JOL Diaries November 23

Newsletter by My Good School

"This Children's Day of the year 2023, we are most delighted to bring you the first issue of our monthly newsletter, and we look forward to the middle of every month to get into the middle of your heart and mind with #JoyOfLearning".
Rishona Chopra, School Captain

My Sunday School - Manisha Khanna

Today, on World Mental Health Day, I would like to share my reason for joining "The Sunday School". 

IKIGAI, for me, is Sunday School. "Ikigai" is a Japanese word that signifies "life purpose" or "raison d'être." I don't engage in a lot of activities on Sunday. I work six days a week and take Sundays off, but when I learned about SUNDAY SCHOOL, I saw that this was precisely what I had wanted to do all these years as an avid reader. I resonated with the idea of Sunday School right away. We all have a ton to do on Sunday, but after two weeks, I learned that this time is my IKIGAI. This is how my relationship with the Sunday School began.

"Reading without reflection is like eating without digestion." —Edward Burke.

I'm looking forward to receiving everyone's reflections for this week.

Manisha Khanna

Your Sunday School host

The best way to cheer yourself up is to cheer someone else

For me, happiness is not always dependent on the presence of any person. Happiness can also be developed within ourselves. Every situation has a choice. It depends on us what we choose to do.

"Being happy is a choice, being sad is a choice. Its just you who decides with what mood your day is gonna go with. "

Tenzin Nyingsel

Pestalozzi Children's Village India

Image Courtesy- New Scientist

My Graduation Day Speech - Prachi Thakur

I would like to thank all the Pestalozzi staff members who provided me education and all the facilities. Because of them, only I can be in this position. I also thank my teachers and friends who supported me in my difficult situation. Without them, I was nothing. They encouraged me whenever I tried to give up and were there for me every time. 

I don't have words to express my gratitude to them. I am really great full to you. Thank you for doing everything for me.

My first day at School - Smarika Karki

My first day at school was good even though it was a girls' school. I had a wonderful day there. 

The teachers are good, and the friends are supportive over there. Though I miss my old school, I enjoy my new school also. I thought the girls over there would be bullying me, but it turned out to be the opposite of that. 

I like my new school. 

Smarika Karki
Pestalozzi Chidren's Village India

Goodbye 2022! - Rishona Chopra

 
2022 was a year full of joy, 

 Some were days to enjoy.

The year when we started offline school,

The year of playing in the pool!

The year of friendships,

It was better since,

We had new experiences!

Some days were sad for all,

We felt small.

Broken friendships,

Drowned ships.

Endless fights,

Sleepless Nights.

Some trouble all of us faced,

But they can be replaced,

 I believe that the next year could be better,

If we don't become forgetters.

Improve our mistakes from the past year,

And make our minds clear.

Some mistakes we made,

Some difficulties we faced!

But let's learn from the last year,

And improve this year!!

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

Happiness From Within - Rishona Chopra

Happiness is one of the most critical and defining qualities of life. Everyone wants to be very happy all the time, and no one wants to lose their happiness at any moment. There is nothing more important than being happy in human life. 

It's the top priority of all humans. But at the same time, everyone feels that happiness is not permanent and comes and goes away very quickly. 

This is because the source of happiness for most people today is external and external sources in our present lives keep changing and going through ups and downs. Some people in the world also feel that this is how happiness has been eternal - unstable and temporary in nature, and there has never been any time in the world when happiness was permanent. All of us want happiness in our lives, but so many bad things are happening in the world; how can we be happy on earth? Here's the answer, we don't get happiness from things and situations. Even the worst thing in the world can have a positive side!! So if we look at each case positively, we can easily be happy. We do not get happiness from the environment but from within.

According to the world happiness index, the World Happiness Report is an indicator of global happiness. The rankings are based on reports of respondents' assessments of their own lives, and articles on national happiness are included. The report also compares other elements that influence (quality of) life. The rankings of national happiness are based on a Cantril ladder survey. Nationally representative samples of respondents are asked to think of a ladder, with the best possible life for them being a 10 and the worst possible life being a 0. They are then asked to rate their current lives on a 0 to 10 scale. There is a tale about Birbal in a similar context. Once a man came up to Birbal and said that his home did not have space, so Birbal advised him to bring goats to his house and take them out after a day. When the goats were there, the house was so whole and small, but when they went out, it felt so much bigger! So happiness is just a perspective of looking at things!

There is this quote by Lewis B. Smedes - To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you. This means that when we have a conflict with someone, they are also bound by negative feelings, and so are we. We both are sad and want to solve the fight, but our ego does not allow us to do that. So if we once set the prisoner as the person who we fought with, not only will he be free from the negative feelings, but so will we.

I feel happy today,
An aim to smile every day.
It's a unique ray of hope,
That gives me a new scope.
To do something good,
I misunderstood,
The word happiness.
I thought there was a reason for this smile.
But all this while.
I was wrong to think,
That happiness could shrink.
It was something even more unique,
That came from within and was sentimental.
I couldn't possibly want something more,
 But to be happier than before.

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

1st Birthday 🎉 Celebration @ My Good School

A special podcast to celebrate Children's Day at My Good School

Release Date: 14th November 

Recording Date and Time: 13th November at 5 pm

Hosts: Anvesha and Simar

Guests:  

• Students:

1. Rishona Chopra, Gyanshree School

2. Arav Agarwal, Billabong High International School Thane

3. Yashraj Sharma, Gyanshree School

4. Vani Pandey, Gyanshree School

5. Arfa Khan, Ahlcon Public School

6. Reveda Bhatt, The Aryan School

7. Shambhavi Nautiyal, Ahlcon Public School
   

• Teachers: 

  Sandeep Sir; and Jugjiv Sir, Governing Council members at My Good School.            

The Script 

No story is ever complete, so with this script!

Anvesha: It's crazy how fast time flies and how things progress around us. We are new to My Good School, but a year has passed. We just didn't realise that. 

Simar: That is very true. My Good School has been a milestone for me. It has taught me so much, and I will forever be grateful. 

Anvesha: This journey has been incredible, full of learning and love. So today, I Anvesha

Simar: And I Simar

Anvesha: Welcome all of you to the one-year Podcast at My Good School! This celebration would be incomplete without all the interns and our mentors who are a part of this beautiful journey, right?

Simar: Truly, so I invite my friends and interns at My Good School, Rishona, Arav, Yashraj, Vani, Arfa, and Reveda, and we also ask Sandeep, sir.

Anvesha: Hi Rishona, How was my Good school? It has been quite a journey, right?

Rishona:  I absolutely agree. From "Is Your Child Ready To Face The World" By Dr Sibal to Totto-chan, Swami, friends, and now Hari Ghass Ki Chappar Wali Jhopdi aur bona pahad. It has been a journey full of learning, writing, reading and, of course, reflecting. Each of these stories carries its beauty and never fails to leave us with food for thought. I am sure we all agree that My Good School is perhaps unique and has so many outstanding memories! The most memorable part is how we all make the team and work together in coordination.

Simar: I couldn't agree with you more, Rishona. I would like to invite my friend Arav to talk about his experience. 

 

Arav: It has been an amazingly fulfilling experience at My Good School. This 1 year has helped me to explore, learn and know myself better. The books we read together helped me reflect on and taught me how we can inculcate life values in our everyday life. I think somewhere we all could find a part of ourselves in Totto Chan, Swami and Bolu. From reading to working together, My Good School has helped me experience the absolute joy of learning. I am grateful for this beautiful platform. 

Anvesha: Thank you for sharing that with us, Arav. The Hindi session is essential in The Sunday School, doesn't it? Let's invite our host for the Hindi session, Yashraj, to answer that. 

Yashraj: Yes, indeed. It is an honour to be a part of the Hindi session and, of course, to host it. Yesterday, I was self-assessing and noticed how much I've improved since the Hindi sessions started. I'm sure everyone who has participated in the sessions has benefited in some way or another from our Hindi sessions. Every Sunday, we try to make our sessions more joyful and exciting by adding short trivia and quizzes. In fact, we have decided to write a play based on the book we're reading, with everybody taking up different characters and working together!

Anvesha: Thank you, it was beautiful to hear you say so.

Simar:  What about you, Anvesha? What have you learnt from your one year at My Good School? 

Anvesha: My Good School has been a beautiful journey. All of us, the interns of My Good School, have been planted here at the Garden of Learning with so much love and compassion. Every new task is an opportunity to learn, do, and be more. There are numerous things that I have learnt from My Good School that will be impossible to put into a few words, but some of the most important lessons have been: Team Work; I learnt to work with others, collaborate and create. The stories read at The Sunday School left a deep impression on me and made me wonder whether Swami conquered another problem or what Totto-Chan did? I just love it! My Good School is a school we go to every day; it is the school of life, learning and love. 

Simar: That's great. For me, my journey at My Good School has been quite exciting. I was very keen to experience real-life work. My Good School has been helpful to me in many ways. It helped me improve my confidence level and my speaking and writing skills. Furthermore, I was introduced to so many others like me! It was a fantastic experience, one I shall never forget and will look back on in the future. But now, living it is beautiful, and I treasure all that I have been taught here, all the people I have been introduced to, and all the insightful books we read together every Sunday! 

Anvesha:  Wonderful; now let Reveda and Vani share their experiences at My Good School. 

Reveda: My Year at My Good School was great, exciting, significant, fantastic, outstanding, incredible, excellent. I would have put more words into it but let's talk ahead. So, it's brought so many changes in my personality. I can now speak in public fearlessly, yeah, right? It is totally a different concept, I wouldn't call it a School but a Freelancing Group where we can express ourselves in any way we want, and it totally brings my mind out of the box. 

Vani:  Definitely. For me, My Good School has been an outstanding learning experience. I love how we all come together from different schools, read, and share our experiences with each other, which in itself is marvellous. This has been an excellent platform where I have encouraged myself to speak out and write poems and stories. It is a perfect place for every young mind to join, and I have been telling my friends to think about it.

Simar: Thanks Reveda and Vani; now let us invite Arfa and Shambhavi to share their learnings over the past year at My Good School. 

Arfa: 

My time at my good has been fantastic, and I can see how it helped me. When I read in the reading sessions, I increased my reading skills and vocabulary. I was also able to do what I like, writing! I learnt new values each month and improved myself in a good way. In My Good School, I experienced the joy of learning and improved and made myself a better person.

Anvesha: Thank you, Arfa. After hearing you speak, I am sure that all of us love My Good School, but what is your favourite part of My Good School? 

Rishona: For me, the favourite part of the session in The Sunday School is the reflection. After the exquisite reading session, it gives me immense pleasure to reflect, share my experiences and write, speak or draw about them. As Claude Monet said, "It's on the strength of observation and reflection that one finds a way. So we must dig and delve unceasingly".

Arav:  My favourite part at My Good School has been exploring different things, from reading to working on podcasts and comic strips and creating posters. I loved working with the podcast team, and with the help of my mentors, I learned to do Podcast and video editing and found my joy through speaking. As rightly said, "The best education does not happen at a desk but at hands-on exploring and real-life experiences".

Yashraj: I, too, love to reflect and share my experiences with everyone! Reading everybody else's articles daily motivates me to work on my articles more and reflect every week!

Vani: My favourite part is the Joy Of Learning Diaries, where we can post our experiences and facts in the form of stories, poems, articles, drawings and even letters! It has helped me a lot in gaining confidence in writing.

Arfa: My favourite part is the reading session of the book 'Art of Focus' in The Sunday School. It is fun to learn new morals through intriguing stories and uplifting quotes!

Simar: My favourite part is making the Podcast. Podcasts are an engaging and fun way to inculcate all we learn in Sunday School. I always enjoy recording and making podcasts as they reflect everything I know. It is such a pleasure for me!

Anvesha: That's great, and the best part about My Good School for me is the Sunday School. We learn much at the Reading sessions, from Swami and Friends to the Art of Focus; all the handpicked tales flow with love and values. Sunday School is a beautiful experience and definitely, my favourite! We invite Sandeep sir and Jugjiv Sir to share their knowledge and favourite part about My Good School? 

Sandeep Sir: My first year at My Good School was like starting again from Early Years, from Nursery! New school, new friends and an unknown curriculum added to the excitement. I cannot believe how much we can learn from each other, and a classroom has been flipped from the traditional teacher-led to a comfortable space with students at the centre. This really challenges the conventional schooling system. Reading was just the beginning. What followed was pure joy in reflections through blogs, podcasts, meetings and the internship program. Our school is one living example of spreading the joy of learning. As we move to year, too, it seems excellent times ahead as the students lead, and we add to the curriculum programs like Well-being, Space, using edtech and maybe end up with a virtual school for the world! Thanks to each of you for all the joy you spread, and may you always be the young learners at heart.

Simar: Thank you so much, Sandeep, sir. 

Anvesha: With that, we come to the end of our Podcast. Comment below and let us know if you liked our Podcast. If you want to be a part of similar podcasts, join us. That's all for us today. Thanks for tuning in. 

Life is a journey with problems to solve and lessons to learn, but most of all, experiences to share and experiences to enjoy. 

We at My Good School come here today to celebrate our learnings and lessons as a beautiful year passes. 

Join us in celebrating our school as we laugh at Totto-Chan's tactics, learn from Swami's mistakes, realise the road from the Art of Focus and improve from each session hereafter. 

Anvesha Rana and Simar Kaur - Hosts from Gyanshree School

Rishona Chopra, Yashraj Sharma and Vani Pandey - Gyanshree School

Arav Agarwal, Billabong High International School Thane

Arfa Khan, Shambhavi Nautiyal -  Ahlcon Public School

Reveda Bhatt, The Aryan School

Sandeep Sir, Jugjiv Sir - Mentors at My Good School

Comment below and let us know if you liked our Podcast. If you want to be a part of similar podcasts, join us. That's all for us today. Thanks for tuning in. 

             

- Scripted by all the Interns as one joyful 👥.

Respect - Rishona Chopra

A bow to show,  
A thank you for say
That makes a person glow,
I respect you every day.

I smile to show,
An apology to say,
That makes a person glow,
I appreciate you every day.

With manners, I show,
What I want to say.
That makes a person glow,
I respect you every day.

Respect is a word of beauty,
It offers a sense of duty.
I respect you the way you are,
Respect makes us glow like a star.

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

IndependenceDay

Thank you, Yashraj Sharma Gyanshree School.

Thank you, Rishona Chopra Gyanshree School.

"Independence Day, in India, is a national holiday celebrated annually on August 15. Independence Day marks the end of British rule in 1947 and the establishment of a free and independent Indian nation. It also marks the anniversary of the partition of the subcontinent into two countries, India and Pakistan, which occurred at midnight on August 14–15, 1947. (In Pakistan, Independence Day is celebrated on August 14)." - Encyclopedia Brittanica

Thank you - Rishona Chopra

Thank you, god,

For not making me a fraud,

For helping me through my little pains,

You just kept pleasing me again and again.

I have a home,

My family has money to travel to Rome!

I can see and hear,

When I think of this, in front of me, you appear.

I can study, and I can feel,

I can have a tasty meal.

I am healthy,

Thank god I am not nasty.

I can see a new day,

I can play!

I go to a beautiful school,

Which is really so cool.

I can do so much, yet I ask for more,

I already have a lot, and I don't need anymore!

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

The Report Card - Rishona Chopra

Viewing the Report Card is a typical day full of emotions. Some feel happy, while others feel anxious. 
For me, it is an exciting day! I actually don't care what I get as long as I try my best. Once my report card came, my mother wasn't at home, so I quickly opened the report card and read it. Even though my mother didn't like seeing the report card all by myself, I still did it as I was extremely excited.

After all those months of fun and learning, the report card shows what you dill all year round and a reward that showcases your effort. Often we say that if we did well, we get a bar of chocolate and other gifts, but we don't realize the report card is the most significant gift!

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

Brighten Their Day! - Reveda Bhatt

Here I come, from far away,

I think of something; but not the right way,

Oh, Lord! Tell me what to say,

Not to hurt anyone but to brighten their day!

Saying something terrible when you are not in your senses

Is the worst when seen through life’s feeling lenses

Just like cursing someone seems not to be the worst,

But, from the other perspective, it can make the victim’s feelings burst!

That is why, before saying anything-

I ask my Lord about what to say,

Not to hurt anyone,

But to brighten their day!

Reveda Bhatt
Grade 9
The Aryan School

Cooperation - Bhumika Nimbark

Cooperation means working together to achieve a common goal. It could be of many types like cooperation between groups, pairs, direct, indirect, and even between humans and robots. Cooperation is a kind of social interaction which is an essential factor in teamwork. Without cooperation, a team won't achieve its goal no matter how hard it works. 

There was an incident in my life that made me understand the importance of cooperation. In class 8, I was selected for a drama performance at the Annual Day function. As it was to be staged in front of guests, parents, principal, teachers, and the rest of the school, I was nervous, and so were the rest of the team members. Because I was a new girl and didn't have many friends, I lost my confidence; I was worried that I would spoil the performance because of my nervousness. Still, in that situation, 2 factors made my team successful, authentic leadership of the leader and the cooperation of the team members. I thought in a group, if a leader doesn't work well, the team won't succeed, but before that, cooperation of the team members is much more critical. 

So, if the team members cooperate without any dispute or jealousy, then that team will achieve its goal and succeed in every possible way.

Bhumika Nimbark

Class X B

The Fabindia School

Appreciation - Luke Daniel

An appreciation from my teacher made my day!

Hello everyone! I am Luke Daniel from Grade 3C from Billabong High International School Thane. I would like to share my experience on appreciation with you all. My Hindi tuition teacher appreciated me because I got the first rank in Neltas International Exam. She was kind and said getting medals at such young age is remarkable and you should get more prizes and awards and study well.

That made my day! I felt happy, and I am thankful to my teacher for appreciating me.

Thank you,

Luke Daniel
Grade 3 C
Billabong High International School Thane

Save Environment - Simran Soni

The word environment refers to all ecological units naturally present on earth in the form of land, water, air, soil, forest, sunlight, minerals, living organisms, etc. The earth is full of natural surroundings, some are biotic, and some are non-biotic. We should save our environment by planting more and more trees. World Environment Day is celebrated annually on 5th June and is the United Nations' principal vehicle for encouraging awareness and action to protect the environment.

On world environment day, we all take a day off from our work and join various campaigns to spread awareness about environmental protection. Moreover, we all plant small saplings in a barren land to grow and flourish in the land area after some years. We also take part in various processions to make people aware of this day to protect our environment.

Simran Soni

Class VI

The Fabindia School