We are proud to
believe that our school is the most sought after school at Navi Mumbai.
And why not?
Our management
takes every effort to make the education of special children entertaining and
fun. The meetings with the staff are held regularly whereby teachers are
guiding in correct teaching methods to be carried out at school.
Every festival
and every event is celebrated at school as a hands-on learning experience. On
the days when children have public holidays, teachers are expected to report to
school. During those days, some workshops or lectures by experience personals
are organised at school to enrich the teaching methods of the staff.
This week too,
while children were enjoying their Ganesha festivals, teachers attended a
“Theatre Workshop” organised at school by dramatist Mr. Shivdas Ghodke on 14th
September from 1pm to 4pm.
“Todays session
was good, it was full of practical inputs that help to develop children’s
physical mobility and the thinking ability. (cognitive abilities)” said Rupali,
the teacher of secondary class. “This session focused on developing students
leadership qualities too”
Sixteen
teachers took part in this workshop and each one was having a very good time.
There was no inhibition in performing any activity at all. They walked with
bent knees, they crawled on the floor, they even mimed. Teaching special
children can be fun, they need not struggle to write alphabets, memorise long
paragraphs or solve difficult problems, learning can be done informally through
play and drama and that was all this workshop was about.
“Truly! It was
an excellent workshop for teachers. Today’s workshop was fun but indirectly we
learnt many things. Through different activities, we can use it for our students
development, we can teach them different concepts using very simple material.”
Said Grace, the teacher of pre-vocational group. “Through these activities we
can develop students imagination, creativity, imitation skills, they can
improve their leadership qualities, enhance their confidence level and learn
about team work.”
Different aids
were used for team activities that need large spaces. Bamboo rods were used to
form designs on the floor and to imagine what activity can be performed using
the stick. (for example..rods can be used for drying clothes, shooting like
rifle or using as stump for playing snookers). Teachers used bamboo sticks to
design a star shape. Collectively they lifted it horizontally and child was
made to hop on the shape.
Such big bamboo
stick needs larger space to perform such activities, although it can be
incorporated in dance and drama with background music. But a smaller stick can
in used in the classrooms too and some teachers are using it in their lesson
plans.
“I give my
students ice cream sticks for making shapes and alphabets and let them imagine
things like ice cream and other things, but I normally use it on individual
level. But today’s stick therapy is good for group activity. We will reduce the
size of the stick to make the activity easier in the class level” said Vidya,
teacher of Primary 1.
Luckily there
were two children who were also the part of the group. They too participated in
many activities and helped us understand how far can we stretch an activity
with special children.
Some activities
were shown with a rope, 15 meters long and 3 inches thick. It helped us
understand the limited force that would be required to form designs with the
rope by swinging one end of the rope in different directions.
Charushila
found the use of rope in her therapy class as very useful aid. “This exercise
is good to channelize energy and also for dissociation of joints.” She said.
Spreading the
rope on the floor and making the teachers walk on the rope was a clever idea.
“I liked
walking activity. This is helpful for balancing, coordination and muscle
strength” said Smita.
Using long
ropes in smaller classrooms is impractical but using duppattas, colorful tape
or sari fall (as suggested by Grace and Smita Vartak ) would be more logical.
The session
went on till 4:30 but nobody complained of the extended hour. In fact some
teachers wanted one more session.
“I would
personally request Shirish Tr and Sukanya Tr. to arrange more sessions by
Sir in which he will give us input on voice modulations, making
masks etc. Sir is very experience person who has worked with special children
from many years .So his sessions will definitely be helpful for us....” said
Vidya teacher of Primary 1 class.
