Independent learning refers to a process where students evaluate and assess their academic development. They set goals, make choices and execute their strategy to achieve their learning outcomes. When refined, it enables the student to adapt to new settings quickly and improve learning outcomes.

Importance of Independent Learning

Independent learning has immense potential for improving learning outcomes. Instilling accountability can help students to build confidence in their learning abilities. Independent learning can also develop other capabilities in students, some of which are:

  • Enhanced capability to learn by themselves without the support of teachers.
  • Increased learning efficiency
  • Improvements in academic performance
  • Better motivation and confidence levels
  • Better self-awareness
  • More social inclusion

Skills required for Independent Learning

The specific skills which allow successful independent learning are as follows:

  • Ability to make informed choices and stick to them.
  • Self-Accountability or the ability to take responsibility for own learning activities
  • Critical self-awareness.

Tips for Developing Independent Learning Skills in Students

Teachers can help develop independent learning within their students by following these tips:

  • Provide the students with opportunities to self-monitor themselves
  • Categorize information and offer a model of the behaviour of independent learning to the students
  • Provide feedback to the students on the classwork and homework attempted by independent learning
  • Encourage collaboration amongst students to engage with peers to complete group tasks, rather than being dependent on the teacher.
  • Allowing students to set their personal learning goals and take ownership of it. It will empower students to take control of their learning.
  • Involve the students in lesson planning. It motivates the students in helping you plan your practice to achieve a better outcome.
  • Encourage students to keep a diary to plan, keep track and monitor their progress.

Outcomes of Independent Learning

Independent learning outcomes show a positive and upward learning curve in most cases. The outcomes may be summarised as follows:

  • Enhanced learning outcomes
  • Improved motivation and discipline
  • Better social interactions.
  • Increased opportunities for completing differentiated tasks set by the teacher.

The aim of independent learning is a gradual, step-by-step transfer of responsibility from the teacher to the students in the learning process. By asking open-ended questions, promoting thinking amongst students, and helping develop a practical approach to problems, teachers can make students become more capable learners.

Ruby Park Public School: Your gateway to world-class education

Ruby Park Public School aims to educate and nurture students to become a strong community of future-ready citizens and leaders of tomorrow. With a holistic pedagogy and methods of delivery at RPPS, the students are taught life skills to live responsibly by caring for the self, the people around them and their environment. The school ensures quality education in the academic ad co-curricular spheres.

Being affiliated with the CBSE board, it visions to impart 21st-century skills to its students and maintain a delicate balance between traditional values and modern ethos. The refreshing and peaceful learning environment has stimulated the students to achieve the highest standards of discipline and excellence in their educational endeavours.

References:

  1. https://blog.irisconnect.com/uk/blog/9-tips-for-encouraging-students-to-become-independent-learners/
  2. https://www.bfx.com.au/six-ways-to-improve-independent-learning-in-students/

Educational counselling can help students make the right decisions for their education and career aspirations. It forms an integral part of education by helping students understand themselves, their ambitions and the opportunities around them in a better way. Students can get advice before stepping into the next stage of their academic and career pursuits. They can also benefit from learning how to think practically and approach problems creatively.

Types of counselling

Students seeking admission to undergraduate programmes and work opportunities can benefit from three types of counselling, categorised below:

Educational guidance and counselling – It focuses on getting students well-versed with the best colleges for their desired courses and the academic requirements for their selected stream.

Generally, found in schools and colleges, educational counsellors provide guidance and mentorship for academic success and progression.

For a holistic counselling experience, the counsellor may deliberate on various topics. These topics could be:

  • Educational and career choices
  • Familial support
  • Transportation problems
  • Concerns regarding grades

Vocational counselling: It focuses more on finding a suitable occupation or job opportunity for the student based on their interests. It also helps provide the ideal match of the student’s skill sets to the job profile. 

Career counselling: It is a combination of educational and vocational counselling. It helps students and working professionals by providing the right mentorship at every step of their academic and professional journey.

Need for counselling for university admissions

Students often find making the right career choice for higher studies difficult. Choices are sometimes made based on information gathered from unreliable sources, peer pressure and lack of awareness of available courses. Strong guidance enables students to choose the most suitable course according to their interests and preferences.

These days, with many career choices, students cannot differentiate between the right and wrong. The purpose of counselling should be to provide valuable life lessons to the students so that they may become professionals in their careers.

Apart from parents, teachers and the peer group, the education counsellors can play a stellar role in getting students on the right path. They are able to rapidly identify and achieve professional and academic goals, facilitate personal growth, and help improve interpersonal relationships.

Ruby Park Public School: Your gateway to world-class education

Ruby Park Public School aims to educate and nurture students to become a strong community of future-ready citizens and leaders of tomorrow. With a holistic pedagogy and methods of delivery at RPPS, the students are taught life skills to live responsibly by caring for the self, the people around them and their environment. Being a sister concern of DPS Ruby Park, the school ensures quality education in the academic ad co-curricular spheres.

Being affiliated with the CBSE board, it visions to impart 21st-century skills to its students and maintain a delicate balance between traditional values and modern ethos. The refreshing and peaceful learning environment has stimulated the students to achieve the highest standards of discipline and excellence in their educational endeavours.

References:

  1. https://leverageedu.com/blog/educational-counselling/
  2. https://www.reviewadda.com/institute/article/262/why-counseling-is-important-for-students
  3. https://www.reviewadda.com/institute/article/191/role-of-admission-counsellor

Education is a sensitive affair that must be dealt with utmost thought, care, passion and caution. Minor missteps or missed opportunities often translate to problems or learning gaps in the academic journey. Education can be looked at as a building. To build a remarkable structure, one needs to set up the proper ground and lay a cornerstone that will enable the individual to take up different challenges – academic or otherwise.

Understanding what makes education good

It is necessary to understand what constitutes a good education. These are the markers that ensure one’s education is wholesome and well-rounded, and it is of a standard that will eventually add value to the person’s life. According to National Centre for Education Statistics’ Indicators Report, we can judge education at a learning facility based on the following parameters:

School Context Teachers Classrooms
  • Discipline
  • Professional Community
  • School Leadership
  • Goals
  • Academic Environment
  • Teacher Academic Skills
  • Teacher Experience
  • Professional Development
  • Class Size
  • Technology
  • Course Content
  • Pedagogy

Kolkata, an education hub, has a lot of educational institutes that offer good quality learning. But what makes Ruby Park Public School stand out and be a no-brainer choice for your child’s holistic growth and development? To better understand the effectiveness of this school, we will measure it against the matrices mentioned above.

Understanding the ethos of the school

Beginning with the context of the school, Ruby Park Public School was established in 2019 to serve parents looking for quality education and grooming for their kids. The school finds methods to give customized care to every child studying at this institution. As the parent establishment, Delhi Public School, Ruby Park, has demonstrated the best instructive foundation. It has given the administration the vision to make a school extend its educational excellence.

Any school is as good as its disciplinary measures and they set the foundation of building a global citizen. Ruby Park Public School follows a Positive Behaviour Management system that focuses on reinforcing life skills and values among students. The Positive Behaviour Management techniques include Gender Sensitivity Counselling, Life Skill Activity, Inclusion and Diversity, Regular Workshop for students and teachers to re-instate finer qualities of behaviour management Sensitizing students with issues regarding safeguarding their self-image.

Building blocks of a good school – Teachers and Classrooms

Moving on to the soul of any school, the Teachers and Classrooms, Ruby Park Public School aims to part 21st-century skills to its students by striking a balance between traditional values and modem ethos. Equipped with live streaming of classes in hybrid mode through digital writing pads, advanced webcams, and a 65″ Interactive LED TV, the school chooses only the best for its students.

The School is affiliated with CBSE. The students can avail extensive schemes of subject combinations based on NEP, thus widening their Career options. A team of experienced and well-trained teachers serve as valuable add-ons. Comprehensive training and particular online exams equip students for competitive exams and Boards Exams. A State-of-the-art infrastructure with equipped Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Maths and advanced Computer Labs and Library with an exhaustive collection of books and journals enable a comprehensive growth of the students.

Going beyond classrooms in pursuit of excellence

Modern classrooms alone are not enough for a pupil to excel. The school provides added entities like an active career guidance call enriches students about courses and helps them enter prestigious universities like MIT, Camel University, Duke, Columbia, UC Berkeley, New York University and others alike.

It also features an Air-Conditioned Multi-Purpose Sports Arena includes an international standard badminton and basketball court. An all-weather swimming pool caters to the overall development of students. Fests and Olympiads contribute to making and future ready.

The school also ensures that your children are comfortable and safe inside and on their way to the campus. Air-conditioned transportation with CCTV and GPS tracking are also available for a safe and smooth journey to and from the school premises.

At a glance

Ruby Park Public School imparts nothing less than the best learning via a mixture of traditional and modern education methods. This experience, assisted by state-of-the-art infrastructure and teaching staff that has undergone rigorous training to use the available infrastructure for the best learning outcome possible, makes this school a haven for education. A balanced and wholesome environment, nestled in safety, helps the students excel. An institution of this calibre can be imitated but not replicated. Thus Ruby Park Public School, must be chosen for a one-stop solution to your child’s education and growing needs.

Good nutrition and plenty of activity are the building blocks for a person’s strong growth, healthy development and lifelong well-being. Over time, these requirements may vary in different age groups. The general physical and nutrition needs based on age are given in the following sections. 

Diet Plans at Different Life Stages

Let us look at the nutritional needs at different life stages. It is to be understood that the body demands nutrients in recommended daily allowances (RDA) varying from age to age:

  • Infancy (0 to 12 months) – Babies usually double their length and weight at this time. The requirement for iron, protein, thiamine, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, magnesium, zinc, sodium and chloride increase over time.
  • Pre-School and School Going Children – Solid food, including the need for carbohydrates, protein, vitamins and minerals, increase with age. Nutrients are stored to support the growth spurt for appropriate weight gain and development.
  • Adolescence – Now, adolescents around 11 to 12 years for girls and 12 to 13 years for boys, require plenty of nutrients for their growth. An emphasis on nutrient-dense food such as fruits, legumes, nuts, vegetables and meat should be placed.
  • Young Adults – Nutrients for good health depend now on the lifestyle and physical activity of the person. Calcium and phosphorus requirements are lower for both men and women than in adolescents, and there is a reduced need in women for magnesium and men for iron.
  • Old Age – Since physical activity is reduced, carbohydrates and fat must be restricted. There is an evidence of muscle loss and the fragility of bones and protein is required to compensate for the loss and maintain the growth of cells.

Physical Exercise at Different Age Groups

Regular physical activity is one of the most important things people can do to improve their health. People must engage in exercise for their well-being. With time, the physical requirement of a person changes. As such, the demand for activity varies from person to person, age to age. 

  • Pre-School-Aged Children – Physical activities are crucial for their development and can be incorporated in several ways.
  • Children and Adolescents – Physical exercise includes moderate-to-vigorous daily physical activity, such as running, climbing or jumping rope.
  • Adults – They require at least 150 minutes a week of moderate activity such as brisk walking to strengthen muscles.
  • Older Adults – Senior adults can also benefit from physical activity to improve coordination, muscle strength and balance.

Role of a healthy lifestyle in children

Sports and fitness are essential to channel the energy levels of the children in a positive way. Children should be encouraged to indulge in physical activities and avoid a sedentary lifestyle. Chips and soft drinks cannot be an ideal diet pattern to accompany this lifestyle. It may eventually lead to obesity and diseases like diabetes and cardiac arrest later in life.

Children who play sports are more robust and more independent. They learn teamwork and how to manage their time. Parents should encourage them to participate in physical activities such as exercise, dance, fitness games, swimming, etc. Children need physical activity to stay in shape and have a healthy mind. Furthermore, physically healthy children mostly perform well academically and develop motor and coordination skills.

Parental Support for a proper diet and exercise for a child is of prime importance. Parents should be role models, eat healthy foods, and indulge in fitness routines. Moreover, they should be committed to the child’s good growth and development and be responsible for providing proper nourishment to the child.

Ruby Park Public School: Instilling world-class education

Ruby Park Public School strives to educate and develop kids to build a strong community of future-ready citizens and leaders. At RPPS, children are taught life skills such as caring for themselves, others, and the environment through comprehensive pedagogy and delivery techniques. The school provides high-quality education in both academic and co-curricular areas.

As a CBSE board member, it aspires to instil 21st-century skills in its pupils while maintaining a careful balance of traditional values and modern ethos. The refreshing study atmosphere inspires the kids to reach the most significant levels of discipline and achievement in their academic endeavours.

References:

  1. https://www.apa.org/topics/child-development/healthy-eating
  2. https://www.dietitiansuruchi.com/diet-nutrition/diets-for-different-age-groups/
  3. https://blog.nutritionprogram.co.uk/2016/06/29/dietary-needs-for-different-age-groups/
  4. https://www.parentcircle.com/importance-of-exercise-physical-activities-for-childs-health/article

In today’s world, teaching and learning techniques are changing. In the earlier methodology, exposure to a stimulus, cognition, memory and recognition of the information was the learning model. Now, the emphasis is on a child’s physical, emotional, mental, and psychological well-being. The holistic growth of a child is based on the development of physical, intellectual, cognitive, mental or emotional faculties. It also emphasises the improvement of a child’s social skills.

Physical Activities for Holistic Growth

Physical activities are related to the holistic development of a child and are as essential as water is to a plant for growth. These activities impact a child’s growth in many ways:

  • Physical growth – Exercise helps the child build stronger muscles and bones, acting as a stimulus for the body to adapt to various situations. A physical foundation helps to build healthy bone mass and density and better bone health.
  • Better Fitness and Posture – Fitness due to physical exercise helps the child build the strength required to perform daily tasks well. It enables the child to become more flexible and stable. A good posture ensures increasing the core and spine strength.
  • Weight Management – Physical activity helps burn calories and regulate weight management. Childhood obesity increases a child’s chance of acquiring cardiovascular illnesses such as high cholesterol and metabolic problems such as Type 2 diabetes.
  • Cognitive Development – During exercise, the nerve cells in the brain’s hippocampus and prefrontal cortex grow and make new connections. It improves concentration and memory, which help in proper cognitive development for academic tasks.
  • Better Mental Health – Physical activities help with stress and anxiety relief, ensuring good hormones and positive moods.
  • Improved Self Esteem – Exercise improves a child’s health and mood. Being good at a game and good weight management is a confidence booster and raises the child’s self-esteem. Exercise as a group activity is a positive way to develop interpersonal relations and builds self – confidence. It nurtures the child’s social skills and team building abilities. The child learns several roles to practise teamwork and also try to be a leader.

Meditation for Holistic Growth

Meditation, a form of regulated exercise, helps children learn emotional regulation and achieve cognitive growth. It helps in the following ways:

  • Enhances focus – Meditation changes brain patterns and heightens mental focus, thus improving cognitive performance. People who do not meditate display higher activity in their ventral posteromedial cortex, the brain region linked to spontaneous thoughts and mind-wandering. Meditation is essential, as a constant stimulation during the hours a child remains awake— from the internet, video games, social media, and school assignments — requires them to multitask and cultivates a wandering thought process.
  • Fosters Self-Esteem and Self-Love – Meditation provides access to a more incredible feeling of inner stability and security. Meditation slows down the hyper activity of the mind and leads to the experience of relaxation, inner peace, self-love and joy. Focusing helps to mitigate your fears, self-doubt and insecurities.
  • Relieves Stress for Peak Performance – Academic studies, competition and the compulsion ‘to do things right ‘often hinder relaxation and the ability to relax. Meditation can help children cope with the stresses and the traumas by being mindful and assisting children in thinking clearly. It can profoundly impact academics and athletic, creative, and social performance.
  • Supports Healthy Emotional Development – Children face fears and should be taught to navigate through phases of insecurity, frustration and impatience without too much stress. Mediation allows children to access self-awareness and mindfulness and overcome negative emotions.
  • Enhances Empathy and Connectedness – Meditation increases compassion by self-awareness, which comes from mindfulness mediation.

Physical activities and meditation have a developmental effect on a child’s long-term health.

Ruby Park Public School: Your gateway to world-class education

Ruby Park Public School aims to educate and nurture students to become a strong community of future-ready citizens and leaders of tomorrow. With a holistic pedagogy and delivery methods at RPPS, the students are taught life skills to live responsibly by caring for the self, the people around them and their environment. Being a sister concern of DPS Ruby Park, the school ensures quality education in the academic ad co-curricular spheres.

Being affiliated with the CBSE board, it visions to impart 21st-century skills to its students and maintain a delicate balance between traditional values and modern ethos. The stimulating and peaceful learning environment has motivated the students to successfully achieve the highest standards of discipline and excellence in their educational endeavours.

References:

  1. https://www.activehealth.sg/read/physical-activity/why-is-physical-activity-important-for-child-development
  2. https://blog.mindvalley.com/meditation-for-kids/

The summer holidays are the perfect time to keep the children happy and amused. It is a time to devise activities and let the imagination run wild. A cardboard box can become a computer, or a bean seed from Mommy’s kitchen can grow into a plant! It is when physical manipulation of objects, role plays, and indulging in nature and the outdoors; will make the child see, feel, and think to develop his problem-solving skills and become more resilient and flexible in thinking.

Exciting ways to keep your child busy this summer

Some favourite ways to have summer fun to keep the creative juices flowing are:

  • Enjoy Mother Nature – Activities such as planting your little herb garden, plant picking, sky gazing, counting the stars, recognising cloud shapes, making a bird house, and making your own houses with twigs and leaves or even sand – could be fun ways to interface with nature! Understanding that we need to indulge in sustainable activities to save our planet is the best learning a child can gain at this time!
  • Explore the Local Platter – Summer time is for exploring places, activities, and events. The children should be encouraged to enjoy local events, learn a new activity such as pottery or music, explore their neighbourhood or even enrol in new classes.
  • Time for Brainy Indulgence – Summer time, away from school, should keep the brain busy by learning and thinking. To develop a child’s abilities, what better ways than solving riddles and brain teasers, completing the summer home assignment, joining a book club, or learning a new skill such as playing the piano or guitar.
  • Get Artsy – The summer holidays are the time to paddle in artsy fun and get creative with those chalks and paints. Create an activity mural, have a photoshoot session, do wall art, have some graffiti fun, be creative with the play dough, make some jewellery, go wild with the best out of waste, write and stage a drama- oh and so much more!
  • Summer Fun on Rainy Days  There is plenty to do indoors when pouring outside. Put up the room tent for camping, create fun animals and shapes with origami, learn to polish your shoes or iron your clothes, remember to make breakfast, play a card game, and paint some greeting cards are excellent ways for children to stay busy at home.
  • Outdoors is Cool  A little space and sunshine keep the children happy. Slides and swings, obstacle races, gardening, flying kites, having a bubble gum blowing contest, football fun, cycling, visiting an amusement park, jumping rope, holding a hula hoop contest, and having an inhouse summer Olympics – will keep those muscles rippling and healthy.
  • Some Fun at Night – As there is no hurry to get up early and run to school, summer nights can be made fun. Setting up a bonfire, catching lightning bugs, star gazing, camping, and going to a drive-in can be novel experiences for the children.

Making the most of the summer vacation

People expect children to be constantly active and busy. Kids are encouraged to be physically, emotionally, mentally and creatively engaged to keep them fulfilled. Parents respond to the kids’ holiday boredom by providing games, entertainment or other ‘structured’ activities, which the children need to be engaged in the ‘unstructured’ time of the summer holidays.

Ruby Park Public School: Providing world-class education

Ruby Park Public School aims to educate and nurture students to become a strong community of future-ready citizens and leaders of tomorrow. With a holistic pedagogy and delivery methods at RPPS, the students are taught life skills to live responsibly by caring for themselves, the people around them and their environment. Being a sister concern of DPS Ruby Park, the school ensures quality education in the academic and co-curricular spheres.

Being affiliated with the CBSE board, it visions to impart 21st-century skills to its students and maintain a delicate balance between traditional values and modern ethos. The refreshing and peaceful learning environment has stimulated the students to successfully achieve the highest standards of discipline and excellence in their educational endeavours.

References:

  1. https://www.verywellfamily.com/summer-fun-ideas-kids-and-parents

Reading is one of the basic skills that helps to develop an individual’s mental faculties. It is not only an academic or professional skill but also a means to indulge in creative, informative and inspiring pursuits to cultivate a holistic attitude and enrich life experiences.

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.

Richard Steele

Reading develops our vocabulary, promotes analytical thinking and reasoning skills, and increases the attention span, among other innumerable benefits for lifelong success.

Reading for children

Developing reading habits in children needs time and dedication. The key to encouraging reading habits in children is reading with them from a young age so that it almost becomes a staple! Other ways to teach the reading habit in children may be:

  • Make Reading Fun – Reading a book a child is comfortable with can help boost a child’s imagination, remove reading obstacles and ignite an interest in reading. To begin with, cartoon books and books with lots of graphics are what children relate to. He can now connect to the cartoon character he watched on the television. It makes the experience fun and enjoyable. The child will then be motivated to pick up the book and develop a habit of reading. 
  • Bring Reading to Life – Visualization is the key to holding the interest. Bringing stories to life is beneficial for making a child love reading. It is good to take the child on a trip where he can see the animals in the zoo, the flowers in the park, activities at the seaside, or the animals’ sounds in the barn after he has just read about them. Involving multiple senses ensures positive learning. 
  • Create a Reading Nook – Create an area in the house where a child can read independently or with a buddy. Push in some comfortable seating, fun accessories, a variety of books, and good lighting to access the particular area whenever he wants to read.  
  • Keep other Reading materials too – Give the child access to books and other reading materials such as magazines, comics, tabs, graphics, kindle– anything with the written word that gives the child exposure and experience. It helps the child to understand that reading can happen anywhere, not only at school.
  • Encourage Reading Anywhere and Everywhere – Teach the child that reading can happen anywhere, not just from books. The list is endless: reading travel itineraries, menu cards, road signs, posters and hoardings, instructions in games, safety instruction manuals in an aircraft, ingredients and nutrients on that packet of chips. 
  • Visit the Public Library – Library books are a fantastic resource for the child. Reading habit can be promoted by engaging the child by enrolling in book clubs at the library, word games with friends and several other activities.
  • Find the genres of interest – Let the child decide what book they would like to read. They will read with ease, having found their genres of interest. Decision making will be enhanced, and the child will want more and more to choose from. Investigate various genres such as mystery, science fiction, comic books, etc. The more engaged your child is in a subject, the more eager they will be to read about it!
  • Reading with a Buddy  It is a fantastic concept since youngsters like demonstrating their abilities to younger siblings. Try having them read a short book to their younger friend; the outcomes will astound you! Not only will the language and reading levels increase, but it will also be a terrific bonding experience for the children!
  • Audio Books and Interactive Reading Apps are excellent – With our millennial kids adept at technology, exposing them to reading apps and audiobooks on a phone or tabs is the way to go. Audiobooks can be a lot of fun and easy to understand, especially where the child makes an effort to emulate the sounds.
  • Get the child interested in a series – Getting a child hooked on series reading can inculcate his curiosity and learn about plots and story construction. Educational series or fictional books are a great way to keep the child engrossed in books for a while and make reading a habit. The Encyclopaedia Britannica and Harry Potter series are probably every child’s favourite!

As a final say, make books a habit for the child. Books, as they say, are a man’s best friend.

Ruby Park Public School: Your gateway to world-class education

Ruby Park Public School strives to educate and nurture kids to build a strong community of future-ready citizens and leaders. At RPPS, children are taught life skills such as caring for themselves, others, and the environment through comprehensive pedagogy techniques. 

Being affiliated with the CBSE board, it visions to impart 21st-century skills to its students and maintain a delicate balance between traditional values and modern ethos. The refreshing and peaceful learning environment has stimulated the students to successfully achieve the highest standards of discipline and excellence in their educational endeavours.

References:

  1. https://www.awalenglish.com/category/awals-english-blog/
  2. https://www.oxfordlearning.com/encourage-good-reading-habits/
  3. https://www.moms.com/reading-habit-kids-cultivate

Mental health in children involves aspects of attaining developmental and emotional milestones, learning healthy social skills and how to cope with problems. Mentally healthy children are more likely to have a positive quality of life and function well in different settings, such as home, school, peer groups and communities. However, children often fail to cope with the various demands placed on them by the society. As a result, they develop mental health problems or disorders.

Common Mental Health Disorders and their Symptoms in children

The most commonly observed mental health disorders are depression, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, anxiety, autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, conduct disorder, substance abuse, and eating disorders.

Several factors may influence mental health. These factors include family disruptions like divorce or living separately from the parents, single parenthood, adverse childhood experiences, and violence in the family. Furthermore, these may contribute to poor general health and cause mental, emotional or developmental disability. 

Parents, teachers and caregivers must recognise the signs of such disorders. Sleeping in class, a tendency to break down and cry, skipping school, craving too much attention and withdrawal or loving isolation are symptoms of declining mental health.

How Can Parents Help

A child’s healthy development depends on the parents and people around them. Parents who suffer from anxiety or depression translate their mental health status to their children in various ways. Together, they may face challenges in the environment as vulnerable attitudes, living in unsafe environments, facing discrimination or deprivation, all of which may lead to mental health deviations. 

As a parent, being mindful of triggers is important. Keep the lines of communication open with the child’s teacher and caregiver to support the child collectively. Focus on finding a solution to the problem together. Do not defend the child if he has done something wrong. Working with your child’s teacher and school will make the learning environment optimal for everyone in the classroom.

What Can Teachers Do

Teachers act as parents, counsellors, disciplinarians and tutors. During the six to seven hours of school, they interact with the child daily. They perform the tasks of creating lesson plans, grading papers, coaching duties, mentoring clubs, attending meetings, communicating with parents, and teaching. 

Teachers can make a difference by recognizing the symptoms of poor mental health. Being culturally sensitive, creating awareness, and having a flexible classroom culture can help students and parents cope. Strategies such as teaching the students problem-solving skills, allowing them to set goals and readily supporting them with interventions and directions go a long way. Teachers can also work on their behaviour through self-regulation. Furthermore, school systems can also help parents with counsellors, school psychologists, social workers, student aids, and many alternative teaching abilities.

There is a clear connection between mental health and academic performance. Teachers can support mental health by giving students special seating, assigning volunteer classmates, providing private feedback on academic performance, relaxing exams, substituting assignments, writing or oral projects and sending healthy and motivating messages to students. These will help to subdue the mental health problems in the classroom arena and encourage the students to learn in a healthy and favourable climate.

Mental Health Support Post Covid-19 School Returns

Children are endowed with coping mechanisms to stress situations. Restrictions, school closure, and transitioning back and forth between online and offline learning can take a toll on the mental health of the children. School teachers and personnel have a critical role in ensuring the learning and emotional well-being of their students.

Additionally, teachers should know the warning signs of mental health disorders and educate themselves on the growing need of mental health. They must be supportive and avoid using dismissal or judgemental language to help the children understand their state of mental illness and cope effectively with it.  

There are several ways to help children understand and cope with mental health disorders. By engaging in open communication on the child’s concerns and empathetically discussing the loss of a parent or loved one due to COVID 19, we can ensure the well-being of the students. Furthermore, we must seek suggestions from children on how to create a welcoming, safe and comfortable classroom, promote interaction between students and model good coping behaviours for students by being calm, honest, and caring so that the students are able to emulate their teachers.

Just like teaching other skills, children can be encouraged to learn about mental health and how to address mental health concerns.

Ruby Park Public School: Your gateway to world-class education

Ruby Park Public School (RPPS) aims at educating and nurturing students to become a strong community of future-ready citizens and leaders of tomorrow. With a holistic pedagogy and delivery methods at RPPS, the students learn life skills to live responsibly by caring for themselves, the people around them and their environment.

Being affiliated with the CBSE board, it visions to impart 21st-century skills to its students and maintain a delicate balance between traditional values and modern ethos. The refreshing and peaceful learning environment has stimulated the students to successfully achieve the highest standards of discipline and excellence in their educational endeavours.

References:

  1. https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/features/mental-health-children-and-parents.html
  2. https://vantagepointrecovery.com/students-with-mental-health-disorders/
  3. https://www.unicef.org/coronavirus/8-teacher-tips-student-mental-health

Pronunciation is an essential skill for communication between people from a diverse social and cultural milieu, especially so in the case of the English language. It remains one of the significant challenges to students for whom English is not a mother tongue or a second language.

English is also the official language in 67 countries. With many countries, cultures, and ethnicities with unique languages, English pronunciation is challenging for non-native English speakers worldwide. English, being the most spoken language globally with 1.135billion total speakers, the challenges of correct English pronunciation for non-native English speakers become many.

The challenges of correct pronunciation could be diverse as the English spelling is mystic. Many words are not pronounced how they look. Words as by, bye, buy all have the same pronunciation, yet widely different meanings. The letters ‘ea’ in ‘eat’, great, ‘idea’, ‘learn’, ‘heart’ all have different pronunciations! Another challenge to non-native English speakers is that some English sounds are entirely new while learning the language, as some vowel and consonant sounds do not exist in their first language.

Improving Pronunciation

To improve pronunciation in English one has to follow some steps to it, which promise an improvement quotient and avoid common traps. These steps are:

Prioritise It – By spending dedicated time to learning English pronunciation every day. The effort is required to learn the skill of speaking English correctly. Choose to practice new words in the chore of daily activities. Listen, imitate, and communicate with them till you get the proper pronunciation.

Decide what kind of English is correct for you – When listening to English speakers, listen to accents. English speaking nations pronounce the same word differently. Different types of inflexions are used, lax in vowels differ and framing of questions may also vary. Choose before practising.

Write down things – This can be used as a good practice guide. Keeping notes is an excellent way to observe patterns, such as in the o, oo, ou words. The progress will soon be in front of you.

Speak More – Speaking English is more effective than listening to English on the radio or watching an English movie. The only way to improve your English-speaking skills is to speak, and the most proven method is to talk out loud to yourself and as often as possible.

Focus on your mouth – Shifting the focus to the mouth is essential, as pronunciation is a physical skill. Controlling the movements of the mouth will determine how good you can make English sounds. Practising the brain- mouth coordination is essential too.

Check on your rate or speed of speaking – Pronunciation in English is at times too fast and often tend to become worse. The vowels become shorter, the stress and emphasis become flattered, and there is a tendency to drop sounds from the end of words.

Learn to pronounce vowels correctly – Vowel sounds can be tricky in English. The same vowel can sound differently in different words. English has lax and tense vowels, also called long and short vowels. Lax vowels are long, and the jaw moves while making a lax vowel sound. Tense vowels are shorter, and the jaw stays still when making a tense vowel sound. We observe a lax vowel in ‘bang ‘and a tense vowel ‘spur’.

Learn how to find and use stressed syllables in English words – Each English word has a stressed syllable, and the other syllables get reduced or are less pronounced. For instance, the word Canary is pronounced as ca-NA-ry. Unstressed syllables are also present, as Banana has buh-NA-nuh or Potato has puh-TAY-tow.

Use Inflection like a native speaker – Inflection is the control of the voice while speaking. Listening to English TV shows, podcasts, movies – to understand how the speakers use their voices in asking questions and making a statement comes with a lot of observation and practice.

Beware of Spelling Traps – Many words can get mispronounced in English as the term is not spelt or written the way it is pronounced. For instance, Soot and Suit both have the same pronunciation! 

Developing your brain’s ability to access various words and their use in English sentences with correct pronunciation; requires a lot of practice. The most powerful and proven method to get those words right while speaking is to speak out loud to yourself! Practice by conversing with others may be the long road to success.

Ruby Park Public School: Your gateway to world-class education

Ruby Park Public School aims at educating and nurturing students to become a strong community of future-ready citizens and leaders of tomorrow. With a holistic pedagogy and delivery methods at RPPS, the students are taught life skills to live responsibly by caring for themselves, the people around them and their environment. Being a sister concern of DPS Ruby Park, the school ensures quality education in the academic ad co-curricular spheres.

Being affiliated with the CBSE board, it visions to impart 21st-century skills to its students and maintain a delicate balance between traditional values and modern ethos. The refreshing and peaceful learning environment has stimulated the students to successfully achieve the highest standards of discipline and excellence in their educational endeavours.

References:

  1. https://www.daytranslations.com/blog/most-spoken-languages-in-the-world/
  2. https://www.speechactive.com/how-to-improve-english-pronunciation/
  3. https://blog.udemy.com/how-to-improve-english-pronunciation/

The common issue parents and teachers face with most children and students is their lack of attention. It affects a person’s ability to learn new concepts and recall them in the future. Learning is essential for students and adults to comprehend and complete tasks successfully. A longer attention span allows a person to handle social interactions by focusing on the conversation without getting distracted.

There can be more than one reason behind poor attention among the students. While some researchers believe that technological developments have made information available to students, it negatively affects the attention span of the students. Others suggest that attention span is dependent on the nature of the task one undertakes. (1)

Psychological reasons behind poor attention

As mentioned, poor attention may have various causes. It can be as simple as a lack of interest and motivation for the task or resulting from mental health problems (2)

  • ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) is the most common disorder in children and difficult to diagnose. Children with ADHD tend to act impulsively, making it difficult to focus. (3)
  • Anxiety and chronic fear can lead to tension, hindering a child’s ability to pay attention to everyday tasks. (4)
  • Depression – Everyone feels sad or uninterested in performing tasks, including children. When a child feels uninterested persistently and stops feeling excited about the things they used to like, it can be a sign of depression. The lack of motivation to do any task causes distraction and hampers a child’s mental and physical growth. (4)

Several other disorders like OCD, which stems from anxiety (5), learning disorders, and PTSD, can hinder the attention span of the children.

How to help children improve their attention and retain better?

The reasons behind poor attention can vary, and so can the solutions. Diagnosis of mental illness in children can be difficult as they are ignored as ‘normal behaviour’ or ‘mood swings.’ It is important to pay closer attention to their behaviour for early treatment.

Other ways that teachers and parents can adopt for better retention and focus –

  • Plan activities or lesson sessions with intervals – It is difficult for children to concentrate on one thing. Attention breaks will allow students to focus on different tasks for specific periods, building their excitement to work on something new. (6)
  • Remove distractions – Try to have a distraction-free environment. With many visual/auditory stimuli, it will be difficult for children to concentrate. (7)
  • Play memory games – Games are undoubtedly the best way to build concentration. Memory games will combine the two aspects – fun and academics. Such activities will help students focus on one task for a more extended period and help build knowledge. (8)
  • Include physical and mental exercises – Activities can help develop alertness and concentration. Developing this habit will assist the child in the future with better health.

Ruby Park Public School: Inculcating Excellence

Ruby Park Public School strives to educate and nurture pupils to build a strong community of future-ready citizens and leaders. A holistic curriculum teaches pupils life skills through an education pattern backed by a counselling and disciplinary system that caters to the mental health of the students.

The school aspires to instil 21st-century abilities in its pupils while maintaining a careful balance of traditional values and modern ethos. The pupils have been inspired by the refreshing and serene studying atmosphere to reach the most outstanding levels of discipline and achievement in their academic endeavours.

Reference:

  1. https://epigram.org.uk/2021/03/17/is-technology-causing-our-attention-span-to-shrink/
  2. https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/psychpedia/attention-span
  3. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/facts.html
  4. https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/depression.html
  5. https://www.hhs.gov/answers/mental-health-and-substance-abuse/what-are-the-five-major-types-of-anxiety-disorders/index.html
  6. https://www.readingrockets.org/article/15-strategies-managing-attention-problems
  7. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/parenting/toddler-year-and-beyond/5-ways-to-improve-your-childs-attention-and-focus/
  8. https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/7-ways-increase-students-attention-span

Good parenting involves wise decisions. One of the significant decisions is choosing the right school for your child. With schools mushrooming, parents may sometimes be in a dilemma about the optimal choice. The school experience is not only limited to a child’s development but can also impart a holistic joy of learning for the entire family.

Ruby Park Public School in Kolkata is a go-to educational institution for your child. It strives to educate and nurture pupils in order to build a strong community of responsible citizens and future leaders. A holistic curriculum teaches children life skills through an education pattern that is backed by a counselling and disciplinary system that caters to the ever-growing need to improve the mental health of the students.

As a CBSE affiliated school, it aspires to instil 21st-century abilities in its students while maintaining a careful balance of traditional values and modern ethos. The dynamic and tranquil atmosphere has inspired students to reach the greatest levels of discipline and achievement in their academic endeavours.

Making the right choice

Certain factors need consideration while deciding upon the school to which the child should be admitted in:

Location and Proximity – The school’s location is a primary factor for the school search. A school near home would mean the child spends less time commuting and can participate in extracurricular activities post-school hours. The access to the school should be assessed, whether the school has buses plying or the other modes of transport available to reach school. The safety and security of the child are of utmost importance. RPPS missions to cater to students living in areas around New Alipore, Batanagar, Budge Budge, Behala, Joka and beyond who can access quality education for the first time without travelling long distances.

Vision, Mission and Affiliations – The affiliations of the school to CBSE and other accreditation bodies provide the institution the requisite branding and reputation over the years. The vision and mission of the school and management towards education contributes towards making the right decision. Other factors, including a well-designed academic curriculum interspersed with up to date co-curricular activities, should be on the checklist while searching the school for your child. Nowadays, it is a priority to assess the technology and supporting infrastructure used in the school. Online classes are enabled for continuous learning even in unprecedented times.

Infrastructure, Facilities and Fee Structure – The school size and infrastructure are critical considerations. Spacious and well-lit classrooms with facilities such as the library, computer room, sports room, games arena, dance and music rooms, sick room with medical facilities, Wi-Fi campus and others will aid in a world-class learning environment. An affordable and viable fee structure will be an added attraction for most parents to enrol their children in the school.

Teacher Profile and Pedagogy – The qualifications and experience of the teachers, their approach towards the students, the holistic aspects of the syllabus, positive behaviour management, school rules and discipline, code of conduct, spiritual enhancement of the child, meal schemes offered by the school – all contribute to making the school search a success.

Ruby Park Public School endeavours to offer all of the above. Its vision is to provide a world-class environment conducive to learning with state-of-the-art infrastructure, facilities, technology and modern pedagogical tools.

For more information, visit www.rubypark.com

A master trend observed has been the use and overuse of search engines like Google in our daily lives, which gives us instant and plenitude of solutions at the click of a mouse. It is worth mentioning that the average number of Google searches per day has jumped from a figure of 9,800 in 1998 to over 4.7 trillion today.

The thrill of instant information and the convenience of knowledge at our fingertips gives a high. Yet, research shows that the ‘Google Effect’ changes how people, especially students, think and learn. Smartphones have made access to knowledge easier and quicker than ever before. (1) (2)

Impacts on Students’ Learning

Some of the obvious, and at times oblivious impacts on Students’ Memory seen are:

  • Transactive Memory – Internet access, it is researched, directly impacts students’ memory. Search engines have changed the way of memorizing and remembering data. We are more confident that the necessary information will be available online. We have changed how our brain saves data. With the vast data of information available readily anywhere and anytime, the Internet has become a dominant form of ‘Transactive Memory’ or storage house outside our minds. The transactive memory onus has shifted now from the books to the search engines.
  • Use of Short-Term Memory – Students are seen to be indulging more in Short Term memory tasks as sporadic users. The more confident they become about Google, the more they learn to disregard this online information and hence less likely to retain what they see. The tendency to forget the things we can find on the Internet is high.
  • Redundancy of Long-Term Memory – As a result of the Google effect, the Long-Term memory may become redundant. This memory facilitates critical thinking, a much sought after 21st-century skill! Critical thinking helps us to understand and interact with the world. It promotes interpersonal relations and our social skills. Our human skills identity may gradually get diluted upon redundancy of the long-term memory. It can be a significant threat. (3)
  • Confidence Boosters or Distractors – Students who have access to search engines exhibit more confidence in the topic than students who have to answer directly from memory or textbook references. Students have become adept at searching on Google, which can be a time waster and distractor.
  • Information Overload – On searching answers online, the students have to experience an information overload. The combination of Long-Term Memory loss and Information Overload may harm the brain. They gradually lose the skill to evaluate the content for accuracy; and eventually their creative thinking ability. (3)

The Aftermath – The Need for 21st Century Skills

The Aftermath of the Google effect is emerging now. Searching on the Internet and its impact on students’ learning may be a positive one for that moment, but the long-term effects are detrimental. Once again, the ‘Google Generation’ needs to hone their inherent human skills of Creativity, Critical Thinking, Collaboration and Communication.

The 21st Century skills are needed for the students to succeed in the future. They are:

  • Learning skills – are critical thinking (finding solutions), creativity (thinking outside the box), collaboration (teamwork), and communication.
  • Literacy skills – essentially mean the understanding in multiple disciplines, including information literacy, media literacy and technology literacy.
  • Life skills – are primarily flexibility, leadership, initiative, productivity, and social skills – all of the skills needed in personal and professional life for self-development and good interpersonal skills. (4)

The Internet is the most prevalent and rapidly adopted technology in the history of humanity. Its technology up-gradation is on. With the advent of Siri and Google Now, online search has become more accessible. Is it leading to becoming more intelligent or stupid? The trajectory to this non-human interfaced based learning of the students’ needs critical attention now.

Ruby Park Public School: Where Careers are Defined

Ruby Park Public School aims at educating and nurturing students to become a strong community of future-ready citizens and leaders of tomorrow. With a holistic curriculum, the students are taught life skills via an education pattern, supported by a counselling and disciplinary system that cares for the student’s mental health.

Being affiliated with the CBSE board, it visions to impart 21st-century skills to its students and maintain a delicate balance between traditional values and modern ethos. The refreshing and peaceful learning environment has stimulated the students to successfully achieve the highest standards of discipline and excellence in their educational endeavours.

Disclaimer:

RPPS blog posts have been written with the information gathered from approved articles and websites online. Our research and the technical team strives to provide relevant information through such articles.

References:

  1. https://www.learning-mind.com/google-effect-how-search-engines-affect-our-memory/
  2. https://academicearth.org/electives/internet-changing-your-brain/
  3. https://novakdjokovicfoundation.org/how-does-google-affect-the-way-we-learn/
  4. https://education.planeteersgame.com/importance-21st-century-skills-classroom/

Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do

– Benjamin Spock

Being organized is a prerequisite to getting the job done successfully. Preparing for an examination is no different. Learning how to study smarter, not harder, may provide you with the advantage of scoring better. As we progress to the higher classes, the content becomes vast and complex. It is imperative to incorporate study techniques and habits to ensure thorough preparation.

Here are a few tips for scoring better in your examinations:

Organize the Study Space – It is good to ensure enough study space on your study desk. Attention to detail will make the study place feel comfortable and remove any distractions to focus while learning. Removing clutter and adding music in the study place can make a friendly and pleasant environment which fosters higher concentration.

Keep Distractions Away – Stay away from all distractions such Mobile Apps, Social Network and Computer games during study sessions. There are apps to block notifications to overcome checking messages or warnings if the urge arises. All attention should be focused on the examination.

Organize Study Habits – Organizing study habits, preparing a study schedule, and not leaving anything for the last minute are good practices. Contrary to common belief, mugging or learning by heart does not ensure excellent performances. It is best to understand concepts by allocating enough time and spreading the study preparation period well before the exams. A well-organized study timetable will support better learning and retention. 

Take Regular Breaks – Divide the study time into sessions of 20 to 30 minutes and focus on a single topic at a time. Taking regular breaks during the study period will help understand the subject deeply and promote long term retention. It also offers your mind to relax and assimilate the material better.

Use flow Charts and Diagrams – Visual Aids can be helpful while revising a study material. Write down what you know about the subject at the start of a topic. Highlight to remember the gaps. Before the exams, condense revision notes into one pager flow chart and diagrams for better retention and recall during the exam.  

Set a Goal – Set a realistic goal and determine the amount of time for studying. Note down the study planner to have time for a detailed study. A plan is essential to pass the exam.

Group Study Sessions – Group study sessions are an effective study method. Comparing notes with class friends and discussing complicated concepts constitute an effective retention technique. Group study becomes more effective when all group members are disciplined and result-oriented, share tips to pass exams and pose questions. Staying focused and taking mock quizzes to each other to practice timelines and working under pressure is also a good idea. Having a team of learners will help you focus and complete the syllabus.

Snacking on Brain Food in the Preparation Period – Consuming natural, fresh and vitamin-rich food is good as it helps to improve concentration and memory. What you eat can impact your energy level and focus, so it is best to stay away from junk foods. Fish, nuts, seeds, yoghurt and blueberries are considered helpful. Sugar or pre-cooked food containing added sugar seem appealing, but the energy levels crash quickly after consumption. Eating light and healthy meals before the exams is a good idea.  

Drink Plenty of Water – Being hydrated is essential for the brain to work well. It is advisable to drink plenty of water throughout the revision period and on exam day.

Plan the Exam Day Well – The day of the examination should be planned well in advance. The logistics should be proactively managed, including location and route to the exam centre, the rules and requirements, time management, stationery, and other exam tools.

Keep Stress at Bay – Be confident while taking the exam. Abort nervousness by reassuring yourself that you are well prepared. Relax by closing your eyes taking some breathing exercises.

Develop the Exam Strategy – On getting the exam paper, scan it thoroughly to understand the time management required for the answers. Try to ascertain which parts will take the most or the least time, and organize your time accordingly. Read the instructions well. The strategy may be divided – answering long answers first, known answers first or responding in the given sequence as in the paper.

Relax and Stop Worrying After the Test – After the exam, there is no point worrying about your performance. Relaxing is a healthy habit that will impact the performance in the subsequent exams.

Adopting the tips mentioned above will be beneficial and go a long way in preparing and taking examinations effectively.

Ruby Park Public School: Your Gateway to World-Class Education

Ruby Park Public School aims at educating and nurturing students to become a strong community of future-ready citizens and leaders of tomorrow. With a holistic pedagogy and delivery methods at RPPS, the students are taught life skills to live responsibly by caring for themselves, the people around them and their environment. Being a sister concern of DPS Ruby Park, the school ensures quality education in the academic ad co-curricular spheres.

Being affiliated with the CBSE board, it visions to impart 21st-century skills to its students and maintain a delicate balance between traditional values and modern ethos. The refreshing and peaceful learning environment has stimulated the students to successfully achieve the highest standards of discipline and excellence in their educational endeavours.

References:

  1. https://www.topuniversities.com/student-info/health-and-support/exam-preparation-ten-study-tips
  2. https://www.hunimed.eu/news/10-quick-tips-successful-exam-preparation/
  3. https://ivypanda.com/blog/13-tips-on-how-to-pass-any-exam-in-a-week/
  4. https://www.studyread.com/how-to-study-for-exam/

After the closure for almost two years, schools are on the verge of reopening across most states in India. With a good percentage of adults who have received the double vaccination in India, the Health Department is expediting the vaccination programme in schools. However, the advent of the Omicron surge may postpone this plan.

Vaccination Drive in Schools:  A Two-Pronged Strategy

The reopening of schools will have a two-pronged advantage. The students can resume their offline classes and promote the vaccination program. Health Departments may find it easier to coordinate with schools. The process will be accomplished much faster, with vaccinations being administered to the classes 8 to 12 or children having completed 15 years of age as the initial roll out-group. Vaccination camps have been set up in Primary, Semi-Government and Government Schools. In rural areas, the schools have been linked to the Primary Health Centres acting as spokes to the Health Department. (1)

Guidelines Issued for Vaccinations in Schools

High-level meetings held at the Union and the State Level Government health departments outlined a framework with guidelines to successfully conduct the Vaccination Programme in schools. Some of the major guidelines issued are as follows:

  • The vaccination will be administered to children who are 15 years and above in age. The student should be born in 2007 or before to be eligible.
  • The 15-18years’ age group of students are eligible for COVAXIN only.
  • The district task force and the Education Department are to identify the schools where vaccines are to be administered.
  • Schools with 500 beneficiaries or more are selected as Vaccination Drive centres. The centres are linked to the nearest Government COVID vaccination centre.
  • Vaccines will be administered with parental consent only. All accrued formalities are to be fulfilled.
  • The selected schools need to facilitate a waiting area, a vaccination room and an observation room to suffice as a Vaccination Centre.
  • All COVID related protocols such as social distancing, wearing of masks, PPE, hand gloves, headgear and hand washing stations, and protocol for the vaccination staff; are to be followed strictly.
  • The vaccination team will consist of a medical officer from the Health Department, a vaccinator, a nurse and the support staff provided by the school.
  • The children taking the vaccination need to be registered on the COWIN portal. All registered students are to be listed and need to be ready with the same on the day of the vaccination camp.
  • The school needs to be closed for offline classes on the day of the vaccination drive.
  • Any child reporting fever or other illness will not be eligible for the vaccination.
  • After the vaccination, children will be monitored for 30 minutes.
  • A backup to manage any Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFI) will be placed at each centre.
  • AEFI is to be addressed during an emergency at the vaccination camp.
  • The school needs to arrange for an ambulance with oxygen support for any critical incidents. (2)

Indian Vaccination Efforts

India commenced its Vaccine Program initially on 16 January 2021. The statistics are remarkable, with over 1.53 billion doses have been administered as of 4 January 2022. Schools have cooperated wholeheartedly in the Vaccination Drive in Schools rolled out on 3 January 2022. Over 40 lakh students have received their first dose of the vaccination, giving ample protection to the vulnerable age group and a relief for the parents and school authorities. Some schools have even endeavoured to set up welcome posters, selfie points and colourful balloons to make the entire experience a pleasant one for the children.

Ruby Park Public School: Where Mental and Physical Health are important

Ruby Park Public School aims at educating and nurturing students to become a strong community of future-ready citizens and leaders of tomorrow. With a holistic curriculum, the students are taught life skills via an education pattern, supported by a counselling and disciplinary system that cares for the mental health of the students.

Being affiliated with the CBSE Board, it visions to impart 21st-century skills to its students and maintain a delicate balance between traditional values and modern ethos. The refreshing and peaceful learning environment has stimulated the students to successfully achieve the highest standards of discipline and excellence in their educational endeavours.

Disclaimer:

RPPS blog posts have been written with the information gathered from approved articles and websites online. Our research and the technical team strives to provide relevant information through such articles.

References:

  1. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nashik/health-dept-to-speed-up-childrens-vax-in-schools/articleshow/89066901.cms
  2. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/vaccination-for-students-in-schools-from-wednesday/article38279711.ece
  3. https://www.mohfw.gov.in/

Assessment is the systematic examination and evaluation of a student’s learning. It involves testing the knowledge or skills that a student has attained. The objective of the assessment is to identify areas where students need improvement. Assessments assist in gathering valuable data about the learner and can be conducted by an assessor or the learner himself.

Types of Assessments

Assessment is a beneficial tool at all knowledge levels and can be of several types. They are:

Diagnostic Assessment – is a type of pre-assessment usually assigned to test a learner’s skills, knowledge, strengths and weaknesses before the instructions or lessons are given. The same assessment is repeated post learning to objectively assess the learning up-gradation and to assess if the learning goals are met.

Formative Assessments – give the assessment score at only a certain point in the learning process. Classroom polls, charts, weekly report cards; provide the feedback as a part of the whole process.

Summative Assessments – are usually accorded at the end of a learning period. Some of them may be annual reports, student learning level and content cognition at the end of a term or year. (1) (2)

Online Assessments

Online Assessments are the new normal, as learning has transcended to be disseminated using technology. E-learning is the current mantra, beyond pen and paper. Online Assessments are challenging because they are difficult to construct using the tools available. Nevertheless, their benefits are farfetched. Online Assessments are easier to explore and data collection on the performance of the learner becomes easily accessible, easily adaptable, less time-consuming, and leverage new data collection. The ongoing pandemic has accelerated the need for Online Assessments as a priority in the Learning domain. (1)

The Online Assessment should be achievable by the learner, unambiguous in approach, should include a baseline criterion for the learner, easily understood by all learners; and feedback must be provided preferably in a written format which is accessible to all learners. The quality of the online assessment determines its efficacy, universal approach, genuine scores and real-time calibre of the learners.

Online Assessment Tools

Google Forms is a popular Online Assessment Tool used by teachers. It is easy to create small quizzes or multiple-choice questions. Other tools which have gained usage in current times are Skoolbeep, The Answer Pad, Edulastic, EasyLMS, Examsoft, CodeSignal and others.

Online Assessment tools can facilitate real-time grading, help take online examinations using assessment software, and help the teachers who logged in to keep pace with the learning.

The software chosen should have inherent features such as timely updating from time to time for a smooth LMS, 24/7 chat support, an auto-save option in case of internet or electricity disruption, and be highly user-friendly. (3)

Designing an Effective Online Assessment

The internet is an ocean of opportunities. Assessments may be conducted as holding polls, conducting webinars, educative videos, Learning Management portals and others.

Create Clear Rubrics – which should be conveyed transparently to the learners before the assignment. The Assessment format, grading system and roadmap to take the assignment should be crystal clear to make a fair judgement of scores.

Purpose of the Assessment – should be established before the design of the Assessment. The objective, assessment length, test conditions will make the purpose clear and assessment goals effective in output.

All-Inclusive Approach – The assessment design should be all-inclusive with Multiple Assessments to effectively test all types and levels of learners. Accessibility, clarity, technology facilitation, and a step-by-step approach will enable holistic learner data.

Advantages of Online Assessments

Since 2020, the online mode of assessments has accelerated to keep pace with the students’ learning all across the globe. Certain advantages which come through are:

  • Online Assessments lessen the administrative burden of the teacher and learning institutions. Learners can perform in the comfort of their homes.
  • With advanced software available, the results can be given quickly. Feedback thus provided paves the way for understanding learning gaps and improvement methods to be deployed.
  • Online Assessments have proved to be a boon to the Environment, saving paper and transportation costs, fuel, and pollution.
  • Incredibly Inclusive, online assessments can be made available as a standardised format to learners in urban and rural areas. Students with disability are at an advantage.
  • Flexibility is a big plus when learners can take online assessments at certain times of the day comfortable to them. Teachers can assess without any time restriction.
  • Online Assessment ensures greater transparency and security, without any invigilator or assessor bias.

Boasting of such huge positives, Online Assessments have shaped a new era in education; where Learning Management Systems and platforms have boomed in the past two years and are continuously evolving to make learning a smooth process.

Ruby Park Public School: Facilitating World Class Learning

Ruby Park Public School aims at educating and nurturing students to become a strong community of future-ready citizens and leaders of tomorrow. With a holistic curriculum, the students are taught life skills via an education pattern, supported by a counselling and disciplinary system that cares for the student’s mental health.

Being affiliated with the CBSE board, it visions to impart 21st-century skills to its students and maintain a delicate balance between traditional values and modern ethos. The stimulating and peaceful learning environment has motivated the students to successfully achieve the highest standards of discipline and excellence in their educational endeavours.

References:

  1. https://tophat.com/glossary/d/diagnostic-assessment
  2. https://www.skoolbeep.com/blog/conduct-online-assessments-effectively/

A career decision, especially post completion of class 12, is a decision for a lifetime. In the past, career options after Class 12 were limited to medicine, engineering and chartered accountancy. Education involves graduating in the fields of Humanities, Science or Commerce.

Determining Career Choices

A career choice should be determined by considering the personality of the individual. Some points should be kept in mind to facilitate the best career decision.

  • Interests – A career should be based on the interest of a person. Your passion will determine your future life choice and impart mental clarity behind your decision. Suppose you have a passion for healthcare and are service-oriented, a promising career in Geriatric Medicine would be a worthwhile pursuit.
  • Understanding the Curriculum – Before enrolling in a course, it is essential to have detailed knowledge about the curriculum, pedagogy and training variables. Career Counsellors are adept at helping students understand the demand of the course.
  • Future Prospects – It is good to understand the prospects of the job market before choosing a career. It is crucial to know whether the opportunities are available nationally or globally, whether higher studies and specializations can be considered in the future, and the tenure of the career one opts for. For example, a career in the hospitality sector as an employee and entrepreneur is viable if one is oriented towards customer service.

The Traditional Career Approach

It may be understood that the Traditional Career had three components:

  • A career ideally represents our expertise, profession, and ultimately, our identity. A job defines who we are and what we do.
  • A career is seen to be built and endured over time. In our chosen career path, there lies an opportunity to progress, advance and attain dignity over time.
  • A career offers financial and psychological rewards, providing a livelihood, a purpose and a meaning to life.

Career Paradigms in the 21st Century

The career paradigms are very different in the 21st Century:

In the 21st Century, organizations are learning organizations, where skill upgradation and innovation are crucial elements. Organizations encourage continuous learning, improving individual mobility and fostering a developing paradigm for every individual. Critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity skills are highly sought after in the modern age.

Traditionally, a graduate intern was hired and given training and experience, which helped them move up the corporate ladder until retirement. Today this model is disrupted. Interns with the requisite skill sets, especially in technology, may occupy higher positions over their experienced colleagues.

As technology advances, the culture of part-time work emerges, where careers are considered duty tours for employees to be productive. The challenge to organizations is to help their employees learn faster and be engaged to outperform, out-innovate and out-execute their peers. Expertise has a shorter shelf life, the idea of a single life long career is a thing of the past, and employees are surfing careers from wave to wave.

As technology evolves apace and more of us work part-time, these trends are only accelerating. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman believes that careers are simply tours of duty, prompting companies to assume people will only stay a few years.

With a growing demand for soft skills at the workplace, communication, interpretation, design and synthetic thinking are emerging skills. For instance, the increasing trend of Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning in the healthcare industry has carved a Chief Patient Officer position in the pharmaceutical sector. Hybrid or Renaissance Jobs are trending by mixing of disciplines. The primary role is the technical domain skill combined with the expert skill of project management, design or client interface.

Ruby Park Public School: Where careers are defined

Ruby Park Public School aims at educating and nurturing students to become leaders of tomorrow. With a holistic curriculum, the students are taught life skills via an education pattern, supported by a counselling and disciplinary system that cares for the mental health of the students.

Being affiliated with the CBSE board, it visions to impart 21st-century skills to its students and maintain a delicate balance between traditional values and modern ethos. The stimulating and peaceful learning environment has motivated the students to successfully achieve the highest standards of discipline and excellence in their educational endeavours.

For more information, visit www.rubypark.com

Conventionally, teaching is imparted through a lecture-based format where students are taught using a blackboard and are assigned worksheets. With the advent of new technologies, students can benefit from more engaging and interactive lessons. By incorporating interactive activities in the classroom, teachers and students could make the lessons more interesting. (1) Interactive teaching can be introduced at all levels including at the elementary level. It can be involved in several ways. (1)

Benefits of Interactive Teaching

Interactive teaching methods should be implemented as they contribute towards active learning. Students are more likely to be active, present and receptive during the learning process. Interactive teaching can help teachers by allowing them to incorporate new elements in their teaching styles. (1) Interactive teaching implies that without practical application, students fail to understand the depth of the study material. When used by a good teacher, interactive teaching can make students excited to learn. (2)

Interactive teaching offers the following –

It helps make students free thinkers – Interactive teaching place students in a situation where they can uncover their ability to solve problems. They learn how to make a decision and develop strong research acumen. Furthermore, interactive teaching makes the lesson more enjoyable. (1)

It makes better use of resources – Interactive teaching incorporate diverse teaching tools to facilitate learning. By using online materials, it ensures the students can learn at their own pace which makes learning easier. It also makes revision easier to enforce the learning outcome. Students are blessed with different learning capacities.  Interactive teaching incorporates different styles to suit the students’ requirements. (1)

It boosts motivation – Interactive teaching is observed to instil motivation and help engage the students in the classroom. Through interactivity, the lessons can make students competitive and invested in the learning outcome. Group activity is an effective way to make the learning process more enjoyable by allowing students to finish an assignment with classmates. (1)

Interactive Teaching Activities

Interactive education allows a break from the traditional teaching style and encourages students to apply more attention and participation. The idea is to stimulate a response and garner a hands-on approach to learning. (2) These are tried and tested activities that provide more positive learning outcomes. These interactive teaching activities are easily imitated in the classrooms and deliver efficient results:

Thinking Pair – Teachers can conduct an easy exercise where they establish a problem and pair students to solve it. One student can explain a concept while the other evaluates the lessons being imparted. The exercise can be conducted in different variations to ensure students are engaged and communicative. (2)

Group Session – Group sessions allow students to discuss a single topic and share their ideas and opinions. Every participant is encouraged to share their thoughts. This method also allows students to learn from their peers and can be a stimulating learning exercise. (2)

Case Study Process – This activity involves conducting a case study without the rigidity that comes with it. The focus of this method lies in teaching students to solve real problems outside a classroom scenario. Form groups and ask the students to work on a solution. (2)

Q&A Sessions – This easy exercise allows students to be more attentive by asking them to jot down questions related to the subject matter being taught. Students would then be given to share their questions and seek answers from the class. (2)

Moving Forward

Thus, there are many benefits associated with interactive teaching. Research suggests that interactive teaching methods lead to positive student outcomes and more attention from the students. Interactive teaching methods also lead to better retention and students can perform better. (3)

Initially, interactive teaching methods may face some resistance from the students. Since these methods involve greater effort on part of the students, teachers might face repercussion. Teachers must explain why the interactive methods are being introduced. Furthermore, teachers can also explain the specific reasons why a certain method was chosen, the learning outcomes aimed at and the student’s unique abilities. (3)

Ruby Park Public School: Pioneers in Education

Ruby Park Public School aims at educating and nurturing students to become a strong community of responsible citizens and leaders of tomorrow. With a holistic curriculum, the students are taught life skills via an education pattern, supported by a counselling and disciplinary system that cares for the student’s mental health.

Being affiliated with the CBSE board, it visions to impart 21st-century skills to its students and maintain a delicate balance between traditional values and modern ethos. The stimulating and peaceful learning environment has stimulated the students to successfully achieve the highest standards of discipline and excellence in their educational endeavours.

For more information, visit www.rubypark.com.

REFERENCES:

  1. https://eztalks.com/training/importance-of-interactive-teaching.html
  2. https://resilienteducator.com/classroom-resources/5-interactive-teaching-styles-2/
  3. https://www.baylor.edu/atl/index.php?id=965136