Pouring our hearts out!

As a teacher, I've always enjoyed connecting with my students beyond English, maths, science and humanities. Valentine's day was one such opportunity; I got to read their views on the following:

1. Would you like to get married as an adult? why?

2. What do you mean by these phrases: 'A heart of gold'; 'Putting your heart into something'

3. What would the world be like if people couldn't feel love?

4. Why is it that it's only the heart which represents love, why not any other organ?

Poetry

I am a poetic teacher

Which poetic device is my best feature?

You guessed it right, I like to rhyme

Do my thoughts string a song all day?

Yes they do, I have so much to say!

The one unit I love to teach is poetry

Highway man, discussions about love and sacrifice

Everything in life comes at a price.

We started by reviewing the poetic devices students learnt in Year 5 - simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia, personification, rhyme, rhythm, imagery, alliteration with the addition of assonance.

Clearly, students love poetic devices - they remembered almost all. The next step was to give them images from the highway man and getting them to brainstorm words. Using these words, students were expected to describe the image by including poetic devices in their description.

Here's some 'WAND'ERFUL WORK

Ha'pp'y Potter

            How to welcome your students to Year 6: work  your magic with  poems

EYFS, you were a bud

Year one, ready to learn

Year two, school was no longer new

Year three, you were on a learning spree

Year four, you were independent enough to do chores

Year five, you strived to achieve your full potential

Now you are in Year 6

the uppermost class in primary

with that comes great responsibility

You will continue to learn and grow

hopefully learn things you were keen to know

You'll take independent steps to success

You'll shine like a diamond, nothing less

We'll work with you, to bring out the best

come on wizards, there's no time to rest

Let's respect, reflect and inspire

Learn like your hair is on fire..

Beyond Academics

“Oh, you’re a teacher! Which subjects do you teach?”

A question that makes me introspect my role as a teacher.

Am I merely a subject teacher? I hope not. I am sure I inspire, but do I teach beyond academics?

The 21^st century demands more than teaching of English, Maths, Humanities and Science.

A genius is an amalgamation of passion, talent and hard work. As Martin Seligman wrote, 24 character strengths help people flourish, the most important ones being grit, self-control, curiosity, social intelligence, gratitude and help.

If we want our students to accomplish, have good relationships, work with a meaning and a purpose, develop positive emotion and engage, we as educators need to work towards strengthening their character strengths, which will help them, flourish.

While some character strengths like humour and optimism can be taught, others like integrity, authenticity, zest can’t. They are self-acquired. As primary teachers we constantly strive to provide opportunities in various curriculum areas to build these skills explicitly through various creative thinking activities and discussions. In our daily conversations with students, I have noticed that reminders which involve humour bring better results than constant nagging.

One of my students was extremely hungry when he came into the class early in the morning after an exhausting swimming session and asked me if he could have his muffin. I allowed him and the next thing I noticed was a trail of chocolate icing on the floor.

Did I ask him to clean it? No

‘A skilled muffin eater leaves no trace of his crime’

The next thing I knew, the floor had been wiped clean.

While humour eases situations, optimism helps us become less depressed, more resilient, liked and ensures that we try harder to achieve more. This is an essential character trait we teach through our curriculum. It also leads to becoming a balanced personality. The emphasis on growth mindset as opposed to fixed mindset is all about promoting optimism. The idea is to make character a part of the curriculum as much as academics.

As mentioned in this article previously, there are some other character strengths which cannot be taught, however as a school we try and provide multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate the presence or absence of those strengths, receive feedback and work on building those strengths. Research shows that the ideal age for building self control is 0-6 years, 3,4 and 5 being particularly important. Grit and self- control predict success and grit is in completely unrelated to IQ. It is also important that we teach students to appreciate the role of failure while trying to succeed and the confusion that goes with it.

To ensure character development is embedded in our system we need to start using constructive responding and focus on growth mindset. We need to further work on developing systems or routines that are designed to teach character. For example - working independently with focus teaches grit. Character strengths need to be taught in with proactive planning and needs to be recurring. It needs to be active, i.e students need to experience these strengths and the activities should be planned in alignment with character strengths we intend to teach.

Ownership to the students: Since we believe that students should take ownership of their learning, we need to set up structured time to help children understand the development in their own character strengths (PSHE lessons - once every week or once in 10 days). We can use this time to link behaviours to character strengths where each child decides to work on certain character strengths. Students should reflect and score themselves on the character strengths they want to work on. This should be done every term to establish the importance of  character strengths. This time can also be used to facilitate conversations and to receive feedback on character strength. The idea is not to track growth over time but to provide a platform for conversations about growth over time.

'Meeting Someone' is not the same as 'Mating with them'

'Life cycle of birds' was our topic of discussion which began by understanding the parts of an egg:

Th egg hatched, and gave birth to an extensive discussion. Words like 'fertilisation', 'sperm' and 'embryo' led us to discuss the life cycle of birds and humans.

Miss are you telling us that we eat a baby which is about to be born ?

Misconception: All eggs are fertilised

The sperm is in the egg (in fertilised eggs). How does the transfer happen?

Misconception: The hen and the rooster kiss for the transfer to take place or maybe the hen eats the rooster...... (The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination. - Albert Einstein)

What do you mean by the adults mate and reproduce?

Mate (introduction of the word 'sex')

A few giggles.....I am mature enough to handle this conversation expression...... Miss, why are you using such  weird words?

Misconception: Meeting means mating. When you meet someone, you're mating with them

Questions

1. Can someone have babies without getting married?

2. Can you have babies on your own?

3. If someone decides to have their own babies, where will they arrange the sperm from?

4. Can you have more than one baby with the same person?

5. Can you have a baby with someone if you are divorced?

6. How do the people who collect eggs from the farm know which ones are fertilised and which ones are unfertilised?

While my students were learning about life cycles, I learnt how to crack open an egg as I did it for the first time in my life:) #newlearning  #thereissomethinginitforeveryone

Force and Machines

I wonder

They gave me Science textbooks to read
without understanding my need
Words never explained concepts to me
I wondered why they didn't let me experiment with what I see
I was made to feel I wasn't scientifically inclined
But I left all that behind
It's only now that I discovered
That my mind also wondered
My learning style was different
I preferred to do things instead of relying on print
Gardener says I am a bodily kinesthetic learner
I wish they realized this earlier, at least my Science lessons would have been funner:)
                                         - Vrinda Gupta

Friction on different surfaces

Water Resistance: Where does the Plasticine ball fall faster- in the glass jar with water or on the table? 

Measuring the force of Gravity

Simple Machines- Assemble your own to see how it works!

PULLEY

GEARS

PULLEY

EUREKA!

 HOW DOES A PULLEY WORK WITH AN INCLINED PLANE ?

Shaun Tan- The one of a kind author

Cultivating the love for reading in children is not as easy as it may seem, but with authors like Shaun Tan, the job of a teacher definitely becomes easier.

His stories not only transport the reader to another world, but leaves them to perceive the story the way they want. The thought provoking stories address relevant issues and bring in discussions about current affairs which is disappearing from the education system, especially in primary school.

This is how Eric was depicted in the story 'Eric'- Tales from Outer Suburbia

While some children called it a leaf, others visualised it as a nut stealer, peanut hoarder, ant man with a peanut sack, tiny man.

In our times, we would have probably compared it to 'Thumbelina'

There's A Boy in The Girls' Bathroom - Louis Sachar (Novel Study)

The bathroom was set, the toilet paper was rolling and it was time to relieve ourselves with the most awaited novel of this academic year.

All you need is cardboard, pink chart paper and toilet paper rolls to convert your classroom into a bathroom.

A novel which changes the dynamics of the entire classroom and is a personal favourite of the teachers and students.

Bradley's unbelievable stories makes this book believable, engaging and entertaining for the children. For teachers it's an insight into a child's world.

We began the novel by introducing the children to the various cover pages and asked them to predict what the story is about based on the clues from the title and the pictures on the cover.

The responses were marvellous:

1. The boy was probably curious to know how girls do their business.

2. His first language wasn't English and he couldn't read that it was the girls' bathroom.

3. He entered the bathroom because it was a dare.

4. He was new to the school and was quite nervous, so he hid in the girls' bathroom and came out only at the end of the day. Also, he left his toy inside by mistake.

5. He was curious to know if boys and girls have the same fancy equipment in their bathrooms, so he wanted to inspect.

6. He wanted to know what's inside the girls' bathroom, so he dressed up as a girl.

As a teacher I was amazed at how aware my students were when one child came up with the word 'transgender' to describe the picture on the blue cover. An interesting discussion about being open minded and accepting the differences around us, respecting the fact that some people are not happy with their gender which is a natural gift and might have a gender identity, or gender expression, that differs from their assigned sex.

Chapter 1

When we read Chapter 1, we stopped at the following point:

"I have been to the White House," Jeff admitted.

"If you want , I'll tell you about it."

Bradley thought a moment , then said,

I asked the kids what they thought was Bradley's reply. While most of them suggested that Bradley must have lied about having been to White House, they were on the edge of their seats as they waited to hear Bradley's reply. 

"Give me a dollar or I'll spit on you."

3 pages were enough to stir their enthusiasm!

The skills which we focussed on while reading the book were:
End of Chapter 1: Summary Writing
End of Chapter 2 and 3: Writing a Diary entry as Bradley Chalkers - his thoughts and feelings, his worries.

WELCOME TO THE MESSY WORLD OF BRADLEY 

Everyone enjoys giving their two penny bits, including my 9 year olds. Jeff is confused about being friends with Bradley. 

Enter - Our expert advisers (at the end of Chapter 8)

Chapters 9-22 were all about discussions and deep thoughts. 

• He was amazed by how young and pretty she was. He had been expecting an ugly old hag: Students shared some hilarious names they had used for some of their teachers. 
• 'Can I break something?' he asked                                                                                             I asked the students what they'd like to break in class if they were allowed to. Smash, came the reply- windows to break free, the lock to the I-pad trolley for unlimited access, the teacher's laptop so that she couldn't teach anything, tear the jotters- no homework, the teacher's watch so that she can't start the lesson on time
• 'When you tell a lie, the only person you're lying to is yourself'                                               We were working on measuring angles in the Maths lesson. Since most of the students had finished their work, I wrote the answers on the board for them to correct their own work. A student walked up to me and suggested that I erase the answers because some students were still working, and they could copy the answers. Another student overheard this, and responded immediately - 'If they do that, the only person they will be lying to is themselves'

Let's hear it from Bradley

Students wrote a poem as Bradley describing his feelings and thoughts.

Moments that Matter

Time flies, especially if you're surrounded by a cute bunch of monsters v/s aliens.It all started on 7th August 2016 when I got my cohort of 20 cuties who I like to call 'My Kids'

A teacher is all I ever wanted to be, not just because I enjoy teaching children, but because I am fond of interacting with them, listening to their thoughts and ideas. 

Adults are more guarded when they talk; with children it's more honest and transparent.

I'd like to share some of my memorable moments #momentsthatmatter through this post:

1. When our school was celebrating book week, one of the events was reading with family and friends. Most children had their family members come in to read. Some of my kids asked me if I could invite my mother/sister to read and I told them that I had asked my sister, but she refused as she didn't like reading to kids.

Pat came the reply (in chorus) - HOW RUDE AND MEAN

2. We were discussing about habits and I shared with the children what my teachers shared with me. How habits remain forever, if we don't make an effort.

Remove the H from HABIT- ABIT remains

Remove the B from ABIT - BIT remains

Delete the B and IT remains

'If you don't change habits, they remain'

As  a teacher I preached this for quite a few days. One day my kids started saying 'Miss, habits!'

I often use my hand to clean up the white board, instead of using the duster and it was turning into a habit. To help me overcome this, the little ones came to my rescue and every time I reached to clean the whiteboard with my hand, one of them would pop up with the duster , while the others echoed - HABITS:)

3. Noisy Class - 

    Teacher : You DID NOT JUST interrupt your teacher. Do you want me to       turn into this

    Little C: Yes, then I'll catch you and put you in the zoo

    Teacher: I shall escape

    Little C : Wouldn't be that easy, I'll catch you again!

4

                                                             On the very first day of school, I introduced my kids to these 6 levels and discussed what they meant. Most of them were eager to work towards level 6. 

The real treat was when I told the kids, that a particular piece of work would earn them a sticker if presented well, and what I heard next in unison was : Miss, but that's level 2 behaviour:D

I love these adorable little creatures, they call 'kids'

It's a joyride every single day.

5. On the last day of the term ,while saying our goodbyes:

Me: Am I not getting a goodbye hug from you guys?

While some of them did, most boys had this expression on their face - eeew, yuck, no way

Shy and cute - #littleboys

 I will believe everything you say, but please don't tell me that you added or subtracted mentally using the column method.
Kids: Miss, why is so difficult for you to believe? People can do column in their heads.
Me: Wait till you grow up and realise that you were using some mental strategy all this while, counting up or counting back:P

Yes, it's Friday and I dare not touch the board!