Everything Counts

By Kanchanamala

The wheel of success spins us all endlessly. We are driven to achieve great targets and reach greater realms. In the bigger sweep we tend to address certain things. What seems to be trivial and not worthy enough to ponder are not insignificant. In fact the little things add to positive outcomes. Everything Counts. It is a collection of dispersed thoughts gathered from everyday observations and experiences that we all must have come across, some day in our lives. These events and incidents may reach across the teaching fraternity and thereby percolate to benefit our future citizens.

  ENERGIZE  THE  DAY

On a wonderful Wednesday morning, soon after the school assembly the humdrum of the morning bustle just subsided. In the first floor corridor, stood a horde of middle-schoolers. Their countenance expressed clearly they have been sent out of the class for some reason. Ms.Angel was seen furious. More than a dozen stood lined up with their English Workbooks - “Defaulters of homework”. They started frantically filling the worksheets.

 Manju among the defaulters stood still.She neither did the work. Nor had she  brought the book. Manju caught the attention of the Head. Besides being a defaulter, Manju had most other things that disturbed the Principal. Hence she took Manju to her cabin. Manju was meek and weak.Her wide eyes were sunken. The Principal asked “What she had had for the breakfast?” In feeble voice she replied, “ I am yet to have the noodles …ma’m”

“Noodles ?” , the Principal asked refraining the detest in her tone. 

“ Yes madam I made the noodles. There was no time to eat mam”

It was ten to ten. The Head asked her to go and have the noodles immediately.  Then she gathered from the teacher concerned, all the details.

FACTS:

Manju’s mom is a staff nurse in a hospital. She is the breadwinner, managing as a single- parent. Before  the mom returns from night duty, Manju gets ready to school. She prepares noodles, has a portion of it and packs the rest for  her lunch.

Every single day She eats noodles and nothing but noodle. What an insipid life at 11!.

Messages that rang in the head of the Head:

1. Pathos of single- parenting

2. Ms. Angel is vigilant indeed!. One or two defaulters indicated the  the students could be inattentive.  When the  students out numbered , does n’t  it imply that the teacher’s instruction has failed to reach across all  the  students ?

3. Message to all:

Which of the two  questions  should have been prioritized?

*Have you done your homework  ? 

 OR

*Have you had your breakfast ?

Breakfast.

Break the fast.

Break the fast rules.

Energised kick start is important .

It doesn’t  require a Head to look into these things .

A willful heart of a teacher would do.

ESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT

Dictionary Activity is the most enjoyed one  of the primary students. The class 4 students were about to begin the lexical competency. The English language teacher announced a week prior to the activity that everyone must procure a little Oxford dictionary which was about Rs.65 each. But for two students, the others had submitted the dictionaries.

On the day of activity, 28 out of the thirty were present . The activity began. Students were engrossed and with enthusiasm they found out the synonyms, spelling, plural and participles.

They submitted the questionnaires and the dictionaries. Meanwhile,

The  teacher detected, Raghav had not submitted the dictionary. But he was using a labelled one- RAGHAV. With a smile the teacher said “ You all can take home your dictionaries and do some reference at home”. Raghav got it with a hesitation.

The same evening the parent of Raghav came to meet the teacher. The lady looked very simple and spoke English with  struggle. “Madam We are sorry. We did not know this book is important. Raghav has a book with his name. Madam …no Madam We did not buy the book”. The teacher said “Please be calm. Where is Raghav?. I was about to send you a note. I knew it was not Raghav’s. I will handle this.”

She looked at Raghav who was at the door way and nodded to come in.He stood head hung down and eyes welled with tears. 

“ Now you can have this dictionary for yourself on one condition. You must never lay hands on what does not belong to you” His tearful assurance meant a lot to the parent and the teacher.

The moral session was much more immense than the language session. 

FACT:

1.The parent clarified it without concealing. She neither showed her tantrums to the child.

2. The teacher handled the situation without harming the ESTEEM of the child and the parent.

“Kind words are short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless”…Mother Teresa

3.As children grow there is a demand for essential  equipment in day after day basis. Providing them encourages them especially when they are not economically strong.

ROLL CALL

A police enquiry of a local Crime was going on. From the residential address the police wanted to interrogate a class XI student. His attendance spoke for him. He was in the school premises attending class test. He had no least chance of witnessing the mishap. This is not meant to make a thriller story.

Orientation of the class begins with roll call. It’s not a mundane ritual. The class circuit is connected by the call and quick look of the teacher.The teacher senses if the students’ physical and emotional status  are in order. Moreover, this phase of the day gives the class climate  report. There have been incidences where the class monitor informs the absentees’ names. The slipshod filling is done  later. This is when the whole system becomes a  mockery. From the Kindergarten to the class XII, roll call in the early hour sparks the motivation for the day. The  old practice holds as good as gold  any day.

A WHIMSICAL WHISTLER

In class 8 Physics session was going on. Three boys were being reprimanded for the mischievous conduct. The lesson was on Sound. The three boys were caught whistling.

One of them apologised and told that he blew through a  pen cap to know what frequency of sound was made by the air. The other two had joined. It became a racket. The Principal asked them to complete the activity on pg 52 and walked away.

The next morning the whimsical whistler was waiting  by the Principal’s cabin. He had made a musical instrument with coconut shell and strings. With a coin he plucked the strings to give a bass effect. That was a typical experiential learning. Inspired  by this, another student played National Anthem with spoons and water filled porcelain cups. 

Several decades ago a teacher made a casual explanation of the aerodynamics of an aquatic bird  at  Vedharanyam.  The incident sowed the seed in the cognitive thinking  of the pupil for delving deep into the subject.He turned into  the missile man, our former President  Shri. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam.

FACT : Students need to explore. Giving scope to their creativity matters a lot. The mischievous  and so called mediocres are thrones who think out of the box. 

INCLUSION WORKS

There was a mock fire drill demonstration as a part of life skill programme in the school. Students were informed that they must quickly line up and descend through the three staircases. The long bell chimed. With in 2.58 minutes the students came down and assembled in the playground. 

The teacher of 9C was in a panic, looking for Mira who had a disability in walking. Mira’s class mates had held her and almost carried her. She waved to the teacher sitting safe and secure amidst the others.

That was a didactic event. Inclusive classes do infuse empathy and compassion among students.

Isolation and segregation does more than harm to the society. It deprives  the one who needs a humane treatment as well as deprives the one’s  opportunity to exercise a kind act towards the needy.

We are aware of the popular amusement, the musical chair. The number of chairs provided are lesser than the  number of participants. The winner is one who excludes all. The game promotes a vibe  to Exclude others in order to achieve Success. 

In Japan, the same game is played with a modification. Number of chairs given is lesser than the number of children taking part. The game rule is modified. When the music is paused, no child must be stranded without a seat. So the children squeeze in  and accommodate all. Inclusion really works !

The role of education is not just in thrusting facts and figures in our pupils who are to shoulder the nation and society when we all are bygone. During the course of education , when we take care not to overlook the lapses, it goes a long way.

  Teachers are the elects to cater to the needs of the future citizens. In such a conviction, our nation which had established universities like  Nalanda and Thakshashila will be a forerunner for the world and not far behind Finland still.

EVERYONE MATTERS !

EVERYTHING  COUNTS !!

By Kanchanamala