Open Minds A Birla School

MY EXPERIENCE AS A TEACHER - By Ms. Namita Chowdhary, Teacher, Open Minds

                                 Teaching is one of the most complicated jobs today. It demands broad knowledge of the subject, curriculum and standards; enthusiasm, a caring attitude and love of learning; knowledge of discipline and classroom management techniques; a desire to make a difference in the lives of young people! With all these qualities required, it’s no wonder that it’s hard to find ‘great teachers’.

                           Teachers have a very important responsibility of shaping the lives of young children. With this responsibility comes great pride and joy. According to me a ‘teacher’ can be defined as someone who always pushes students to do their best while at the same time trying to make learning interesting as well as creative. A positive or negative influence from a teacher early-on in life can have a great effect on the life of a child.

                                Each teacher can recount numerous highs and lows in their teaching career. Personally, I experienced many great moments while teaching. These were days when I ended so happy and enthusiastic that I knew I had selected the right profession. On the other hand, I had days where I definitely questioned teaching as a career. Thankfully the positive days outshines my negative days.

                             As a teacher I can never forget the lessons learned during my first year teaching. I was just done with my Diploma in Business Management and got a call from the college where I did my Masters in Cosmetic Technology, they asked me to teach the students pursuing Bachelors one of my favorite subject called ‘Cos-Tech’. I was young, happy, enthusiastic and energetic with the thought of being a ‘teacher’ in the college where I studied.

                           All geared up and ready to go for my first lecture with the thought that as a teacher I know everything, got me in trouble, I never thought about the fact- that apart from knowledge the kind of preparations required to be done by a teacher is so important.  Even though I had the knowledge, the output of it can be best judged from what my students would deliver. I even realized the fact that the students are a replica of their teacher, one can see the impact that a teacher has on their students and I saw it in mine….

                             Down the lane now I am a teacher, a mentor, a guide nurturing small and young minds of kids of the Primary years and have realized yet again that a teacher is a learner first and learns so many new things from each and every student of hers. A teacher always strives to get the best out of her students, loves each and every one of them; for what she is today is because of her students. 

-Namita Chowdhary,

 Teacher

Open Minds A Birla School, Kollur, Hyderabad

"My Experience as a Teacher" by our Spanish Teacher - Ms. Soro Pirgue Marie Pascaline

¿Por qué no enseñar Francés dado

 que usted es nativa Francesa?

          Why not teaching French since you are a French native?

Buenos días a todos,

Good morning one and all,

Antes que nada,querría agradecer todos por la oportunidad.

First of all I would like to  thank you all for the opportunity.

 Permite a mi de presentarme antes de  empezar.

Allow me to introduce myself before starting.

Me llamo Soro Pirgue Marie Pascaline. Soy de la costa de Marfil y profesora de Español a Open Minds.

My name is Soro Pirgue Marie Pascaline. I am from Ivory Coast and a Spanish teacher at Open Minds.

Me apunto a la escuela este año en el mes de Mayo pero ya ha sido una buena experiencia hasta ahora.

I have joined the school this year in the month of  May but already it has been a good experience till now.

La interacción de los niños en el campus con mi en Español ,el más emocionante son los niños de Francés, Hindi y Telugu siempre diciendo hola o gritan “Spanish Ma’am” nomás para decir hola...a felicidad es toda mía.

The children interaction in the Campus in Spanish with me ,the most touching those from French ,Hindi and Telugu always saying “hola” or  shouting  Spanish ma’am just to say hello...the happiness is all mine.

Y yo agradezco Dios y la escuela también para confia en yo dándome la oportunidad.

And I thank God and  the school too for trusting me by giving me the chance.

En el proceso de enseñar , yo encuentro  mucho y todavía descubriendo y aprendiendo con los niños. Es divertido y alegre enseñando y ayudando a ellos para crecer hasta la destinación.

In the process of  teaching ,I discovered a lot and still discovering and learning along with the children. It is fun and joyful teaching them and helping them to grow till the destination.

Tengo muchos buenos recuerdos o souvenirs con ellos en la clase y durante las actividades de los clubes,gran momentos inolvidables.

I have a very good memories or souvenirs with them in class and during club activities, great moments unforgettable.

He comprendido que  grande diplomas solo, no es  suficiente para enseñar además la manera que usamos cuenta a atraer los niños a la asignatura y a amar tu persona misma por rebote la asignatura. Y también he aprendido  que “Nadie es el templo del saber” , como decía Voltaire.

Podemos por lo tanto modestamente aprender aún con los alumnos.

I  have understood that big diplomas only do not suffice for teaching but the way we use to attract the children to the subject and to love your person self by ricochet the subject keeping in mind  that “No one is the temple of knowledge “ as said Voltaire .

We can therefore humbly learn even from the students.

Tengo la pasión  y el amor por Español más que el Francés mi nativo idioma donde no hay nada a encontrar por mi desde he hecho casi my life hablando y estudiando en  Francés hasta 2009 cuando llegaba en India:la respuesta al título de mi artículo.

I have the passion and the love for Spanish more than French my native language where for me there is no much to discover since I have done almost all my file speaking and reading in French till I reached  India in 2009:the answer to my article title.

Yo espero que os encantan leyéndolo. Hasta la vista,nos vemos al otro número.

I hope you will enjoy reading it. See you soon for another edition.

Soro Pascaline

Profesora de Español

(Spanish teacher)

Open Minds

Mind is the Playground!

Mind is the playground and we are its celestial players. Mind gives us opportunities and choices for us to explore the purpose of our existence. Life just doesn’t happen. Each soul is born for a reason. We are eternal beings in a mortal body. It is with this avatar of ours that we can proceed to the next destination of our perpetual journey of self-realization. Education is the basis of this magnificent endeavour. Education is enlightenment and when imparted in the right sense, it will become a guiding star shining through turbulence of all kinds.

When A.P.J Abdul Kalam’s mother was worried over her son’s decision of pursuing further education away from home, her husband enlightened her by saying, “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts.”

Just like our body is a receptacle to carry our immortal souls, we as teachers and parents are the vessels in which our kids will learn to set sail. We cannot wind their sails; we cannot calm the ocean to make their way smooth. What we can do is make them realize that storms will pass but determination will stay. A determined mind needs no guidance, they are self-driven and self-motivated. They think of every obstacle as a stepping stone to success. They see the grand scheme of things in everything. They become the celestial whose minds are the size of the Universe itself. Let us give our kids wings and let them set in on fire to reach where their destiny awaits.

- Echoes, July

Happiness Week!

Life Skills: Happiness Week:

The Happiness Week this year started with the theme ‘Anything is Possible’. Yes, it is! All that we need to understand is that we are beyond our perceptions. There is so much of inbound potential that each one of us has latent in us. It is the belief that we need to nurture. The belief of being able to tap into the unlimited potential. The boundaries are just in our mind. It is the mind that we need to conquer.

The students participated in discussions and role plays to see how they can accomplish anything if they tap into their potential. They also learnt that if someone can do something successfully, anyone else can also learn to do it the same way, provided they understand the strategies that the successful person adapts to in doing anything. To do all these, they had to also understand that all the resources that one would need to do anything in life are all present within one’s self only.

We all also had another activity this month, where the students learnt that we can communicate our feelings to other beings and the way our feelings affect the others. The secondary year students performed an experiment where we chose 2 sets of plants to communicate our feelings to them. We chose 2 plants to share our positive thoughts, love, care and appreciation and the other 2 plants to share our feelings when we are upset or hate something and even to ridicule. The students had a feeling that they are surely making a difference and also, not being too fair to the plants to communicate their feelings of hatred to them. That is when they understood subtly, how shouting at others in haste or ridiculing their own friends made a negative effect.

We continued this experiment to observe the plants over a period of one week. However, being set up in this environment with friends around and them understanding that feelings do matter a big deal, they could not communicate their feelings of upset to the plants that they were supposed to. So, we did not have a major difference in the way the plants grew or responded. But yes, it was surely an experiment that would be etched

in their minds for a long time to come!

Article by Mr. Raju Chandangiri, Hindi Teacher.

Mr. Raju Chandangiri, our teacher from the Hindi department has written an article on his visions of India by the year 2030. The men and women who sacrificed their life to bring us this freedom and how we can bright India to the forefront is being discussed in beautiful details.

उम्मीद की ककरण : 2030 तक भारत पूरे दुनिया पर राज कर सकता है... सपिे तो हर कोई देखते है लेककि सपिों को साकार करिे की जो उम्मीद होती है,

वह बहुत कम लोगों में पाई जाती है। भारत देश को आजादी नमले उिहत्तर साल हो चुके है। जो सपिा हमारे स्वतंत्रता सेिानियों िे देखा था कक आजादी के बाद भारत किर एक बार संपन्ि देश बिेगा।गुलामी के जंजीरो को तोडकर ववकास के पथ पर आगे बढकर गरीबी का िामोनिशाि दूर करेगा। क्या उिका यह सपिा पूणण  हो पाया ? जजस स्वजणमण भारत की कल्पिा उन्होंिे की थी क्या वह पूण ण हुआ ? इि प्रश्नों पर हमें गौर करिे की आवश्यकता है। वैसे देखा जाए तो उिका यह सपिा कुछ हद तक जरूर पूरा हुआ क्योंकक हमारे देश में प्रनतवित लोगों की कोई कमी िहीं हैं, जैसे आकदत्या वबरला, रति टाटा, मुके श अंबािी, िरेंद्र मोदी आकद। यही िहीं, भारत के मूल से तालुकात रखिे वाले बहुत से ऐसे प्रनतवित लोग हैं जो दनु िया के हर कोिे म ें देश का िाम ऊँ चा करत े हुए कदखाई दे रहे है।ये हमारे नलए बडे गव ण की बात है। लेककि वही दसू री ओर अशैजिकता के कारण बेरोजगारी की समस्या कदि ब कदि बढते जा रही है, जजससे देश पीछडेपि की और झुकता चला जा रहा है। इसनलए देश के हर िागररक को नशजित होिे की आवश्यकता है। चूँकक भारत के सौ करोड से भी अनिक आबादी में कुछ लोगों के तरक्की से देश पूणणतय ववकास के पथ पर सिल िहीं हो सकता हैं।पररपूण ण ववकास तभी संभव हो सकता है जब सौ प्रनतशत देशवासी नशजित होंगे। एक बात सच है कक उन्िीस सौ सैंतालीस से लेकर दो हजार सोलह तक लोगों की दृविकोण में कािी बदलाव आ गया है । इसका एक मात्र कारण लोगों में समािता की भाविाएँ आई है। िम ण के िाम पर, जानत के िाम पर होिे वाली ववपिता कम हो गई है। यह देश की सफलता का पहला कदम है और सबसे बडी बात है कक माता-पपता के अंदर शशक्षा के प्रशत जागकृ ता आ गई है। आज प्रत्येक माता-पपता यही चाहते हैं कक उनके बच्चे कापबल बने, इसशलए उनके सम्रग पिकास के शलए अपनी ओर से तन, मन, धन स े संपूर् ण कोशशश कर रहे हैं। जैस े कक हम जानते है देश का भपिष्य युिा शपि पर ही शनभरण है और आने िाले कु छ सालो में हमारा देश युिाओं से भरने िाला है और िह कदन दूर नहीं है जब भारत सारे देशो से आगे होगा। देश को सोने की शचकडया बनाने का दीप बहुत पहले ही प्रज्िशलत ककया गया है। आज उसकी रोशनी चारों ओर बढती जा रही है और आने िाले कदनों में उसकी रोशनी पूरे दुशनया में उजागर होगी। उम्मीदों पर ही दुशनया कायम है। मेरा पूरा पिश्वास है कक आन े िाले 2030 िर् ण तक भारत अग्र स्थान पर जरूर पहुुँचेगा क्योंकक 2030ि र्ण तक हमारा देश युिाओं का देश बनेगा और िह कदन दूर नहीं भारत सारे देशो पर राज करेगा।

An Article by Anshika Aggarwal, Grade 7 was given a photograph to look at and write her thoughts.

Anshika was given a photograph to look at and write her thoughts:

      I had heard stories of how the outside world was, saw photographs of faraway places, smelled the roses that bloomed in spring, heard the cuckoo sing; all this I had done, but I had never really known it or atleast the other dimension of it all. To begin with, I had never seen it with my own eyes, except for the little outlook from my glass-paned window, and that doesn’t count. I had never seen a river or a lake, never trod on fresh green grass, never even felt a plant on my skin. The house was my world, and the outside world, some distant fantasy that merely existed, but wasn’t real.

I fail to understand why those fortunate creatures who are given access to the places I never saw, groan and grumble if they so much, as have to get clothes from the line in our garden, leaving the boring video games and television shows that my life is infested with. My world is small and weird in many ways. I have seen pictures of places like Tokyo and New York, but never experienced a minute in my own garden. I’ve heard much about school, but never been there. It sounds so wonderful a place to be in; I don’t know why my friends groan to go there, as if they would rather loll about on a wheelchair at home; day in and day out, as I am obliged to do.

There is one thing outside that I dearly want to know; ‘rain’. I hear that rain is just water falling from the endless blue that everyone calls the ‘sky’, and that I might as well touch water under a tap, which, according to them, is much cleaner and more convenient. No one understands what rain means to me; a phenomenon already known, but yet to be discovered. Not just water from the sky, but some sort of magic of nature that I have heard much of, but have yet to know it personally on different dimension.

It was raining. The droplets were forming sparkling diamonds on the glass window of my room. I touched the transparent material, wishing it was as non-existent as it looked, so my hand might go right through and touch the rain. Not the first time, I dreamt of the wonder and vibrance of the world, the lush green fields, the trees that spread wide, the birds and animals. Running away was out of the question. I was far too weak and dependant.

Just then, the rain stopped. It had formed a large puddle on the ground. Droplets glistened on the leaves of the old banyan. A cuckoo started to sing. Unintentionally, I smiled. I felt contented. As I looked out of the window, it seemed like a picture of all I had ever wanted to see. All I had ever wanted to know. To see. Maybe, someday, I would. Perhaps, someday...