What it takes to spread the joy of learning at schools - Unnati Dabral

Children and Young Adults tend to spend their joyful yet crucial years of life in school. School days are the precious years of a student's life. 

The joy of learning in schools may be defined in numerous ways. Learning something new with fellow mates always has its charms and challenges, whether in the classroom or on the playground. 'Finding Joy' is seeing oneself grow little by little, learning, growing, falling, escaping, again coming on the loop, trying and experiencing unusual things in those marvellous hours at school.

Have you ever thought about our adrenaline rush while reading a thrilling novel? Oh! And how just a mere acknowledgement of the fact that its sequel might be available in our school library in the coming month excites us? What a relieving thought with an inexpressible enthusiasm.

An infusion of joy with learning helps a learner to feel less stressed. It motivates positive learning experiences. Children are more eager to learn when handled with care and happiness.

To understand what it takes to spread the joy of learning at schools, we need to know what actually brings joy to the students?

The answer is:-
∆ Games
∆ Toys
∆ Colours
∆ Artworks
∆ Cartoons
∆ Adventures
∆ Jokes
∆ Celebrations

And for these to take place, a teacher should have the listed qualities and thus qualifies his/her limitations to strengths:- 
∆ Passionate towards teaching
∆ Caring
∆ Kind
∆ Able to create a flowing atmosphere
∆ Introducing egalitarianism among students
∆ Humourous
∆ Knows his/her students

There is much more to learn, give, write, do, and thus explore. Looking forward to spreading the joy of learning at schools and worldwide.

- Unnati Dabral 
Fellow at My Good School for the year 2023-24

A trip to SchoolEducation.Com - Veda Varshita Marrivada

It was a fun and knowledgeable trip visiting the SchoolEducation.Com. It is a website created by the Good School Alliance program. It was an outstanding experience with many things to know about. As I scrolled through the web pages, I came across many other programs held by the Good Schools Alliance. There were many informative videos. Some programs were Happy Teachers, Sunday School, My Good School Retreat etc.

The school song of My Good School was melodious and splendid. It was soothing, lovely, and relaxing to hear. Also, many takeaways from the reflections given by many students were creative and helpful. Coming to the Internships, the reviews provided by the interns made me determined to become an intern in the future.

The various programs listed on the website gave me a sensation of excitement. The website also gave me the curiosity to learn many more things. The Meet and Greet podcasts were fascinating. It was a unique website because it was like an online school. There were several books to read. I could not notice how fast the time passed by just scrolling on the website for half an hour. The various programs also help us to build our vocabulary.

The My Good School Program focuses on the 6 C's, critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, character, and citizenship, which are very important to success in our life and career. There is also a facility to buy many exciting books, such as:

Live Life In Crescendo
Blue Sky, White Cloud
Ratan Tata Ek Prakash Stambh

My Good School
Where passion meets education
And many more are based on our daily life and have many things to learn. This website is very inspirational for me as I could understand there are "No limits to knowledge and learning". It was a spectacular trip visiting the SchoolEducation.com website.

In conclusion, we have many things to learn, and what we know today might help us tomorrow, and whatever we learn is a drop or a pond compared to an ocean. The trip to SchoolEducation.Com will allow us to learn many new things and succeed in our life.

Veda Varishta Marrivada
Grade 5 Hyderabad Public School Begumpet

Please listen to my blog post.

Thank you, iro 2023 & Food4Thought Foundation

Greetings from Sandeep Dutt at The English Book Depot, the bookshop that won the Award for Best Book Store of the Year Category in IRO 2023. Getting the prestigious Award in our 100th year of service at the Hyderabad Literary Festival 2023 is a big honour for us. Thank you, F4TF, for conducting IRO 2023 and recognising individuals and organisations promoting reading habits. I also thank all Sponsors, Aurobindo Pharma Foundation, Amadeus Labs, Odessa Technologies, Signode India Limited and Greengold Animation Pvt Ltd, for supporting F4TF and helping in organising IRO and, most important, identifying people from PAN India and appreciate their work. india reading olympiad® is a platform which enables, encourages, and endorses an ecosystem which creates functional reading spaces & joy for Reading and appreciates the efforts towards igniting a reading revolution across 13 categories, i.e. Life Time Achievement, Reading 4 Pleasure-School, Reading 4 Pleasure- NGO, Reading 4 Pleasure-Institute, Innovative Library Format, Innovation 4 Reading, Best Reading Club, Best Book Store of the Year, iambond Under 18, iambond Above 18, Joy of Reflection(Students), Best Library (F4TF) and Caught Reading. The three broad objectives of the india reading olympiad® are Encourage Reading habits and enable Joy of Reading at large, Encourage and appreciate individuals, groups and institutions which promote Reading and Inspire citizens to become lifelong readers & book lovers.

The beauty of bookshops - Rishona Chopra

                                                              When I enter a bookshop,

I see stories clinging onto shelves nonstop.

I want to look at every shelf,

Even the fantasy stories of an elf.

The environment makes me feel as if I should never leave,

Just sit down and read.

The cosy chairs,

Sad stories that shed tears.

Then I think,

I could have ordered books in a blink.

But it won't be as fun,

In the beautiful world of stories that has just begun!

"We are celebrating  years of the Bookstore and have set up a social space above the Bookstore. The Learning Forward India Foundation works to support schools and schooling with reading, writing, speaking and learning. #MyGoodSchool" - Sandeep Dutt at The English Book Depot.

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School 

Guru Bhakti - Rishona Chopra

You were the one who held my hand, 
You were the one who made me understand.
You don't just have a fantastic carrier,
You make me and many others happier.
You are a superhero,
You would be sweet and understanding even if I got a zero.
You have so many features,
I am proud to say you are my teacher.
You helped me to bring out my best,
You took care of the rest. 
You have so many features,
I am proud to say you are my teacher.
You can be strict,
And very smartly solve a conflict.
You can be sweet and kind,
But somehow, you hide your tired face behind.
You stay up late just to check your notebooks,
And make sure we read exciting books.
You teach us selflessly,
And very carefully.
You have so many features,
I am proud to say you are my teacher.

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

We laugh, we read and we write - Rishona Chopra

The Sunday School is brought to you only by My Good School

Where Passion Meets Education

The Joy of Learning Diaries is a website where students can post their reflections on My Good School’s reading program every Sunday. They can literally post anything they want. We publish the Joy Of Learning Diaries, and our blogs go in an extensive diary where many students can post.

We connect the Joy Of Reading with the joy of writing by -

• What we read in the reading session we reflect upon by writing.
• What we have written can be converted into a podcast (audio file) - Joy of Speaking.

That is how My Good School connects the three joys.

We are here at My Good School, Here things are so cool! Together we learn, Here no teacher is stern!

We learn all the values needed,
After going to My Good School, we all succeeded!
There are several things you can do,
Each item is new!

We can read and write,
We are bright!
We can design and create,
After all, My Good School is great! 11.00 AM SWAMI AND FRIENDS by RK Narayan

11.40 AM The Art Of Focus by Gauranga Das

12.00 PM Hari Ghaas Ki Chhappar Wali Jhopadi Aur Bouna Pahad Hindi Edition  by Vinod Kumar Shukla 

Read With Us!

Rishona Chopra Grade VI Gyanshree School

My Great Grandfather - Rishona Chopra

Hearing - Great Grandfather, you might think he was my grandfather's father, but I am talking about my grandfather, who is so great. I call him"Nanoo". He is the most fun person I know and very cute. We both eat popcorn together and watch TV shows together too! He has a gym cycle in his house, and I always go to his flat to ride on the bicycle. He shows me my mother's photos and old CDs and books. 

I am teaching him how to play Sudoku, too, it's a challenging game, but he is learning it really well and is so passionate. I got a Sudoku book 3 years ago and only did 40 Sudoku, but he got one 3 months ago and has completed 70 puzzles! He definitely won't rest until he has completed all the puzzles! He sometimes has back pain, so I try to help him as much as possible. Sometimes, I can't understand what he says, but when he laughs, I laugh too, even though I don't know why he is laughing! 

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

My enriching world of books - Anusha Jain

 ''A reader liver a thousand lives before he dies'.'

"A book a day keeps the stupidity away".

Books are our companions and friend of all times. They entertain us, teach us, make us knowledgeable, improve our vocabulary and, most importantly, help shape our lives. 

Today, I want to share my small world of books with you. Hope you like it! Happy learning! :)

My Library

Anusha Jain
Class 10th, Ahlcon Public School

My library, my treasure - Yashraj Sharma

We all must have heard the old saying, “Books are our best friends”. That is true; I also have a small and compact home library. I’ve always been interested in reading since I was a child, and books have taught me many life lessons; now, I am trying to work towards making them my personality traits. Books give us food for thought, just like a true friend.

Happy reading.

Yashraj Sharma

Grade 8

Gyanshree school

Books: My Love - Gaurangi Rastogi

Everybody knows that Books are man's best friend, but for me, Books are my besties and unleash my imagination. Make me forget my pain or sometimes brings some memories back. Books changed my perspective on everything.

Like: Boarding schools are so strict! No offence, it was my first thought on the topic. But after I read some books on other people's experiences in other schools. It made me realize that it is an opinion. I have been a reader since childhood, and it helped unleash my imagination.

My childhood started with the stories of Mahabharat, Ramayana, Panchatantra, and many more. I always wish for a bookshelf in which I can store my books more efficiently. Some books are by my favourite author Ruskin Bond. I always love to experiment with the books like the evolution of the authors.

Fun Fact!- I named my shelf 'The Author's Collection'. Isn't it interesting? The biggest reason for books being my love is that they have added awareness to my life. Here is the picture of my "The Author's Collection'!

- Gaurangi Rastogi, The Doon Girls' School

My Library - Amaira

Amaira, Grade 3, Gyanshree School

The desire to buy exceeds the ability to read - Jugjiv Singh

The desire to buy exceeds the ability to read!
Some unopened books...
The pile of unread ones will be higher.
But hopefully one day soon I will get to them!

Jugjiv Singh
Advisor Learning Forward India Foundation

My Library - Rishona Chopra

This is my unique treasure!

I love this treasure,
It gives me pleasure.
It may be long or short,
It's a book resort!

With a great collection,
Each book is an exception.
I love books,
We both have fun and have good looks!

 

Rishona Chopra

Grade VI

Gyanshree School

The Library Car - Rishona Chopra

For me, my favourite place in the entire school is the library. I just wish I could stay in the library for the whole day! Once I start on a book, I don't want to leave it until I have read it all. Whether it's fiction or biography, they are so fun to read. 

A library is not just about books; it's about the variety you keep and the environment you create. The comfy chairs with a wide variety of books and you feel like you could sit there all day. I wish I was at Tomoe, so I could spend the entire day at the library!  

On Wednesday was my first library period in the old library. It was so fun. Although for the period the librarian was telling us the rules and regulations, it was great. I can't wait to read all the books there. Now, Wednesday is my favourite day in School! I am waiting to issue a book there and just can't wait for Wednesday to come. 

                                          The library is where I go, 
                                          It makes me happy when I am low, 
                                          Read books is so cool, 
                                          It's the best place in School! 

Rishona Chopra  
Grade VI 
Gyanshree School

Poem on Books - Arav Agarwal

Oh, books! They are lovely;
When I see the books, I go crazy.

They have many new things to share:
How many times I read a book, I don't care.

They are inspiring;
And all books are fascinating.

They take me to their own world;
And I like them so much.

Name: Arav Agarwal

Grade: 6A

Billabong High International School, Thane

I'M A Night Owl - Gia Gupta

I love My Good School!

Gia Gupta, Class 5F, Gyanshree school, Noida. 
#reading #nightowl #Passion #MyGoodSchool 

Where Passion Meets Education
Reading, Writing and Speaking that is all we do!

If I were a character in a Book I would be ... by Arav Agarwal

Books and characters take us to places where we have to stay where we are, and there are times when we are fascinated by the characters and their qualities that we aspire to be like them. If I were a character in a book, I would be Tom from the series Tom Gates by Liz Pichon.

The character Tom inspires me because he does not have any superpowers, and Tom is like one of us. Still, he is active, intelligent, solution-oriented and loves trying new activities. In one of his books called ‘Super Good Skills’, things did not go the way he wanted, but he made it fun for himself and his family with his qualities. Tom transports me to his school, classroom, home, on his school trips and at his friend’s house, where he teaches so many life values like friendship, being courageous, communication ways and keeping a positive attitude. The most important thing is that he does everything in a fun and enjoyable way. With him, I get motivated to be a better person, give my best in whatever I do and make this world a better place. I love to be in the brilliant world of Tom Gates. 

Name: Arav Agarwal
Grade: 5C
Billabong High International School, Thane

Joy Of Reading - Sunita Mehta

Community Reading Program

It will inspire you by reading and reflecting, sharing examples of where children and adults in real life are using values and is very useful to stimulate discussion and philosophical debate. 

The Joy Of Reading Program is only one part of our standard core curriculum or the Life Skills Program - Reading, Speaking and Writing.   

On Sunday mornings at 11.00 AM, you can join us for live reading sessions. Best you attend with a copy of the book and experience the Joy of Reading. 

Post the session, the readers reflect and share their real-life experiences on our blog Joy Of Learning Diaries - writing, audio, video, graphic, and poetry. #JoyOfLearning

Mentors

Sunita Mehta is a dedicated educator and is the Headmistress at Gyanshree School Noida. She has had the opportunity of teaching in schools all over India.

Sandeep Dutt, School Improvement Coach, has empowered thousands of teachers and touched the lives of near a million children.

For details www.GoodSchools.in

Owls In The Family

The brother school of The Doon Girls' School, Dehradun! Discover books and stories by Ruskin Bond. Listen to Ishwar and Tenzin. Thank you, Ms Sumali Devgan, for showcasing the beautiful art of storytelling! #JoyOfLearning

 

Friendship - Aryama Shukla

Life is a long journey, and your friends make it more cheerful. When you're sad, your friends make you smile, laugh and giggle and make your life fun. They help you to avoid obstacles in life. They support you when you are in need, and you should too. Not only that, but they also play with us and encourage us to do the right thing. We are stronger together. Some of my good friends are Janya, Mishika and Aarohi. They have the power to make me happy just by talking to me!

 Besides humans, I have other friends too, some of them are animals and books. When I am in my house, I usually get bored. One day,  when I went to visit my big brother. I saw a dog !! He was named Jacky, and he was white in colour. I loved to play with him. He was very soft. Even though I cannot understand his language(he can't understand my language too :) ), my younger brother, my elder brother and I always understood him. I loved to go to my big brother's house to meet Jacky from then onwards.

 Let me tell you a small story about how books became my friends. I was getting bored one day, so I asked my mother, "What should I do, Mom". My mother said, "Beta read books. They will become your best friends, and you will never get bored throughout your life". After some days I tried to read a book, slowly I started reading at a faster pace, and from then the journey of reading books started. I now love reading books :). That is how books became my friends.  

Aryma Shukla
Grade III
Gyanshree School