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

The 'My Good School' Forest

 "And Into the forest,

I go to lose my mind and find my soul"

~ John Muir

My Good School is all about reading. The joy of reading, writing, learning, speaking and simply the pleasure of relishing the good moments in life. And what is better than our very forest, where we can merely roam in the lush green gardens, rediscover ourselves and enjoy the beauty?
With this feeling, let us hear how one of our students feels about this luxuriant forest. 

"I remember one of my conversations with students of schools in Burg where they were telling me how different their school is by having a swimming pool, a garden to walk, an air-conditioned auditorium hall, and trips and camps outside school which make them stand out in their category.

I felt gloomy at the time because my school (The Fabindia School) had no point which would fit into this category of schools. And I couldn't get into the conversation. Later on, I came back and sat under my glorious Wisdom Tree.

I realize that we are not part of this category or any category because we are exclusive and unique in our ways. And I know everyone feels the same about their school, but I have several reasons to prove my statement.

If your school has a swimming pool, We have a whole natural pond.
You may have a garden to walk, but we have a Jungle to talk with.
You need to find a place to set up your camp while we can easily create one in our jungle.
Your school might use bleach for your pool, but we are a green school.

We don't harm the environment. We wish to nurture flora and fauna. We create our electricity and conduct rainwater harvesting. And that too from the time when schools had not defined what sustainable development was. We have been doing this for long enough, and the best part is that our vision and mission are not only on paper. It is in everyone's heart, and we carry it all along. 

I am so grateful to our founders and patrons for choosing this land in Bali, Rajasthan, as the launching pad. Thank you for believing that we could give back to our community." 

- Kunal Rajpurohit

(Visit our website here: https://schooleducation.com)

Its beauty and extravagance are beyond comparison. And we do hope that you will come to our forest one day. We are sure you will feel enriched and refreshed after having a short walk in our forest.

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.

My Good School Retreat 2023 - Shristi Khulal

On the first day, when I entered the gate of The Doon Girls School. I was excited and nervous and was experiencing a mixture of feelings inside my head. I thought about what it would be like to meet new people from different parts of the country, for which I was a little nervous, but now I have known them for a long time. I couldn't even believe that the four days we spent were so memorable and not just unique but precious too.

While I sit and think about those days, the flashback of the precious memories always strikes my mind. I cannot explain how beautiful they were. Meeting different people and learning so much about their places and schools from Powerpoint Presentations was an excellent experience. I felt amazed when I learned that the school from which Ram Charan studied was there with us. 

Whenever I sit and reflect on those four days first scene that comes to my eyes is our visit to Khalanga War Memorial. I enjoyed the trip and loved the smell of flowers from the Sal tree and the hill. I was grateful to meet mr Col Vikram Thapa and his team, from whom we learned many things about the war between Gorkhas and the British. As I am Nepali, I felt proud to hear about the bravery of Gorkhas. I enjoyed the walk up the hill, talking to the guiding sir. I felt thrilled to speak to the guiding team in my mother tongue and remain in my place. The view of Dehradun City from the hill was beautiful, in which I was trying to locate my school. I didn't know we could be so connected and share a precious moment in less time. 

I even smile when I think of the funny moments in the Khan Farm where we played fun games. Not only were they fun, but they also taught us many skills like listening, coordination, teamwork and other leadership qualities. Also, the o ji, o ji by sir from Blossom School was a lot of fun.

How can I forget the visit to one of the most prestigious schools in India for which I am really grateful? Before visiting The Doon School, I used to talk to my friend while going to school by bus on seeing the tall wall, and now I feel fortunate and grateful. Whenever I see the wall from the bus, the memories stike in my mind of taking around the school with curious minds. I loved everything about the school, from the beautiful buildings to the activities available there. 

I also miss the German Shepherd of the farmhouse, Max, Lily, and Dizzy, with whom I played. It was a beautiful moment. I was so mesmerized by the performance of The Doon Girls School students in the cultural show. I will never forget the motivational words by Monisha Ma'am. The morning walk on the Khan farm comes to my mind whenever I see the fields filled with crops and trees. On hearing the song Jeena Jeena, the moment came into my mind when the music teacher of Doon Girls School was teaching us guitar.

On the last day, when everyone was leaving one by one, I could see the beautiful memories we cherished together, and for a while, I felt sad. Before going to The Retreat, I never thought these four days would be this memorable. I am really grateful and thankful for getting this opportunity. Thanks to The Doon Girls School for being so good to us.

Shristi Khulal

My Good School Retreat 2023 - Nishan Karki

I have got many great opportunities in my life. The excellent My Good School Retreat is one of the best opportunities, giving me many life lessons. This will be an unforgettable part of my life. I had never been so excited about many things, but this was the opposite. I have described below my experiences and what I learned during this retreat.

Day 1: 18th April 2023

Our trip was going to be great, and I was very excited. Excitedly, I left Pestalozzi, my four friends, and my escort teacher Minaxi Rawat. I was hoping my day would go well. On reaching The Doon Girls School, we first had our RT-PTR tests. The good result was that all of our reports came negative. We assembled at the basketball for the walk at Khalanga War Memorial, Nalapani.

Khalanga War Memorial: The day's first activity was visiting Khalanga War Memorial. The Memorial was located in a hilly region which I like. Now for sure, my day was going to be very significant. When I entered the memorial surrounding, I felt like I was in my hometown in Nepal. We gathered at one place where we had our introduction. We had a little introduction about that place by Col Vikram Thapa.

Along with him, there were three more people. They all were Nepali. I conversed with them and gathered a lot of information about that place. We had a nearly 1 km walk from where we gathered to the Memorial. 

We reached the Memorial and spent time talking, making friends and clicking pictures. After some time, we left the Memorial and went back. On our way back, we also visited the Chandrani Devi Temple. Both the Memorial and temple were incredible. The sal forest also added more beauty to them. We thanked all the people who supported us during this visit. We also presented them with some gifts.

Ice-Breaking Session: The ice-breaking session was conducted by Monisha Ma'am and other teachers of The Doon Girls School. In this session, we had many activities, such as our introduction, the secret fact about us and some fun games. The games were entertaining, which also continued hidden moral values.

Schools shared their PowerPoint Presentations: In this session, students from various schools presented the Presentation about the heritages of their places. It was a very effective learning source, and we learned about the heritage of different areas.

Fun Games: We played fun games during this session, including dodgeball and chasing games.

Cultural Program by The Doon Girls School: The school girls presented various cultural activities in this session. They included choir, dance, drama and yoga. They gave all of their actions very beautifully.

 Day 2: 19th April 2023

We all came to The Doon Girls School and assembled at Basketball Court for a visit to The Doon School.

The Doon School: One of the top 10 schools in India, The Doon School indeed needs appreciation for its level of education, environment and facilities. The students studying there are very hardworking and disciplined. Even the Headmaster, Dr Jagpreet Singh, was very friendly with everyone and knew every child's name. Indeed the visit to The Doon School was once in a lifetime opportunity.

The Khan Farm, Biharigarh: The Khan Farm in Biharigarh was beautiful. It was a mango farm with small fruits growing on the trees. We stayed here for a day and had a lot of fun. We also did many activities. They included team-building sessions, walking and exploring the farm and a talent show. During these sessions, we played various games containing moral values. Exploring the farm surrounded by beautiful mango trees was fun. Coming close to nature is a great experience. In the talent shows, every group shared their talent. We sang a Nepali, a Tibetan, an English and Peatalozzi song. The food here was also delicious. Even now, also I miss the food.

Day 3: 20th April 2023

Again there was another new day starting. We all woke up and got ready for a fresh start to the day. We had to do many activities this day. We had the activities like Understanding Farming and Leader in Me. Without farmers to produce the food we need daily, we would die of hunger. Farming is an essential source of livelihood. The Leader in Me session taught us about famous leaders and their characteristics. Each school had to choose two leaders and talk about them.

After all these activities, our trip to The Khan Farm ended. We thanked all the people on the farm who supported us during this trip.

We reached The Doon Girls School in the afternoon. We all were tired due to the travel by bus. Now it was time for us to take some rest. After our rest time, we had to share our trip experience. Each child from every school shared their experience of the past few days.

The session after this was very interesting. It was a friendly Basketball match between the retreat and The Doon Girls School teams. Both the teams played very well. I also participated in and played the game. The good news for us was we won the match by one point. The score was 19- 18. After the game, we all were praised for playing so well.

Day 4: 21st April 2023

This was the last day of our retreat. The activities today were only till the afternoon. On this day, the activities included workshops like needlework, art, craft, designing, bamboo works, music, etc. There was a music festival also.

I attended the needlework class and the bamboo work class. I found both of them very interesting and valuable. I enjoyed this time and learned new things.

The Music Festival - Music of Spheres was conducted by the Doon Girls School. Many other schools also participated in this event. We sang a song called Changer of Seasons. All the schools sang very beautifully. Indeed, music brings peace to mind.

After this session, we had some snacks and left for home. It was such a wonderful experience.

Nishan Karki is a great youth ambassador for Pestalozzi Children's Village India.

My Good School Retreat 2023 - Tenzin Jambey

Seeing all the teachers and friends leaving with whom I spent an excellent time for four days, I almost cried. After spending four days together, I felt like we had been together for a very long period, and during this time, I became very close with them; I suppose that we all became so close that we were much more than best friends and because of this bond I emotional when everyone was leaving, the only thing which  I could say was " goodbye " and " best wishes ahead " I wanted to say many things, but the words were not coming from my mouth, one after one everyone started leaving and only HPS (Hyderabad Public School) group were left, for few minutes we talked and after a while, they were also nowhere to be seen. 

I was sitting near the basketball court of The Doon Girls School with my other Pestalozzi's friends and Shelja Ma'am, we were waiting for our bus to come and then suddenly my memories flashed back and I saw two vision that deeply touched my heart, first was the vision my friends entering the school on first day with full excitement and another was again them who were now heading  back to home with happy memories, pocket full of knowledge and with sad feelings of getting apart then I remembered the words of Monisha Ma'am who on first day told us that the word retreat means "heading back" but in our case the word retreat meant  something else for us it's meaning was heading back with good memories, memorable experiences, pocket full of knowledge and atlast the sadness of getting apart with eachother, these thoughts kept roaming in my mind and I kept on reflecting upon it while I was sitting near the basketball court of The Doon Girls School (DGS) where we had a friendly match with DGS versus the retreat group, I match was fun and and went tough as I was also among the player I really enjoyed but the spectators enjoyed even more seeing us putting basket and getting tired.

"Bus has come," said Shelja Ma'am and in a minute, we were inside the bus, I still looked at the DGS building even when the bus was moving, and after a turn, I could not see the school. We were going from the same road, the road from where we went to the Kalanga war memorial, The Doon School, and Khan Farm, and now from the same route, we were going back to Pestalozzi, the same road. I was sitting in the front seat, and it was 1:50 pm, and I played the "Jena Jena" song on guitar. No other song came into my mind; only this song came, which Malan Sir played for us during guitar class in DGS.

He taught us many guitar lessons in one hour, and if we had more time, he might have taught us many more things. I don't know whether this kind of feeling comes in every person or not; I get overwhelmed with happiness when I meet someone from my place or northeast as I am also from north east "Arunachal" I feel happy to meet someone from there; the guitar Sir was from Manipur, and because of that, I got even more interest in learning from him and also many students in DGS were from Arunachal. For a moment, I felt like I had met my brothers and sisters, as we have many things in common, especially those tiny eyes. Getting apart was the most challenging situation for me; it was even more difficult than singing a song on stage on the last day among different schools and students I had never seen or met.

The bus suddenly stopped, and I opened my eyes and found that I had reached back. I didn't even know when I went to sleep, but while I was getting off the bus, many thoughts came into my mind, which made me feel a bit worried as I was absent for three days from school. I wondered how much homework I must have got, which I could do without any difficulties, but the lessons or chapter taught in school was something I had to understand all by myself. I entered my room and saw all my friends resting; I was also tired and fell on my bed and tried to sleep. Still, the memories of the retreat kept me awake for a while. Somehow after a few minutes, I managed to sleep.

At 5 pm, ma'am came to wake us up, and there was a workshop. After the workshop, my friends. I went to Cheme la Ma'am to thank her for allowing us to attend the My Good School Retreat. She was simultaneously pleased and proud of us because we guys did an excellent job within these four days; she said, "We don't need to be thanked because you all deserve it." Those who work hard are always rewarded, which motivated me to work even harder even in future. I would love the reward of attending the My Good School Retreat.

We had our study hour from 8 pm to 10 pm, but I didn't feel like studying, and I thought of writing the reflection on the trip for four days. Then I took my reflection notebook and a pen and started putting my thoughts and emotions into words. From the first day of my visit to the Kalanga war memorial to the last day of the Earth Day celebration, I kept emphasising my mind to remember every moment.

In my notebook, I wrote down the lessons I had learnt and the life skills taught by Monisha Ma'am greatly influenced and motivated me to push myself towards success. I kept on writing, and I didn't even know how two hours had passed, and at 10 pm, I went to bed. I was lying in bed when I heard the sound of thunder bursting, and it took me back to the visit to Khan Farm. We enjoyed sitting on the sofa on the veranda and seeing the thunder and shower of rain was one of the most beautiful pictures I had ever seen. The lightning of thunder brought daylight for a second, and again, the darkness came  While I was thinking about this, it was already 11 pm. I felt like someone had stolen my sleep away, I wanted to sleep, but I could not.

I missed all my friends, and I wanted to see the faces of Monisha Ma'am, Shilpika Ma'am, Kunal Bhaiya, Sathya Ma'am, Malan Sir, Taraksh, Aradhya, Snigha, Vibha, Sanitah, Tammana, Yashraj, Ragav, Oshi and my Arunachal I friend Zirpo. More than that, I was excited to sleep because I thought they all might come in my dream, and after sometimes I went into a deep sleep.

At last, I would like to thank Sandeep Sir, Monisha Ma'am and DGS group for organising the beautiful events and assisting us in various ways.

Thanks to Cheme la Ma'am for allowing me to attend this retreat, Shelja Ma'am and Minaxi Ma'am for helping us for all four days.

Tenzin Jambey
Pestalozzi Children's Village India

Thanks to the Headmaster, Staff and Students at The Doon School

Reflection of the movie "SWADESH".

From: TENZIN JAMBEY <tenzinjambey782@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2023 at 21:24
Subject: Good evening, Ma'am. Reflection of the movie "SWADESH".
Courtesy: <alumnicoordinator@pestalozziworld.in>

1: "Exploitation".
Even today, many farmers, labourers and workers are exploited by landlords and contractors.

2: "Difficulties faced by village people".
About 60% of India comprises villages that are the grassroots of our country, meaning that "ordinary people reside in villages ". As I was also born and raised in a village, I agree that there are many problems which village people face, like water supply, electricity, poor health and education facilities and unemployment.

3: "Illiteracy of masses in the Village".
Even after setting up government schools in villages, parents don't send their children to school as the parents need to be educated. They only seek short-term benefits by sending their children to work, and that's why they don't prefer sending their children to school; they think that money is more important than education.

4: "Indian culture and tradition".
Most Indians still follow traditional practices and culture, and they preserve it. Our country is famous for traditional activities like dances, food, dress, games etc. and for culture like arts and customs followed by generation.

5: "Difference between developed and developing countries".
Our country is still developing, due to which we face many problems. Still, in developed countries, there are fewer chances of facing issues, and I think this is the reason for the settlement of Indians in foreign countries like the U.S.A and CANADA. Developed countries have better employment opportunities, low death rates, better health facilities, better education, less poverty and a happy, settled and peaceful life. 

The Conclusion of the movie
We should never forget the place from where we began our journey, as our roots alone hold us through thick and thin.

Why Should I Go To School? - Rishona Chopra

A school is where we learn, grow, and work on ourselves. Schools are not a building but are a  building made of education and life. Schools are a place full of knowledge where students learn under the guidance of teachers. They are more than just academics. They focus on making us a good person, an actual human.

Schools are for us to grow and enhance our area of excellence. Therefore, every event in school, every day when we have fun playing games, is probably the best.

I go to school to learn and enjoy. I find so much joy.

Learning new things, I come to play near a spring.

Learning a new math trick, So it becomes easy and quick. I come to go to the lab, And make music beats by banging the slab!

I came to dance, And get another chance. I come to play, It makes me happy and gay! I come to make new friends, And borrow some pens. Going to school is so much fun, But the fun has just begun. Gyanshree: G-Glorious Y-Youthful A-Academic N-Nice S-Super H-Humble R-Respectful E-Efficient E-Eager

Rishona Chopra

Grade VI

Gyanshree School

GSAIP - Good Schools Alliance India Program

 

Spreading the Joy Of Learning

GSAIP ~ Good Schools Alliance India Program TOGETHER WE MAKE THE GSA COME ALIVE! We have fixed a Zoom Room; the meeting will be once a month for the entire team; we will make the plan, and then the Interns can work in their respective groups with their Teachers. All teachers/coordinators must join us for the monthly meeting, as, like our young people, the teachers are also learning about the GSA and how we operate. 7 PROGRAMS      1. Internship     2. Exchange     3. Slooh     4. Life Skill Series:     * Joy Of Reading     * Joy of Speaking     * Joy Of Writing INTERNSHIP PROGRAM  Interns are an essential part of our successful enterprise. Most of them work directly with our partners and provide support at the local level. We host interns for a few weeks to one year. You could be teaching at the school or assisting the school staff in helping in teaching and learning. Your passion and volunteering are most dear to us!  The three teams and the members  A) Brewing Knowledge Club - Kunal, Moksh  -  Sukhpreet Kaur is the Mentor B) JoyOfLearningDiaries.Com  Arjun Rohilla, Aarav  - Krishan Gopal Dave is the Mentor C) Podcast Team- Jatin, Ishita - Nibbrati is the Mentor SHORT NOTE ABOUT THE THREE PROJECTS: Brewing Knowledge Book Club An online forum established by Learning Forward offers an experience of the joy of reading with family, friends and colleagues. The Members meet for 60 minutes on the last Sunday of the month. ZOOM works like our studio; members meet to read and reflect. The event is broadcast for the public on Clubhouse. Interns will help plan the sessions and post the session create a Blog Post for the Brewing Knowledge Blog. Joy Of Learning Diaries The Joy Of Learning diaries will inspire you by sharing personal examples of where children experience the values. It will also help people take stock of the importance and wish to lead their lives. #JoyOfLearningDiaries - Interns will source posts from schools and help create draft posts for the Blog Editor. Radio Program (Podcast) We invite stakeholders at the show we invite the community from one school:     * Teachers     * Students     * Parents     * Ex-students     * Management For a candid conversation to showcase how they built their My Good School together. The interns will help in production and design. Find out more about the Internship Program. https://goodschools.in/internship-program Find out more... My Good School  The Standard Core Curriculum Service | Skill | Sport |Study * Choice of Curriculum * Choose your coach/mentor  * Work with peers at school * Education at your pace  * Parental guidance Learning For Life * My Good School encourages students to become involved in activities beyond just study; this helps develop confidence, knowledge and networks. * The experiential learning curriculum is a critical factor in the student progressing successfully through adolescence. * Education empowers students by creating an environment for their personal and social development.

www.GoodSchools.IN

The future of education

The future of education will be built on immutable values alone: Appreciation, Caring, Co-operation, Courage, Freedom, Friendship, Happiness, Honesty, Hope, Humility, Love, Patience, Peace, Quality, Respect, Responsibility, Simplicity, Thoughtfulness, Tolerance, Trust, Understanding & Unity.

Joy Of Learning (JOL) will inspire you by using examples of where the values are already being used by children in schools and share practical tools to stimulate discussion and philosophical debate.

JOL is an extensive and profound learning experience that immerses members in a model of inquiry and problem-based learning. Students work collaboratively to gain knowledge to solve their significant challenges, we champion peer-to-peer learning. #JoyOfLearning

"We live in a society consumed by materialism and the desire for more. Does this mean our next generation of children will grow up being literate and numerate greedy consumers whose lives are judged by their houses' size and the latest model BMW on the drive? Or can our society, along with educators' desire, teach our children the values they need to take responsibility for living and learning? It's simple; the children are our future. It's our moral duty in schools to provide a Values-Based curriculum." - The Little Book of Values: Educating Children to Become Thinking, Responsible and Caring Citizens by Julie Duckworth and Ian Gilbert.

"Peer-to-peer learning is when one pupil leads another through a task or concept. A simple way of expressing this difference is that in collaborative learning, students learn alongside one another, whilst in peer learning, they learn from one another." www.randstad.co.uk

What do you understand by "Values"?
Share with us and help build a better learning experience for your friends and family!

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