Best Practices
March 2, 2024 2024-08-26 13:12Best Practices
Best Practices
Circle Time
Circle Time is when children find more about themselves and what they are capable of. It is a time when they begin to realise how they can relate to others. Every morning, children and teachers start their day with this articulation of their feelings, ideas, and plans for the day. Together, they also set the structure for the day. This makes children aware of what their shared expectation is, and how they should individually plan their work as per this structure. It is also an experience of developing mind-body integration. Children and teachers engage in a variety of exercises which combine simple relaxation techniques such as deep breathing with positive visual imagery. It helps the brain to improve or learn new skills such as concentration.
Assessment as Learning
Learning is a process of constructing knowledge and making sense of the world. It is a social activity. When children enquire about various processes and phenomena, they begin to collaborate in developing a shared understanding. This cognitive and social engagement enables children to become more aware of their own thoughts and thinking too. When they talk about or explain what they do, and how they do, they begin to reflect on their own thinking and develop insights that can inform further action. Learning then becomes a process of self-assessment, and assessment becomes the process of learning itself. Through various specific and general learning experiences, children are engaged in developing criteria or traits of the topic/question of exploration which they are able to use as a tool for self-assessment.
Personal Diaries
When children write, it is to write about what they have thought… to write what they already have in mind. This is very different from sitting down to think about what to write. This form of articulation or notation becomes a tool for self-reflection. Children in Junior Classes are encouraged to write for pleasure. They use their creative imagination to not refer to the past, but to create a past that belongs to them. They are able to connect to themselves, give voice to their feelings, and become more aware of themselves through this practice of self-expression. Teachers play a vital role in talking to children about what they feel in order to genuinely know them better. Their role is to activate, especially indirectly, these meaning-making and self-refection abilities in children.
Breathing, and
Silence Time
Developing the Class Constitution
Shouldering Responsibilities
A school and classroom are the birthplaces for values, attitudes and interests. When children experience problems, they begin to share how to address these problems. Teachers guide children in being able to co-create certain structures and practices that can not only become reminders for keeping problems at bay, but also principles to generate thought about how to create meaningful practices. Hence, children also begin to shoulder responsibilities in class, becoming managers of stationary, notebooks, fun sheets, cleanliness, lining up for movement across school, and issuing of books and other such aspects. They begin to listen to each other and respond with respect.
Organising Activities
The nature of human language is that it is a tool not only for expression, but also a tool for thought to develop and flourish. Language becomes critical in areas where we need to organise our activity. Then, to co-create meaning, and reflect meaningfully to create meaningful experiences for the self and others, language plays the role of connecting people. This culture of sharing is strengthened by activities of organising events together with children. These experiences not only develop passion for collaborative work, but also the value of perseverance and persistent effort. And, in turn, children’s expressions become symbols of respect for work-based relationships wherein words such as ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ move from being mere automatic responses towards genuine ethics.
Itihaas Expeditions
