3-2-1 TUESDAYS WITH MS NIV

Issue #11 / September 22,  2020

Are you being primed to influence your choice that you will make later on? If you want to teach your child/student/yourself to exercise free will and not be directed by a person or media, listen to the talk in the video of the week. Discipline is misunderstood often by the millennials. Read on to find six tips, two thoughts and an account of personal experience of an educator and a grand parent.

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Three Images For The Week

For educator, parent and student. The Holy Trinity of Education.

Two Thoughts For The Week

“Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.”

– Frank Herbert

“Discipline is wisdom and vice versa. ”

– M. Scott Peck

One Video For The Week

Are you in control of your choices? Magic tricks might reveal otherwise, says scientist and illusionist Alice Pailhès. Watch closely as she performs magic tricks that unveil how your brain works, how you can be subtly influenced and what that means for free will and your day-to-day life.

Did she guess your card right?

It is politicians, marketeers, store shelves …. who are influencing us. It is also the Alien of Artificial Intelligence from the various social media sites that follow us and put our minds in a bubble that is influenced in making decisions that we falsely assume is our free will.

What is our option?

Guest column

Nandini Natarajan, Educator and scholarship manager, VIDYA integrated development for youth and adults.

I was a Software Engineer, I entered the IT field with lots of excitement and worked in the sector for a few years. But somewhere deep in my heart, the quest and ambition of becoming an educator was always an impending thought. Thanks to the Almighty and to my Gurus I was able to achieve the dreams and now I am an educator in the field since 10 years and I work as a scholarship manager in VIDYA trying to bring out the best from my students and of course learning a lot.

According to me, learning and teaching always go hand in hand and I strongly believe that teaching by imparting the core values of life along with the technicalities in subjects shall make learning a lifelong enjoyable and an ever cherishing experience. As a teacher who has been teaching English over a decade, I firmly reinstate and reiterate the points of giving a strong foundation in the early years of education in a child’s life. This strong foundation of knowing the functional and semantics of the language will bring interest and liveliness in learning. Once the foundation is set, the other areas of fine tuning always happen in a smooth way. As a teacher, I  consciously work out on  giving my students a firm foundation of the subject and with due interest, practice and diligence, it paves the way of success to the roads of wisdom and knowledge. According to me, holistic education always comes as a package of imparting core values of discipline, attitude and empathy with education. A teacher also needs to take the role of a good friend and a parent to inculcate the values of teaching and that will always remain in the minds of children forever. I am happy and proud that I have inspired my students in some or other ways for which I owe my gratitude to my gurus, mentors, parents and well-wishers.

Learning becomes an enjoyable experience if only it is never seen as a burden but as a process of urge and inclination to knowing about the facts and vales around us. Teachers can facilitate and kindle the curiosity of learning among their students in so many ways. One of which I follow is teaching the core values of life lessons and incorporate into the subject such that the learning gets blended in a beautiful way and sustains forever. As adults we sometimes cease to learn and feel that we have completed that phase in our life. The irony is learning and teaching will keep the spirit of life burning within us even as we grow. A teacher who has constantly imbibed and inculcated these values has never failed to remain in the memories of children and they continue inspire others in the same way.

Of course the journey of learning in life has some interesting and tough challenges ahead. The confidence, resilience and learning that a child possesses during his/her early days will help his/her cross these challenges and yield the expected results. As a teacher, I strongly believe that it is the attitude that brings the best out of students and each teacher and parent should be instrumental in bringing out the desired impact that the world would like to witness.

Parent speak

Arundhati Shiggaon, an educator, a parent and a grand parent.

Discipline Diaries 

Disciplining children is one of the most debated and difficult parts of being a parent or an educator. 

Karan is uncontrollably loud .He is stubborn and answers rudely when spoken to at school.  Myra is prone to throwing tantrums when she does not get her way . It’s an utter nightmare to take Tanya visiting. She will pick what she likes and wants to take it home. Sounds familiar ? We are talking  about some common behaviour patterns that parents and educators may have to deal with at some point. 

A few tantrums or arguments once in a while is acceptable . But if such behaviour becomes a daily occurrence then it is a cause for concern . Now the burning question is how to inculcate discipline in young children? Are there yardsticks for Normal Behaviour? Or does it depend on their emotional development, nurture and environmental factors? Let’s see .  Sharing some gentle and positive strategies that have helped me .

Learning by example: 

Show children what is acceptable and what is not . Most often we tell them the right from the wrong but forget that there are so many zones in-between these two. Model your behaviour and reactions.

Talk about consequences: 

 Be calm yet firm while explaining the consequences of unacceptable behaviour.  Follow through when you notice that some chore is not done. Like toys strewn about. Remind and remind with love.

Set boundaries and expectations :

Let children know what the rules are and be consistent that they are followed. Be sure to explain in age appropriate language so they understand.

Listen to the heart : 

Listening is an important  skill. Young children may not always articulate well so be fully present for them. Hear them out and ask how they would like to deal with their problem. It’s a powerful tool to reinforce certain behavior patterns.

Validate them : 

Kids need to know when they do something good or something not so nice. Point it out by saying “ I loved how you picked up the beads and organised them “ Or “How do you think Hunter felt when you spoke to him like that ?“ This will invite them to think about their behaviour . 

Call a time-out: 

A time out can be useful when a specific rule is broken. This discipline tool works best by gently warning children that  they will get time out if they don’t stop. Explain with as little emotion―as possible, and remove  them from the situation for a pre-set length of time that you think is appropriate .

Learning from mistakes , even your own:

Remember that, as a parent or as an educator you have to cut yourself some slack when you feel out of control. Just make sure your child is in a safe place and then give yourself a few minutes to relax. When you are feeling better, go back, hug each other and start over again .

I will leave you with a quote by L.R. Knost “It’s not our job to toughen our children up to face a cruel and heartless world. It’s our job to raise children who will make the world a little less cruel and heartless.”

Student voice

Ramit Jaiswal, student, Grade 9

How Is the Indian Media Diverting Us from the Actual Problems.

I think we all know that the current Indian media is talking a  lot about the controversy of the Murder of Sushant Singh Rajput, how Rhea Chakraborty was involved in the drugs case, how Kangana Ranaut’s office was destroyed, why does Prashant Bhushan needs justice, How PUBG MOBILE was banned & FAU-G is releasing, Etc. But we have a bigger problem in our hands. The Indian economy could be in a huge depression. The COVID 19 pandemic is rapidly increasing & not stopping in India, but the Government doesn’t care & they are not postponing the JEE & NEET exams. I think this shows the failure of Democracy & the failure of free & fair media. There is an easy solution to this, stop giving TRP to those channels who talk about one & only one topic. They are probably trying to hide the Truth. In my opinion, the one journalist that I trust the most is Sir Ravish Kumar. He is known to report actual problems & he has exposed many truths in front of the world, Indian media is the Titanic ship which is about to hit a glacier & drown, but Ravish Kumar is the captain of the Ship who is trying his best to stop it.

Showcase

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And Finally

Super easy to make and fun for the children is this magic slider – check out this video of Sonal Chawda.

3-2-1 Tuesdays with Ms Niv  is a newsletter for you to subscribe and enjoy your learning journey with me. Most of you would have been too busy to track trends in education, ponder on most relevant thoughts or deliberate on career choice, parenting or pedagogy. Find it all here. This week, it consists of:  3 images, 2 thoughts and 1 video.

For whom? Students, educators and parents

When? Every Tuesday

Where? my blog post, register with your e-mail id, it is free.

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