Story of a travel and learning -Part 1

Someone said 'We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment'. We four people traveled for around 15 days in neighbor country 'India' but cannot say for sure 'if we could feel fulfillment (deep inside us) or not',  but I can say for sure that this long trip gave freshness and vigor to our mind and souls.
I would start my post by referring to more quotes:

• “Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” – Gustave Flaubert
• “The use of traveling is to regulate imagination with reality, and instead of thinking of how things may be, see them as they are.” – Samuel Johnson
• “Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.” – Seneca

Our travel plan was discussed few months ago, when my husband felt that he needed further medical checkup at Calcutta. We Bangalis frequently visit our neighbor country India to avail medical treatment and our closest and first destination is Calcutta.
I have visited Inida two times before, but it was long ago (once 15 and then about 12 years ago). Both times I could travel Calcutta and Darjeeling. This time our plan was different from the past ones. Our nephew searched online and found a ready made plan (many travel agents offers these kind of plans). It was a twelve days package including travel to Calcutta, Delhi, Agra, Shimla, Manali etc.

Manali (picture taken with a DSLR camera) 

Acupressure in classroom

'Use of Acupressure in classroom' may seem a very strange phenomenon, but it can help us dealing with the children having learning difficulties. During many years of my teaching I tried to apply variety of techniques to make my teaching effective and manage my classroom in the best possible way. For example applying 'Brain gym' exercises in my classroom proved a real success, as my early year students were more focused and less distracting. Acupressure therapy or massage is another alternative technique which can help children achieve metal and emotional health and create a healthier environment of learning.

A few words about Acupressure:
Acupressure is an alternative therapy developed over 5,000 years ago in China. It uses precise finger placement and pressure over specific points along the body. These points follow specific channels, known as meridians. Acupressure therapy can be used to relieve pain, reduce tension in muscles, improve circulation and promote deep states of relaxation. Acupressure can make you think clearer, be more creative and powerful.

Training session with child psychologist

In a general classroom, diversity among students, their learning styles and behavior is a common practice. Students with behavior problems or learning disabilities are often overlooked or misunderstood, and thus identification of these problems and then consult child psychologist or school counselor is important. As child psychology helps us learn about the social and mental development of children, so the role of school counselor or educational psychologist is very important in this context.

Why we should worry about behavior problems?

In addition to the physical needs such as food, clothing, and shelter, kids need fun, freedom, power, and a sense of belonging. If these needs aren't met in positive ways, problems develop. For some children, serious behavior problems/difficulties become a pattern that can include acting impulsively, reacting with aggression, refusing to follow reasonable directions, and defying adult authority. Sometimes you'll find your child just hasn't learned age-appropriate social skills. Kids with learning disabilities (LD) and/or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) also may develop behavior problems.

Award Leader Training of 'The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award'

Learning can be fun when it is integrated with play or leisure activities and creating links with real life situations. 'Earth House Alternative School' believes that leisure or extra curricular activities play a very important role in the development of life skills such as negotiation, communication, problem solving, presentation etc.As 'Earth House' aims to help children reclaim learning through investigation and play, it matches with the ideology of 'The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award'.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DEA) Foundation Bangladesh arranged a day Long Award Leader Training on Friday, 12 December 2014 held at 'Earth House Alternative School'. Purpose of this 'Award Leader Training was to explain award leader responsibilities practically, so that the participants could supervise the program smoothly and lead the Award participants efficiently in future.

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Foundation, Bangladesh offers the world's most prestigious award for young people "The Duke of Edinburgh's Award" to Bangladesh. It is a compact self development program which facilitates young people (aged 14 – 25) to be more worthy of making and leading a better world. It also makes them be enough versatile to experience different tastes of various phases of life.

Importance of a field trip to museum

Visiting museums is a an easy way to understand and get better knowledge about the past history or culture of that specific area. Museums are the places where we can observe centuries of history by looking at handicrafts and archaeological artifacts.

A primary role of museums is to engage and educate the community. Geography, culture and history can be linked and made interactive by visiting a museum.

One of the most crucial and difficult tasks of the museum today is to communicate a country's natural and cultural heritage in a way that illuminates the contemporary situation. Museums are examples of informal learning environments, which means they are devoted primarily to informal education — a lifelong process whereby individuals acquire attitudes, values, skills and knowledge from daily experience and the educative influences and resources in his or her environment.

Benefits of mixed age classroom

Many parents are not aware of term 'mix age classroom' or 'composite class' and they are curious to know it. But this concept is not new, as this method is being applied and adopted in many schools around the world, successfully.
'Earth House Alternative School' adopted this method as being a small school. Whenever teachers arranged a learning session or group work in multi age classroom, it was observed that there was a very friendly and warm learning atmosphere among children. Older children in particularly become "experts" and explaining things to the younger ones. So this kind of social interaction helps all students learn many more things as compared to a regular classroom. In mixed-age classes, older children have opportunities to practice leadership skills and pro-social behaviors, like helping and sharing. Development of social or emotional skills is possible at ease, in a mixed age classroom.

Multi-age classrooms or composite classes are classrooms with students from more than one grade level.

Story telling and cross curriculum links for enhanced learning

New research shows that 70% of what we learn is consumed through storytelling. For centuries, people have used stories to pass on knowledge. When information is embedded in the context of a story, it is transferred to a listener or reader in a unique way.

Students who learn through telling and reflectively processing their stories develop skills that enable them to link subjective and objective perspectives, capture the complexity of experience and bring about thoughtful change to self and practice.
When storytelling is used as a robust mode of inquiry, student learning is enhanced in multiple ways.

Stories bring learning to life in early years. A head teacher said: “I realized that this is truly inclusive learning – the impact is as significant on the gifted and talented as it is on reluctant and disengaged children – they all achieved together.”

Meaningful storytelling processes and activities incorporate opportunities for reflective dialogue, foster collaborative endeavor, nurture the spirit of inquiry and contribute to the construction of new knowledge. In addition, cultural, contextual and emotional realities can be acknowledged, valued and integrated into storytelling processes.

Last two weeks early year classes of 'Earth House Alternative School' were learning in an interactive way using the theme from famous story 'The Tiger Who Came To Tea'

Importance of an educational psychologist in a school

According to a report from NCLD (National Center for Learning Disabilities) 'Today 57% of students with disabilities spend more than 80% of their day in general education classrooms, yet general education teachers consistently report that they do not have the skills they need to effectively instruct diverse learners, including students with disabilities.
So general education teachers must understand how to work with a growing population of diverse students. As students with learning disabilities are often overlooked or misunderstood. Understanding the implications of learning disabilities, preparing to teach students with diverse characteristics, and learning to accommodate students with learning disabilities are essential for general teachers.