Activity Based Learning for Life Skills Development

Life Skills offers the students the necessary Emotional,  Social and Intellectual tools to achieve success in life. It helps them to manage their lives in a healthy and productive manner. There are many instances where talented people have not been able to cope up with the challenges of life. This is due to  lack of Life Skills.

Step One School has to its credit numerous Zero-Cost Innovative Teaching Learning Materials and Activities. It has helped the students to understand the basic concepts in a better way through Learning by Doing. Another advantage of Activity Based Learning is Life Skills Development in the students. The kids if taught doing small household chores under supervision which must be made part of curriculum, can help the students learn Life Skills at an early age. For example kids be taught how to fold and set personal clothes , to help elders in offering any help, making their own bed, helping at home in cleaning and dusting, learning good manners and moral values, respecting other people and being kind to animals and nature  etc. 

Education will be meaningful if Life Skills are taught through Activity Based Learning methodology. The parents have a great role to play in developing Life Skills among the students. 

Student Learning Life Skills

Innovative Burdenless Primary Education.

INNOVATIVE PRIMARY CLASSES TEACHING PLAN.

AIM: 

1. To reduce content learning with focus on core subjects. More focus on developing Reading, Writing & Knowledge with Understanding skills by teaching one or two core subjects per day instead of 4 to 5 subjects back to back per day. The kids are young learners and take their own time to mould themselves. The flexibility in learning is a must.

2. To increase time availability for Activity Based Learning ( Experiential Learning). Study says that Activity Based Learning is the key to Lifelong Flair for Creativity and Innovation.

3. To reduce school bag weight to prevent any health related issues. 

4. To make Primary Education Burdenless, Enjoyable & Fun Based.

5. To make kids more Skilled,  Innovative,   Knowledgeable and Disciplined. Thus, paving the way towards a Meaningful Education. 

6. To ensure kids gets sufficient space & time in class to think and respond to any STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering,  Mathematics) based questions. No spoon feeding everytime. Let them also Think & Think the right answer.

FOR HINDI (4 Turns in a Month) THURS. ENGLISH ( 4 Turns in a month) WED. EVS (8 Turns in a month) MON, FRI.

1. Read and Explain one lesson/ chapter to students in Ist  & 2nd Turn. Students to revise at home what they study in class.

2. Underline tough words with meaning in I st Turn & 2nd Turn.

3.    Solve Question & Answers without mistakes in 3rd  & 4th Turn. Students to revise daily work done at Home.

4.  Go to next lesson/ chapter and repeat above.

FOR MATHS (Total 8 Turns in a Month) TUE & SAT.

Each Maths Lesson/ Chapter has many Topics.

1.     Take  1st Turn to complete reading & explaining 1 Topic of the lesson with given solved examples. Students to revise at Home.

2.   Solve Half exercise of above Topic in CW. Remaining Half Exercise give HW in 1st Turn.

3.   Take new topic of same Lesson in 2nd Turn and repeat above.

STEP ONE SCHOOL...Transforming Education with Zero- Cost Innovative Teaching Ideas.

ACHIEVEMENTS 

1. Recipient of Teacher Innovation Award Certificate of Appreciation from ZIIEI in 2020.

2. Nominated by USHLBE, USA for Accredition in 2019.

3.  Nominated by Cambridge University Press, UK for Dedicated Teacher Awards 2021.

4. Recipient of Certificate of Participation from Rybakov Foundation, Russia for Global Pre-school Award in 2021.

PRE-SCHOOL & PRIMARY EDUCATION IS THE FOUNDATION FOR A LIFE LONG LEARNING.

Importance of Circle Time in Schools.

Teaching is not just limited to text-books and note-books but got to be more interactive with the students. This is to ensure creating congenial atmosphere in the school where students & teachers develop good bonds. Today, unfortunately we see students and teachers are not so interactive in classrooms or outside classrooms to discuss any subject problems.  Why ? Teachers are just interested in syllabus coverage and students are interested in attendance. The Real Learning is missing. The solution to this problem is the Circle Time. 

What is Circle Time? 

It is the morning session where students and teacher interact with one another to refresh their minds before they start the classes formally. You can name it as a  Zero- period or Happiness Class. The duration of the Circle Time may vary from 20 min to 30 min. after the prayer meeting. 

What happens in this Circle Time? 

The first word Circle denotes that students be made to sit in a big circle preferably on floor and the teacher is also the part of this Circle. It becomes like a team. In cases where the students are large in numbers then make more teams as required.  Now, it is time to discuss the following  topics one or two per session:

1.Well- being of students.

2.Importance of Values in life.

3.Good Manners.

4.Good Habits.

5.Topics of General Awareness, Personality Development & Group Discussions. 

6.Students Sharing their Experiences. 

7.Story telling by students.

8.Poems Recitation.

9.Yoga for good health and happiness 

10.Quizes & fun games.

Benefits of Circle Time:

1. Better academic performance. 

2. Better engagement of students. 

3. High attendance. 

4. High discipline in classes.

5. Life Skills Development. 

Is the Smart Class a Technological boon for the Education System ?

The world is changing fast  and one needs to keep up. It is only possible by adopting modern  technologies. The technology plays an important role in every field including Education. 

It has enabled schools and institutions to transform Blackboard classes into Smart classes. 

Education broadly means Research & Development,  Teaching & Learning.  The aim must be to make Education not only accessible to everyone but also to make it qualitatively high to meet 21st Century standards.

In traditional classrooms teachers and students are not able derive their best teaching and learning outcomes as compared to Smart classes. Because it lacks in better understanding of concepts and poor interactions between teachers and students. 

In Smart classes with the help of modern technologies like Internet, Computer, LED's, projectors, microphones, speakers etc. the learning is fun, enjoyable and effective. The teachers are able to explain the concepts through audio- visual means in the most effective way to the students. Thus, students have the best learning experience. It develops the interest in learning the subjects and  skills like logical thinking, reading and writing. 

It is high time that more and more schools must adopt Smart Class Mode of Teaching to make Teaching and Learning,  the best experience for both Teachers and Students.

Smart Class at Step One School 

The advantages of  Smart Classes:

1.Better interaction between teachers and students due to effective engagement. 

2.Better Understanding of concepts by means of audio- visual teaching aids.

3.Makes teaching effective for teachers.

4.Makes learning fun and interesting for students. 

5.Eco- friendly as no paper, ink, chalk are required.

6.Enhances abilities and performance of students. 

7.Helpful in skills development like logical thinking,  reading and writing. 

How to develop Creativity skills in the students ?

Learning by Demonstration 

Creativity is one of the most important skills to be developed in the students. In the long run these creative people only make the nation innovative, self-reliant and developed. 

Creativity starts with inquisitive mind. It develops when the students in early years of their age are motivated to ask 'Why?'  in classrooms. The classes must be made more interactive. It ensures growth of analytical and critical thinking mind of the students.

Further, the learning by doing and learning by demonstration are effective methods of teaching to develop Creativity Skills in the students. This way educators can correlate theory and practice in the most effective way. If students learn by understanding  then the knowledge gained is retained for a longer time as compared to classroom lectures. This will develop scientific temper among the students. 

Unfortunately,  the curriculum is made so heavy with content learning that students do not get space and time to be interactive in classroom , learn by doing and learn by demonstration.

At Step One School we have reduced the content learning in order to create space and time for Activity Based Learning. 

To be creative the students must be disciplined, well-mannered, empathetic ,polite, compassionate and be gentle with the nature and animals.

The following are the methods for developing Creativity Skills among the students:

1. Learning by Doing    

2. Learning by Demonstration 

3. Activity Based Learning 

4. Experiential Learning

5. Group Discussions

6. Puzzle Solving

7. Socially Useful Productive Work (SUPW)

8. Undertaking scientific & industrial  tours.

9. Organising events

10.Attending workshops, Seminars & Conferences.

Unique Online Study System

Step One School's Unique Online Study System:

Online Assignments Evaluation 

It consists of the following steps, keeping in view the lower age group of students upto Preparatory Level:

1.Students Study from our Pre-recorded Video Lessons to understand the topics. In our Video Lessons the lessons are explained by the teacher in detail similar to as explained in regular classes. 

2.Students repeat it by reading from their textbooks and do exercise.

3.Students submit their work assignments to school for checking.

4.School checks and corrects the assignments. 

5.If found all correct , then Excellent grade is given.

6.If found some mistakes then school corrects it and send it to the students. 

7.Students re- submit it to school after corrections.

8.School gives Excellent grade.

9.If any student is not able to understand any topic  then the student sends the screen shot of the topic to the school for doubts clearance. It is discussed on the phone or through Zoom meeting.

10.Online Exams are conducted Quarterly by sending Question Papers as per exam schedule and to be submitted online within 3 hours same day.

How to build a positive school culture?

  Positive Learning Environment   

         

The Positive Greetings at the Door (PGD) of  the students is another way to build a positive school culture. The act helps build relationships between students and teachers, which is an important part of making connections for learning for the rest of the day. Research studies say that students are more engaged and well -behaved  in classrooms in which there is an upbeat climate and students feel that they have a positive relationship with their teacher. If the school day begins with positive interactions with the students  then it will only help in developing positive classroom climate. The study claimed that teachers  greeting students at the door led to a 20% point increase in academic engagement and disruptive behavior decreased by 9% points. In this strategy the teacher starts greeting the students at the door, saying each student's name while using non-verbal greeting chosen by the student such as  handshake, namaste, gentle hug, dance, fist bump, and high five.

Positive Greeting at the Door