What would an ideal school be like? How
would it be like the school you attended? How would it be different?
School. For each of us this word means
something different. In my opinion, school helps us to build the foundation of
our future lives because we learn to read, write, and understand the difference
between good and evil. School helps us to build confidence, become independent,
and learn to be persistent. It also makes us smarter, more curious about
knowledge, and determined to find our place in the world. It plays a big role
in our lives. Everybody has memories of their school that stay with them their
whole lives, whether they are positive or negative.
Looking back at the experiences I gained at
my school, I realize that it may not have always been the best, but I wouldn’t
want to change anything about it. So when I was given a chance to be a leader
of Shindewadi, I dreamt of making it a place where such experiences would be
created that would last forever in the memories of the children. Creating happy
experiences at school is very important, especially in our kinds of schools,
because children do not experience such at their homes.
Thus I began to write on paper my vision of
the ideal school. The ideas I had in my mind were many but translating them
into reality was going to be the toughest part. Thus began my journey on the
13th of June 2012.
The first few months at school weren’t the
easiest - transforming an existing setup is not an easy thing to do. But the
support that I received from a set of new, young and enthusiastic teachers was
amazing and motivated me to do better and better each day. Not to mention the
support that I received from others who had already been associated with this
school from its inception. My idea was to create classrooms which were
engaging, fun and trying to give hands on experience and as much exposure as
possible. Over the year teachers
planned many such activities and lessons to make sure we tried to create
classrooms like that.
My experience of being an Akanksha teacher
and working in a formal school for many years came in handy and made me very
solution oriented. My teaching experience has changed my entire outlook on and
attitude toward life. Before being a teacher, I was shy, had low self-esteem
and turned away from seemingly impossible challenges. Teaching has altered all
of these qualities. A few years
ago I would have never imagined myself conducting a meeting with 25 new teachers
or planning a Christmas carnival or doing an elocution competition with 380
kids. But all this became a reality this year.
Days flew by and I did not realise when the
year was about to end. I had already started to think about the coming year and
how I could alter the mistakes I made this year so that I could make this
school a place where children created memories they would cherish all their
life.
I realise now that though I am far behind
from creating my vision of an ideal school, the goal is not an impossible task.
-
Dhwani Shah
Assistant School Leader
Shindewadi Mumbai Public School
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