Observe Patterns to Save Time and multiply Prodcutivity!

 

I have written many articles on Time Management for the teachers earlier than this one. This is an important factor which reduces stress in your life. I like to write on this topic because more often I have seen that teachers do not see beyond teaching or finishing curriculum in the classroom. Vision is an important part in any profession. If you just enter a profession without any vision for the future your progress is slow.

 

I entered the profession without a vision but my goal was set on day two of my job. My mind had registered the fact that I wanted to see myself working as a principal of a school one day.

I admit…

I never took steps immediately to proceed towards my goal. For years I was just content and satisfied working as a teacher. It was much later that I pushed myself to achieve the goal which I had set for myself.

Anyway… I want to talk about Time Management and I will stick to it.

 

Nature has a pattern. All living things function according to a set pattern. We all know about tides and rotation and revolution of the earth. These are set patterns of Nature. There is no stress in Nature because the pattern is almost set.

Similarly, every school and the education system in the country has a few basic set patterns. If a teacher observes the pattern and keeps a note about it, she will be able to complete her work well before time and there will be no cause for stress.

In this article I will only speak about the basic functioning of the school which cannot be ruled out ever. Pay attention to the points mentioned here to get rid of all your time management and anxiety related issues.

It is commonly said that take care of your pennies and the pounds will multiply on their own. If you take care of these daily or monthly or yearly patterns which occur in a school, you will surely focus on bigger goals and progress in your career.

1 Foresee and foretell: As a teacher you must know about what is going to come next in the routine or as a task.

Just a brief example-Every school has a set assessment pattern. The examination department generally asks for question papers and other requirements a few days in advance. This time period is also previously fixed.

As a teacher if you have foreseen the dates then you must also start preparing the question paper a bit in advance. If you do this, you will not be pressurised when the dates are announced for the submission of the question paper.

Similarly, a class test pattern is set, the tentative time period of the annual functions is fixed, parent Teacher Meet is pre decided, celebrations or certain inter school activities are pre-determined, etc.

There are many such other events and activities which are planned at the beginning of the year and then implemented when the time comes. You can gain advantage if you foresee and then foretell about these happenings and keep your own submissions ready beforehand.

 

Most teachers know about these dates but the only thing I have heard from them is-Oh no..they are asking for it again.

OR

There is a lot of time in hand now. I will do it later. (This ‘later’ becomes the killer weapon for action and you just procrastinate to avoid the task.)

2 Mind your minutes to mind the hours:

There are some tasks which are to be done every day. They seem insignificant in nature because they take very less time and are due every day the minute you reach school. Like: Marking attendance for yourself, marking the attendance for the students, submitting the daily attendance report or the daily log, writing date and attendance on the class board, etc.

Even planning a leave and setting aside some assignment to be done while you are on leave. This is a routine process but most teachers pretend they have overlooked it.

Teachers do not understand why these tasks are important and so often they are avoided. They try to overlook it or postpone it thinking that the leadership will forget it. But time and again it adds to negligence or carelessness on your part.

Teachers ask for forgiveness once then twice on such matters when questioned and reprimanded but they should understand that this should be a part of your discipline to complete these tasks without any reminders.

 

No work is small or mundane or insignificant. Work is work. It has to be done.

3 Workstation:

Define a space in the school or the staffroom which will be your workstation. That space is your space. Stick notes. Keep it neat and tidy. Give it a glimpse of your personality. Attach value to it.

At times a good and organised workstation pulls you to work.

4 Maintain folders or files

Organising your work place takes less time but it leaves a lot of time in your hand to do other things. All the papers and important documents should be kept in proper files or folders. Extra paper should be either given for recycling in the school or destroyed if not required.

Take note:

A Do not ever store any piece of extra paper.

B Do not keep any paper in the attendance registers or teacher’s diary.

Teachers receive a lot of applications from the students or test papers, etc. Never keep loose papers in books, note books, attendance registers, class log books, etc.

The correct place of a loose paper is in a file. Take a file from the office, punch the papers and file them. Write appropriate title on the file so that you are able to find the papers later on under proper heads.

 

5 Carry a pocket diary

While moving in the school, or while talking to the teachers, or while teaching in the classrooms, you remember some important tasks which were to be done. Make a habit of writing it down in your diary. You will completely stay focussed and get all the work done in time.

6 Talk to all the teachers in the staff room:

This one is a golden rule. Each teacher works at their own pace. But there are some very proactive teachers. They not only complete their work well in time but they are also the ones who are foreseeing and foretelling most of the time. Keep talking to everyone in the staffroom and do keep a track of what others are doing in the current time. If you have skipped an important point or two, you will be apprised well in time of the task coming up or is immediately due.

 

All this helps you to wrap up your work in a proper way. Hence you have a lot of time in hand to practice creativity or target your higher goals.

Raising Innovators? Introduce STEM in school!

Picture Credit: kidsparkeducation.org

STEM in School is related to the spirit of innovation!

India is known as a land of innovations. There are too many innovations which were done by Indians in the ancient past. All these innovations are listed in most of the museums spread across India and also a few abroad.

We have heard about them in different Bollywood movies taking great pride when they were narrated by the protagonist of the movie indicating nationalism and patriotism.

“India has been a land of innovations for the past 5000 years. It is just that we are not good at marketing ourselves.”-Dr V A Shiva Ayyadurai, Inventor of Email, Systems Scientist

After the invasion of British, we lost our identity. We forgot our heroes and in the wake of English Education. We embraced the heroes of other countries as our path guiders. What was needed was to have feelings of Nationalism. We should have kept our own innovators on the pedestals and looked up to them.

The school textbooks also taught about the important people of the western world and our own stalwarts did not receive a right place.

The result was we started copying the west and the spirit of innovation was lost somewhere. The education system was also such that the focus was on developing literacy among the masses not the skills.

The education in school was limited to duplicating not discovering.

The way to India’s development and progress was through education. But sadly education was misunderstood for decades in India. Parents were also of the opinion that literacy was the main output of education.

“The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice.”

With the evolving demands of the marketplace there was a need of change in the school education system.

This change took place slowly and it is fulfilling the future needs of the children.

“My child can use a computer or a mobile better than I can but he doesn’t score good marks.”

As an administrator I have heard this statement a thousand times. But I am not able to provide a solution to it.

Reason-the parent is not willing to take the next step.

That next step is STEM-SCIENCE-TECHNOLOGY-ENGLISH-MATHEMATICS

STEM is the next step which motivates the child to proceed from being a user of technology to an innovator of technology.

This little step is not being understood by the parent community. The child gets carried away by the gadgets. He takes in a lot of knowledge but does not have the necessary space and guidance to experiment and put it to use.

Importance of STEM in daily lives

It is understood that all the children are not going to end up in professions related to STEM skills. Some are going to be artists, musicians, writers, actors, etc.

But all of them will need these skills in their daily life. A homemaker will need Math to develop and maintain a household budget, at some point they may need to repair or look after the maintenance of electrical equipments or plumbing, etc., science to question and understand certain procedures, etc.

If STEM skills are developed among the children from a young age, they will be helpful to them in many ways throughout their lives.

Future of Jobs

We are fast outpacing the STEM related jobs to the availability of STEM skilled graduates. In future most jobs will be requiring the skills related to either Science or Math.

Out of the total engineers who pass out every year almost 80 percent are not fit for any job in employable economy.

Reason lack of practical skills.

A survey suggests that only 4.6 % of the engineers have ‘good coding skills’. The other candidates are not apt at writing good codes which is the first necessity of their job.

What is the reason for such abysmal figures?

The engineering being taught in Indian colleges is mainly theory based. The students do not take their internships seriously. Only 40 % of the students complete their internships properly and only 36% work upon internships which are beyond their coursework.

So the point is that the approach to practical education is lacking right from the school level up to the engineering college level.

Hence there is a dire need of practical education being implemented in schools. The seed has to be sown here for innovations to start happening in India.

STEM inculcates Creativity

Creativity is not merely limited to Humanities and Arts. It plays a major part in Science, Engineering and Math also. If it is to create or repair, it requires imagination and then creativity.

STEM totally works upon thinking creatively. The child is given material and the liberty to create.

“Creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected.”-Wiliam Plomer

The child will try to connect the unconnected and in the process will be creative to a great extent.

It adopts a Problem Based Approach

It is my firm belief that if we give a problem to the child, he will look for a solution.

Today’s education is all about providing problems to the children and in return seeking solutions from them. From the classroom to the environment there are many aspects which require innovative solutions. Brainstorming with the children helps them to come up with ideas.

In my experience when we put a problem before them the children come up with wonderful and practical solutions.

STEM provides this approach to the children. The different DIY and other aspects of this education provides the child with the problem. Then it gently prods so that the child tries to look for a solution.

In the process their logical and analytical skills are challenged. They question, ask, find out and research in order to find an answer for the given problem in front of them.

Resilient Kids

Resilience simply means pulling yourself up after every failure. The child learns to face failures, and then to deal with it. Not every experiment or engineering technique will be successful. They will fail but they learn to rebuild what they could not build at one go.

The process of facing failure is important in a child’s life. Failures give important lessons. Life does not involve only successes. Hence facing failure and learning to overcome it is an integral part of STEM education.

Conclusion:

Very few children in high school show an inclination and good skills in Science and Math. The future jobs will involve STEM skills. It is important to give an exposure to the children at school. Maximum students should be comfortable with these skills.

REMEMBER: Innovators will evolve with STEM EDUCATION!

Collaboration in Education-Is it necessary?

“Collaboration, as it turns out, is not a gift from the Gods but a skill that requires effort and practice.”

The internet etiquettes have increased but social interaction has decreased. With children, youngsters and adults spending more and more time on the internet, there is very less space for interaction and collaboration. Hence collaboration in education has become the need of the hour.

Collaboration is emerging as one of the most important skills for 21^st century learners.

More than 80% of the employers look for good collaboration skills among the new hires, according to a survey conducted by the Association of American Colleges and Universities. But sadly, as per their call, less than 40% of the new hires are geared up with this skill before they enter the workforce.

Teaching collaboration in schools and especially in Primary education has many benefits. Giving group work to the children and making them find a solution to the ultimate is the ultimate hack that we look forward to.

Some of the benefits of collaboration in education are-

1 

        1.      Confidence Building-

One of the popular confidence quotes for children is-

‘Put all excuses aside and remember this: You are capable’-Zig Ziglar

When a task is given to a team of students, they take it up for discussion among the group. Then the tasks are divided into micro tasks and goals are set which they plan to achieve. When a major task is divided into micro manageable tasks, the children feel at ease and believe that they can be achieved with a certain amount of success. This builds up confidence among them.

2     2.  Resilience among children-  All the characteristics of a resilient child can be seen in the children when they are working in a group. Their ideas might be liked by the others in the group or they might be rejected. The children learn to bounce back into form even if they are ridiculed for their idea or criticized for not completing the task as per the set standards of the group. If they do well, the group showers praise, and if they fall behind, the group offers support. So they learn in both cases.

3    3.  Gains for the Introverts- There are majorly two types of people-the introverts and the extroverts. The extroverts are dominant and at times impose their views upon others. The introverts might not be allowed to speak but they learn even by listening during the group discussion.

4. Conflict resolution- Negotiation and communication are embedded in the term collaboration. There might be mistrust or arguments and non-agreement on the way the tasks are to be done. The children learn to negotiate and communicate. If their idea is worth it, it gets accepted. Otherwise, the child learns to accept failure as a learning lesson when the task does not meet the set aim of the group.

       5.  Division of work and multiplied benefits-  

“Collaboration divides tasks and multiplies success.”

While collaborating in a group, the tasks get divided but when the set task is accomplished the success is manifolds. There is a sense of achievement and positivity among each member of the group. There might have been some tasks which would have been difficult for some of the members. These tasks are either taken over by those members who are well equipped to do it or help and advice is easily available in the group. Hence no task seems daunting to any member.

Teaching collaboration to children in a classroom is not easy. The teacher should create a small group and assign roles or tasks to the students. Mostly the students tend to take the task and work independently not realizing that they are actually contributing to a group. Each participant must feel and know that the task is very important and it will eventually contribute to the success of the group. Take care that no one is just waiting to enjoy a free ride when others are slogging hard.

Just motivate them to understand that-“No matter how minimal the task is, the success will be mammoth for everyone.”

Hence it is important that the educators take to teaching collaborative skills in their classroom to the students.