Teachers are SuPeR HuMaNs 💃

Hi guys! Long time no see.

How’s everything going on? All well? Of course it has to be!

So where have I been these days? I was busy taking care of my classroom, my students and myself. Yes, myself! We teachers too, need a lot of care and self-motivation. There are times when I think that I am really messed up with life and I am fed up with what I am doing and I wonder that what am I doing with my life? Am I stuck? Am I done? But then I remember all those innocent faces waiting for me every day in the class. I felt the same a few days ago. It’s like I had a mental breakdown where I stopped talking to everyone and I just wanted to be left alone…

And I know everyone feels the same sometimes or the other and let me tell you the best person who can help you out is you – yourself. Think about all the people who love you and all the things you need to be thankful about.

So where was I? Ah yes -  I was busy, busy reinforcing my ‘super powers’. Ha ha!

We all have powers – power to make somebody smile, power to make somebody feel comfortable, power to listen and power to be patient. And then there are people with ‘super powers’.

Now super – humans are people with unusual strength/power or abilities who use them to help others. And I think that ‘Teachers are super humans’ and there is no doubt in that. Every day I observe my peers, my colleagues and the hard work put in by each one of them. Being a part of residential school, our responsibility is enormous. We are responsible for their overall development for a particular period of time. Every day – the first thing that pops up in my mind is my students. People say mothers are super heroes and so are teachers. Where a mother has to take care of 1 -2 children at a particular time, a teacher looks after 20 – 30 students and some schools even more! Still you would find each one of them smiling at the end of the day because of the efforts put in by them for their students.

I decided to write this article because I heard an elderly person once saying that “teaching is the easiest profession! People who have no job usually end up teaching!” That’s so sad and so not true at the same time!

I believe – teaching is the noblest profession. A teacher creates human material! A teacher nurtures a child from a tiny young sapling to a perfect human material who has to take care of the world. All the professionals are born out of teaching. Teachers take care of the future – the future of mother Earth. Times are changing and so is the world. There is so much to do, so much to conquer but we are still stuck in the rot and partial norms of society.

So people out there let me tell you – It takes guts to be a teacher. We have to sacrifice, not for our children but for the children of the future. Children who will make this place a better place to live in. So kindly start respecting teachers and believe in their abilities to transform…

Live, love, laugh and spread that awesome smile on your faces.

'Politics - a barrier in schools'

There is a friend of mine working in a different school whom I know as a very hardworking and dedicated teacher but who gets really upset at times. The reason is 'politics'.

In India you may find 'ministerism' in every individual. From 'Mauryans' to 'Mughals' - India has always been a land of political conflicts. Today, we may find a 'Neta Ji' in every gali. Chanakya was the first well known politician of India who used politics as a great source for the progress and development of his motherland but not for his own greed or appraisal.
Now - politics is flowing in the blood of each and every individual and it has become a part of educational institutes and schools too. Everything has its advantages and disadvantages. Politics should be used as a weapon for the development of society not for its collapse....

What has happened now - is that some self proclaimed Netas have taken it to a different level in the schools which is not acceptable for God's sake! Schools are meant to work for the development of the children - our future. Gone are those days when schools were considered temples. The so called priests of these temples have polluted them for their solely mean purpose of increase in salary or appraisal.

When a teacher works with a lot of dedication and some nasty politics comes in the way barring and demoralizing him/her, the person gets totally deviated which affects a lot on the working capabilities of the teacher.

So here is a message for all such 'Neta Jis' who become a barrier in the working and commitment of many individuals - please keep your so called politics as a source of self entertainment or if they find themselves excellent in this field, they should take up politics as their career choice and not ruin the life of students and hard working teachers.

✌ Dedicated to all hard working teachers out there - Remember! This is temporary. You will shine...
God bless us all with happiness and strength.

Gratitude

So how was the day everyone? I hope you are all having a blast - life is short ~ make the most of it...
I, at school have got lots to do. So as most of the days - I got up and then fell again on 'the most comfortable bed of the world'  I was in one of my favorite dilemmas whether to get up right now or after a few minutes. The lazy side of me was about to triumph when my phone rang up and on the other side was my brother - the big boss - "Awake?" "Veerji! I am so tired and I have got so much to do, I dont want to.."  I said in a sad tone...
And then once again he gave one of the most important lessons of life.
Face anything that makes you feel depressed and show it that you are a strong soul. Feel thankful Harpreet - for everything. Not everybody has what you already have. I woke up and then, knowing I need to be ready and go for work, he told me to talk as soon as I get free... I talked and  here is what I learnt today -
1. Be thankful and express your gratitude to God for every little blessing that he had bestowed upon us.
2. Stop cursing yourself. You are strong and can handle a lot. You have survived a lot and will survive whatever is coming.
3. Stop worrying and start acting. Worrying will not lessen your burden. Do your best and keep doing - it is enough.
4. Make each day as beautiful as you want it to. It will not return.
5. Smile because it costs nothing and when you smile it has that magical power to convert all your sadness to happiness. Embrace yourself as you are a wonderful creation of the almighty.
Tomorrow in our class - I am going to tell my students what Winnie - the pooh says. He is one of my favorites..

And yes, we are going to make a gratitude wall and lets see what new those little angels will let me know... 

Let us make every day a favorite day. 

God bless us all with love and care...

Another day passes by...

Hi guys
So another day comes to an end. The most precious time is now - the present that is why it is called so 'present'. I am actually working on the reflections of the previous unit that we have just finished last week. My students inquired about the human body and organ systems. While going through the inquiry - my so called 'student teachers' inquired about all the possible fields of human body they could think of.
They went into organ transplantion and pre and post care in such cases. We had an organ donation drive in which people were advised to help the other inhabitants of the planet by donating organs.
While reflecting and making an action plan some of them spoke about their desire to donate organs! Such is their maturity to connect to things. I sometimes get so motivated by things they do and share.
Children are so innocent yet so mature...
God bless us all. 😊

Love yourself....

Another day we were having a circle time where me and my students were discussing the power of love. Love is so important for us and this entire universe. We discussed about how love can move mountains and make anything possible.
We talked about our love for family, friends, teachers and then finally to the planet. I get amazed at how sensitive some students are towards the environment and so much is being destroyed day by day. Everytime someone travels to hills - some or the other part of the mountains is found to be destroyed for building homes or malls or any other so called important step for building up the economy. Our school being in hills - we are able to make that connection and students understand their role. While doing sums with their little hands they continue doing work of the next day on the same page with those small hands even if a little amount of space is left saying that ~ we need to save trees. Thats the little step they have already taken!
Coming back to the point 'love' and so when we had ended the discussion and were busy in the daily routine - a child comes up to me and says 'mam - do you love yourself?' I was dumbstruck for seconds as the question hit right into my head and heart. I was mum and then I answered 'yes! It is so important to love yourself sweet heart.' and I remembered 'Geet' of a bollywood movie saying - 'main apni favourite hun' 😆 but the question had left me reflecting - 'Do I love myself?'
Next day we had another discussion 'Loving ourselves is very important.' We forget that we too are a part 'jot' of the lord and all that we see is actually inside us. As there is a  verse in Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji 'Jo brahmande Soi Pinde' - what we do to the universe comes back to us. Start from yourself and you will end in the universe.
God bless us all with love and care.....

Teaching is way beyond just a career choice....

Teaching for me is not a job or a choice that I chose as a career, it’s rather a service. I am a IB PYP Homeroom teacher at a school. This place has been my home since nursery. I was raised at this place.
Coming into this profession was an already planned turning point of my life by god. I joined my school as a teacher in September 2011. I was the youngest teacher appointed then. ( Working with your teachers as a teacher is an amazing experience.) I started my career as an IB teacher-a new curriculum, new challenges and lots of learning where each day I get to learn something new. The faith that the management has in me has not to be let down. Attending IB workshops, working with my students helped me a lot in getting deeper into inquiry. This field has so much to learn and so much to imbibe within you.
I started my journey as an assistant teacher of Grade 2 and I had to take care of the students with special needs. It was fun working with them and understanding their interests and ways of learning. Once when our director sir asked them to make a sentence which included the names of three of us, their reply was “Harpreet and we are best friends.” I was elated.
Over the years I have understood that becoming teachers means to become lifelong learners - learning, delivering, experiencing, sharing and reflection.  Teaching helped me grow and mature. Working with my students, I remember my own childhood days. I remember myself running down the corridor, attending my classes studying and enjoying. Out of numerous experiences that helped me grow up and learn, I am going to share one.
This extract is about a student who helped me understand that communication is a very essential part of our lives. Communicating our happiness doubles our joy and communicating our sorrow helps lessen the burden. I still remember him entering my classroom all full of anger and frustration for being left in a day boarding school. Once aggressive, he could create hullaballoo in the classroom, tear others notebooks, lay down on the floor and shout. This child was special and I know everyone is. It took me time to understand him and finally we were connecting and ‘communicating’. I went through his admission file and learnt that both his mother and father are deaf and dumb. Oh my god! There was a lot inside this innocent soul which had not been communicated. I had to help him. He is an excellent listener and very observant. All I wanted now was to help that child communicate to me. We started to sit everyday in our free time. He talked to me about everything and anything, sang songs, talked about his family, discussed about school. The improvement he showed was awe-inspiring and such a blessing to watch. 
And even today when he has reached another grade ~ he gives me hug everyday and before going home in holidays, comes running to my class to say me – “Good bye MMA”.  He is my child, my sibling and one of my dearest students.
Teaching is not just a profession. It’s a connection. It teaches you how to share and give. Give all the positivity that you have. Share all your learning. And keep learning.

An icebreaker

Dear all
I have always wanted to blog. I am a Primary Years Teacher in a school in India. I love teaching and learning. A teacher's life is full of amazing incidents and I would be sharing mine. 😊 I am a simple girl from a small village in Uttar Pradesh named - Ankhein😎Ankhein means eyes. Isn't the name awesome! Yesterday I came across an image that related to me so much and here it is.

And I know all the teachers in the world out there would relate to it so much.....

So ~ to the awesome world out there ~here I am. I would love sharing.