The grass is greener... Where?

"The grass is greener on the other side,"

You use this proverb to express your feelings when you realize the things other people have or when their situation looks better than your own. However they may or may not be really so, yet we perceive them to be. We tend to believe that ‘The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence’. Often, we compare our homes to those of others, or our relationships or the work we do, all seems so mundane and so the other side starts seeming greener. For instance, take your work place, often we say, that school is better, they do this, that work is nicer, even in a relationship we say something similar; other’s relationships seems more perfect than our own, Grass is indeed greener on the other side. Then comes along someone wiser and gives us a thought to live by- ‘Try to be content where you are, rather than thinking that things are better on the ‘other side’, than my side’. So, begins our journey of contentment. We start being happy and content in what we have, however have you ever wondered why can’t we have both the sides, our side and the greener side. Another thought comes to mind, as often when we reach the other side of the fence the grass doesn’t seem Greener anymore? I sat wondering about all these questions.

I then heard someone say yet another phrase and it stuck with me: The Grass is Greener where you water it. This quote got onto me like magic, I could make sense of the world and what was happening to me. I was content and yet had greener grass. I stopped complaining about my life and situations in my life. If I wanted my job to be better, I had to water it and nurture it and likewise for my relationship, if I wanted it better, needed to water it. The grass on the other side is greener, because someone else is watering it and nurturing it and your side Grass is arid because it lacks your attention and nurturing. That other side Green grass doesn’t belong to you, it belongs to the person watering it and that is the reason when you reach the other side the Grass doesn’t seem greener. So whichever side you are on, just make your grass green.

It is in our hands to water our grass, we have that power. If your grass starts becoming scorched, here are some ways to water it:

·       Identify what you want: You must get a hang of your wants and direction

·       Know why do you want it: You must know why you want something to drive you through and take actions for when you are faced with the challenges and struggles

·       Why is it that you still don’t have it: Is it that you have never wanted it so much in life or what are you waiting for, so don’t blame anyone for what you haven’t been able to achieve because you haven’t done enough to get it, haven’t watered your grass well

·       What is it you are not doing to get the results: Distraction, procrastination and casual attitudes lead to arid grass on your side. Get going and moving out of your comfort zone.

At the end, I would only say that Grass is always Greener on the side it is watered, rest is all perception. We have the power to choose to make our side Greener or Arid.

 Reference:

Image: godinreallife.com

https://catherinecollautt.com/blog/the-grass-is-greener/

Ways of Knowing

The new Education Age by Richard Gerver..........

Does it really matter what kids remember, or what they understand. We have to learn to find our own answers and have to Stop waiting for someone else to give answers. In the changing world our children will have to find solutions to all the problems like, global crisis, depleting natural resources,  that we have been creating by taking things for granted.

With the technology in the boom, a questions that always lurks in ones mind, Can technology replace teachers? And this was a question posed to Eric Shmidth Chairman of Google…….. He said  'No, because education has been the backbone of human beings and to provide this backbone, you need human touch, so technology supports teaching but can never replace teachers'

This is so true, any amount of technology is of no use unless humans use it and work with it, and it is created by the humans so how can Teachers be replaced by technology. Technology can only support you, but never replace you.

The speaker also spoke about the core vision of technology giants like Google, which is………..

Core vision... ‘Organise the world information to make it easily available and do no evil’, and the problem was that every time one tries to copy what others are doing, you lose your own creativity the mind wouldn’t work.

The other core idea that was much talked about was: Employing people  who don’t need managing. How often as heads of School or heads of the class, we spend most of our time in trying to manage people, wouldn’t it be great if we employed people who wouldn’t need managing, rather that time would be spent more productively. It is true for a well-managed or shall we say self-managed class as opposed to a totally disorganized class.

What kind of qualities do self-managers posses:

Henery Jenkins professor at MIT created a list for people who had the following skills:

Ø  Play

Ø  Performance

Ø  Simulation

Ø  Knowing how to behave

Ø  Multitasking

Ø  Networking

Ø  Knowing what tool to use

Ø  Negotiation

Another aspect that was briefly discussed was if the environment mattered in the learning and grasping abilities of people. Well we all know that Early Years education is most challenging,  it is about active learning,  it is about engaging the 3 to 5 year olds to tryout new things, experiment and be engaged at all times and this is the age when the children learn the most.

You learn the best when you are relaxed, so best idea that pops in your head is on a holiday, etc.

That is why early years children learn best when they are at play and relaxed....that is why PLAY is most important for that age group.

Stories for all

Stories have been there for as many years as humans have been. Since the evolution of our race, storytelling was amongst the first forms of art. Infact looking at origin of any form of art; be it visual or performing arts it was to tell stories, stories of the past, present and depicting future. There is strong evidence of storytelling through all the ages, cave man drew pictures and symbols on the walls of the caves, the Australian Aboriginal people painted symbols on the walls of caves and used oral narrative, music, rock art and dance to tell stories and similar methods were used by other ancient civilizations as well. The art of storytelling evolved and with time we were able to tell them through drama, and further through inventions came in cinema and other digital modes.

All experiences one has, are in the past, it’s gone and will not be here again. It’s the memories that are left, which is merely a shadow of the past and when we put this shadow into words, we often relive the fading memory which becomes a story. In short experiences when narrate become stories, here some may be real and other could be an imagination triggered from an experience. Stories enhance imagination, developing creativity, develop logic and critical thinking and amuse emotional aspect of our life. Stories and storytelling has been an integral aspect of our lives always, yet in Schools our focus is limited on stories unlike the other disciplines.

Through the past, stories have been told using various mediums, yet when we tell stories to the young minds, there are certain aspects that need to be considered. The story that is selected should be age, gender, region specific, if you looking at persuasive results.  Here are some tips for effective storytelling:

Create an atmosphere by selecting a suitable place, the listeners should be seated comfortably in front of you and there should be minimal distractions during the sessions. Props could hold the interest of the little ones but overindulgence may sidetrack their attention. Keeping some of the aspects in mind Genesis has developed their story corner as part of the School library.

Focus on your voice, keep the enunciation clear and direct full of tone modulations as per the need of the age group. Use 'chatty' language but don't over-simplify, again depending on the age group.

Pause for brief interactions, to keep the young children keenly involved in the story. Build up to the climax and then take a longer pause to let the students first imagine the next bit.

Remember: short stories for little people; longer stories for older ones works well. 

Arrival At Edinburgh and around the town.......

Merchiston Castle School

Scottish Times

Scottish Times

Summers! Ah! That’s what the Scottish say in the month of May. Well bone chilling winds, with no sunshine but blanket of clouds hovering above is what Scotland is all about at this time of the year. I wont lie and say that this is the case always, because I have been here in sunnier times, with open blue skies and warm sun shine too.

This place sure takes me back to so many memories, of my school days as a student and then as a teacher as well. My worktable in the room has a view of the deeps woods and beyond that of the not so dense city on a small hill, reminding me of Charabra, Shimla. Where the view from my work table was exquisitely pristine, 180 degrees view of the Himalayan snow covered peaks with a pine tree or two tying to match that height only in perspective and failing in their attempts. So this is the place I am living in.

The School building takes me back to Doon School, main building and then sub-divided into Art and Music School, the Science lab as in Science School and the Math and Languages block. The structure looks so familiar, in the feel of it and smells as well. The divided stairways leading to the Headmasters office and the main hall, well to the Headmasters office sure is same as my School had. The class rooms have the same feel to it.

Let me bask in my memories till my next post.

Education now........from here where?

While flipping through the pages of TOI last Saturday, I came upon an article by a renowned novelist on the Education system in India. Yes I agree a cent percent here, about the two factors being the stumbling blocks in our education system; one, the lack of A class universities and second, the age old syllabi still in the available universities. I would like to add the third biggest impediment to this that is lack of competent educators and facilitators. Who are there for their sheer passion for the profession and the young minds and not for filling yet another job position.

I oft ponder over the issues around me and wonder who is responsible for them. The only answer that screams back at me is ‘We are to be held responsible for all that happens around us’. This is an interesting analogy on how the issues around us are directly proportional to the education system

This education system was adopted by us taking what the British left us with. We did not even bother to change a wee bit in the Education system. We forgot the British had made the Education system for the slaves and we were not slaves anymore. And today after 62 years of independence we still studying under the Education system meant for the slaves, then how do you expect to have leaders out of this education system.

The teachers in Government Schools and Universities have been employed on the basis of their degrees and certificates and not as much on their exposure to education. In the 80’s and 90’s, people who didn’t do much with their lives became teachers, because they had cleared the Bachelors of Education examination and had the degrees. This is the plight of our country, educators with high degrees but no exposure to imparting education. Education is not about teaching a subject, it’s about creating life-long learners. For those who say, “I teach English, Math, Science, Social Science……..” are only teaching subjects, but for those who say, “I teach children, educating them and equipping them with life skills” are the ones who are molding the future of a nation.

I sincerely wish for a better Education system, along with a fine teaching faculty. I just hope that I am able to bring a little change here, by changing the thoughts of a few teachers.