicide because the child could not score well in exams or a mother died because the child was engrossed in playing pub-G on mobile. It is now our worry as the character is demeaning in our children. This situation is called as moral values crisis. In this era of moral values-crisis in our children, character building must be the prime aim of the education for man making. 

Education plays an important role in the development of a child’s behaviour. It helps in fostering ethical values such as honesty, responsibility, empathy, respect, compassion etc. It helps a child to understand rules and regulations, social adjustments and culture of the family & the society. Our foundation must be strong; hence character building must be focused in elementary and early years of education.   Education at the early age is the most effectual education. Beginning with the character education at the early age is expected to create an individual with strong character and intellect so he/she can grow as a good human who is noble, healthy, knowledgeable, skilled, creative, independent, and become a democratic and responsible citizenship.  Thus, the character education is needed as the pillar of education. Character building education at the primary stage will evade the common problems of the children such as mischief, rebellious, arrogance etc.

The need of character building can be achieved if it is to be embedded in school schedule. Schools have to be responsible to incorporate character education through the school daily schedule, co-curricular activities, lesson planning by teachers and integrated curriculum focused on character building. The implementation of character education is essential in the process of character building. A bravo planning is needed from school authorities to implement character building. A good school system is required so that the character education can run optimally. Children at early age exactly follow their teachers’ actions hence teachers are instrument to bring change and build strong characters. A teacher shapes the character, caliber and future of an individual. A teacher present in the class before the children arrive in the morning amazingly affects the psychology of the children. Simple acts apart from lesson planning like classroom rules set by the teachers, keep up of the cupboard, meticulously organized things and cleanliness of the classroom etc have surprisingly positive effects on children’s mind. Schools have to extensively support moral education for character building and need to design activities to teach moral education. It is necessary as well as important for the schools to evaluate their own planning and processes for character education hence, reviews or feedbacks should be taken monthly from parents and children in the form of questionnaire, survey etc . Teachers must maintain anecdotes of the small incidents or a particular behavior trait shown by the students. This will help schools to identify the negative behavior traits in children and further recheck the system or planning for character building. The planning can be further improvised if needed or the children who are showcasing negative traits, special one to one counseling can be provided to overcome and change negative trait into positive trait for strong character building.

Character cannot be developed in a day. Good character is the only attribute of a successful life. Good character of human beings is the strength and future of a strong nation. Swami Vivekananda said, “The education that should build character is man making education. No nation is greater or good if parliament enacts this or that; its men are great and good”.  Hence character building must be the pillar of education for man making.   

Summer camps

SUMMER CAMPS:

A great learning opportunity but parents need to be little alert

Hurry! Hurry! Summer vacations are around the corner. Children eagerly wait for the summer vacations and even with the thought of summer vacations, they all get so excited. Reason of excitement is the “SUMMER CAMPS” which children can join in the vacations, make many friends and learn skills relax-fully away from school assignments. Summer camps are extremely beneficial for the children as they learn in a fun and free atmosphere. Children gain social skills as they interact with many other children from different social, economical & financial background. Summer camps help children to become confident and independent.

Nowadays the demand of summer camps is so much from the parents and the students that almost every school in the city is hosting a summer camp. Summer camps are generally organised for 15-25 days duration. It depends on the choice the school to decide on the number of days and fee to be charged for summer camp. Apart from schools, specific academies are also organising summer camp by their own. Variety of activities are offered for camp which includes personality development, spoken English, Art, Music, Dance, Robotics, variety of sports, adventure activities etc 

No doubt summer camps are a great way to expose a child to some creative and engaging activities but parents must do a survey before enrolling their child for the summer camp. This will help to give best summer camp as gift to their child.

The following areas to be reviewed by the parents: 

Know the organisers
Parents must find out minute details of the company or the school hosting a summer camp. Parents must find out the answers to questions such as have the school ever hosted camp in past? How many participants were enrolled last year as well as taking part this year? Who all will be the team members or trainers for the activities? What is the popularity and fame of these trainers? Are they competent enough to train children? This will help parents to understand the organisers and trainers profile in depth.  

Camp Activities
It is important to know the activities offered in the camp. Does the camp offer single activity or multiple activities?  What will be the time duration for each activity? Is the time allocated sufficient to learn a specific skill? As it has been observed that sometimes the outcome of an activity offered in summer is almost zero because of the time duration and at the end of the camp parents feel that the camp was not worthy. Hence enquire about the minute details of the activities so that it will be a life-long experience for the child.   

Check safety & security aspect
Parents must be alert of the kind of safety precautions will be taken for specific camp activities. What kind of medical facilities will be available at the camp? Is the campus under CCTV surveillance? How much is the inflow of visitors to the activity zone? Are the parents allowed to accompany children? What are the do’s and dont’s of the camp?  These are the few questions which parents must investigate prior to selecting a summer camp for their child.   

Camp Fee – Pocket check
Check your pocket or budget for giving this opportunity to your child. Parents have to find out the cost or fee of the camp. Can the parents afford the camp fee? What all things are including in the camp fee? Are the transportation, meal, material, medical etc included or excluded the camp fee? Choose the one which is in your budget and suits your pocket. Don’t try to bargain with the organisers, it will really look unethical.   

Communication or updates
Parents must know who will be the overall incharge of the camp, contact no. & further relevant details of the person must be noted. Parents need to be aware of how are the organisers going to update or communicate with them about the day to day update or progress of their child.
Withdrawal Policy

Parents should explore out what is the withdrawal policy of fee. In case the child is unable to attend camp even after the payment of fee, what is policy of refund of camp fee? Within how many days camp fee will be refunded in such case?

To conclude,  summer camps are the brilliant platform which offer immense learning opportunities to gain skills in non-competitive spirit but parents have to be a little careful and attentive while choosing the right summer camp for their child so that the camp becomes a memorable learning experience for the child.   

WHAT IS THE REQUIREMENT OF A 21ST CENTURY GROWING STUDENT

WHAT IS THE REQUIREMENT OF A 21ST CENTURY GROWING STUDENT

A matured student or citizen is expected to do multitasking in studies or in job or in business or in society to sustain in this fast moving society / nurtured So he needs to be natural in the way, out put is required.

The quote said by Bal Sahitya Karyashala is very relevant here. When we talk of the earthen pot student can be exposed to the type of clay used, water used and concept of pottery making. Later on it can become a hobby too.

Coming to the second aspect of curiosity, how does it cool water? Does it cool when we keep it in sun or in a room or in a gallary or if we cover it with a wet cloth or make a cover around it, with a sutli what is the science behind it?
(a) The earthen pot is porous.
(b) The water coming out of these microscopic pores evaporates. 

(c) For evaporation of water drop lets on the surface of the earthen pot, it absorbs some heat from inside water to change its state from liquid to gaseous, thus cooling the water inside (LATENT HEAT
OF EVAPORATION).

Further discussing the third aspect: that is value to be inculcated. The above picture is self explanatory. Moving ahead with another aspect is to imbibe the development of core skills among the students.

These are not ornaments which can be put over for beauty, but these are
qualities to be embedded in oneself, to be bloomed differently at different
situations. So needs to be inculcated from the childhood stories of
THIRSTY, CROW and during further growth & different situation.

Simultaneously, a serious question comes in mind, why the crow

has to search for water?

We are not serious about nature.
(a) Polluting it with plastics
(b) Cutting trees & not replanting them.
(c) Underground water is decreasing as a result.
(d) Air pollution, decrease in drinking water, global warming.
This is a threatening for our future generation.

You may view a social site on face book
Mita Chourasia-"In and around"

When the students really feel the drastic future, they will involve themselves in making a better tomorrow. No need to do something extra, only do not throw garbage here and there, do not cut trees for pollution free air, increase in under ground water level and prevent soil erosion.

A little bit on every one's part can make our coming generation happy and
healthy. Lastly, when we talk about THE CROW, are we realising that it is becoming an extinct species.

Can we take up a study, why?
Thus multitasking, which is a requirement of 21st Century can be achieved only if we implant SCIENTIFIC METHOD, CORE SKILLS, VALUES and PROBLEM SOLVING ATTITUDE in and around, among
them.