24 May 2018

Relevance of Classroom


Before I start talking about the relevance of classroom in the present day, let me first explain what a classroom is. In olden days classes were conducted under the shades of the trees. When we talk about classroom, the picture that comes to our mind is of the four walls of a room, few chairs and tables, a blackboard, a teacher and few students.  
As technology advances, more and more new gadgets were introduced to replace the old ones. For example, the e-learning board replaced the blackboard, Digital pen replaced the chalk, Charts and Maps got replaced by slideshows and PowerPoint presentations. Computers and projectors are also introduced to make teaching more interesting and effective. The teaching materials, the teaching methods, all changes. But not the concept of classroom.  
From the shop or from the internet we get a lot of educational programs  and tutorials which we can run on computer, tv or on tablet. We cannot depend only on such materials but such things can be used as an additional help to learn what we have already learned in the school or in the classroom.
The presence of a teacher in the classroom is very important. The grasping power of each student is different. The teacher understands this and takes the trouble to explain the same lesson again and again in different ways and in simple language so that everybody in the class including the weak students understands it clearly.  We always depend up on the teacher to get our doubts cleared and it helps in building our confidential level.
Among us, always there is a competitive spirit. Each one of us wants to do better than others in studies and in extracurricular activities. In a classroom atmosphere we get the chance to compare our ability and progress with that of others. The success of one student inspires others also.

In addition to textbook learning, the classroom atmosphere plays an important part in the character and personality development of us.  Automatically we learn Punctuality, Discipline, Cleanliness and good behaviour by attending the classes regularly.
In the classroom we  get a chance to interact with other students and learn many things from others. We gradually develop the ability to judge what is good and bad by interacting with other students. We enter in discussions, express our ideas, and listen to other’s ideas and opinions. By doing the classroom projects we learn the basics of teamwork.
Considering all these points, as a student, I strongly believe that the relevance of classroom is not diminishing but increasing day by day.

Our School Uniform


Respected principal…..
Before I say what is my current topic, I will explain how I finally selected this one as my topic.
“June is over now and July has started. Still there is no rain. “
“ You can talk about this topic: Delayed Monsoon
That was the suggestion of my dad.
What will happen if the rain got delayed?” That was my doubt.
“There won’t be enough water in the lakes and dams.”
“Instead of every day, we may get water once in two days or three days only.”
 “There will be more power cuts”.
“Crops may die, and vegetables become costly.”
“It will affect all of us in one way or other.”
“OK then I will take Delay of Monsoon as my topic” I said very happily.
Suddenly a doubt came in to my mind.
“What happens if it starts raining  in a day or two?”
 “You can talk about flood and water logging.”
 I decided to pray for no rain till Saturday.”
while coming to school along with mom, I heard my mother discussing something with her friends.
THEY ARE NOT DISCUSSING ABOUT RAIN. They are talking about school uniforms!!.
 “God knows when we get the new uniforms. How long will we manage with this old one. “
“ I thought we will get the new one when the school re-opens. Now my son is wearing the same old one only. See the stains on it. “
“My daughter has become taller now and her skirt has become shorter . Her friends laugh at her and ask “Are you going to school to study or to play tennis.”
 “I got one from a student who changed the school.” Said another mother.
 “I am managing with the PT Uniforms”  said another  one.
“I got only one set of uniform.  Everyday I wash it in the evening and get it dry by next morning. If it rains in the night then how can I get it dry? So I am always confused whether to wash it or not.”
“That is the problem of all of us. We all got one pair only.” Others said.
“So the moms are praying not to rain still we get the new uniforms.”
In the classroom also we all are talking about the new uniform only.
One said “You know there is an over coat also”.
Another said  “it is black and white” .
“Not black and white. It is red and yellow” said another.
 “I saw it in the office. It is  blue.”
Each one started describing it according to their imagination.
One thing I am sure, we all are excited about the new uniform and are anxiously waiting to get it.
More than rain, school uniform is the hot topic for all of us.
So I decided our school uniform as my current topic.
There ended my search for a suitable current topic and here ends my allotted time of three minutes.
Bye.

How to Reduce the Weight of Our School Bags


Schools have already re-opened and as usual, parents and students started complaining about the weight of the school bags.
Some have even gone to the extent of registering petitions in the court.
The Educational Experts started suggesting many impractical ways to solve this.
Newspapers make headlines out of it.
TV Channels and FM Radio Stations organize hot discussions on this topic.
The Government, to show that they are also concerned, appoints a Committee to study the weight problem. All this Hallabulla lasts for a week or so. And then everybody forgets all about it. Poor children like us and few parents who come to drop their children suffer the weight of the bag.
On this occasion I would like to ask few questions.
Is our school bag really heavy?
Or has it become heavier this year?
Has our school timings increased?
or has any new subjects been introduced?
 or has our syllabus got modified and the books have become heavier?
To the best of my knowledge, nothing is changed.
Even then, the bag weight is the main villain.
Ask your seniors studying in the higher classes or colleges.
They will also confirm that the weight of the school bag was the hot topic during their time also.
Yes it is an old problem.
Earlier in 2006, The Children’s School Bag (Limitation on Weight) Bill, 2006 was introduced in the Lok Sabha. But later it was totally forgotten. According to this bill the maximum weight of the bag should not be more than 10 per cent of the child’s body weight. It also highlighted the ill-effects of carrying heavy schools bags.
Year after year the same discussion continues immediately after the re-opening of the school. Hundreds of suggestions… but many are impractical.
Keep the text books in the school.
Get two sets. One for the school and one for the home.
Give a locker for each student to keep the books.
Introduce trolley schoolbags.
Use light weight papers.
 Split the book into two or three parts are some of the other suggestions.
Fortunately, nobody suggested stop all schools or stop going to school!
Amongst them, I think, introducing e-text books is more practical. We do not need an expensive instrument like iPad but a low priced tablet like Aakash Tablet will do the magic. Get the required text books pre-installed in it and it should be used only for viewing and reading. Such a tablet can be made available for rupees two thousand or less. Aakash tablet is developed for that purpose only.
Such a tablet weighs only 200 grams. And the students need to carry only the notebooks. Every year they can delete the old books and can load the new textbooks.
Some have objected that the use of tablets may affect the eyesight of the children. Nowadays children spend hours in front of T.V, play online games on Computer, Laptop or on Tablets. Even they use their parents Smart Phones for chatting and sharing. Considering the time they spend on such gadgets, the time they need to spend for reading textbooks on tablets is very minimal. I strongly feel that if we can get our text books on a tablet, our bags will become very light and we can grow and live as healthy children.
Hope you all agree to my suggestions. If so give me a big applause.

How Stupid I Am


Today I am standing in front of you, to prove, how stupid I am….
Yesterday the teacher said, “Tomorrow we will have the elocution competition.  Talk about anything you like”.
Thank god. No particular topic
  I can talk about anything then.  I was so happy and thrilled.
The very next moment I realized how stupid I am!
No topic is given. No preparation is done. Only 24 hours left. Three hours Tuition and 8 hours sleeping.  Eleven hours will go. Only 13 hours left with. Too short to prepare for an elocution.
My friends arethere to help me to select the topic, I felt confident.
When I discussed with my friends, again I realized how stupid I am!
None of them were able to suggest a good interesting topic.
I didn’t give up. I rang up my dad and asked him to suggest a topic.
“Abraham Lincoln's letter to his son's teacher is a good topic.  Talk about that.” He suggested.
“Abraham Lincoln, Letter to a teacher. No I don’t want that.” I reacted.
“Then look for something in the internet. I don’t have time.” Dad put the phone down.
My confident level was so high but he disappointed me totally.
Again I realized how stupid I am!

I opened the computer and started searching for a good topic.
I was so confident that I will find a good topic in google in no time.
In no time I realized one thing:  How stupid I am.
Almost  two hours I spent searching and searching in google.
No result. I didn’t find an interesting topic.
My level of stupidity has reached its limit.
Now I have to hurry. It is time for tuition.
When I came back it was almost six in the evening.
I should not be stupid to spend the time like this. I must act smart. I decided
I took out all the old copies of the Magazine.
As you know, I was so confident to find a suitable topic in the old issues in no time.
At 7 o clock when dad came, I was still searching in the old issues for a good topic.
I didn’t find any good topic in those old issues, but once again I realized how stupid I am.
Seeing my pathetic condition and tired face, dad asked me “What is the problem with Abraham Lincoln's letter to his son's teacher?”
“ Abraham Lincoln! I don’t want that” I shouted.
“Did you read that?”
“No” said I
“Then read it first” he said and took out a printout from his bag.
Reluctantly I started reading it. again I realized how stupid I am.
“What an inspiring letter dad. Everyone must know about this. I will talk about this.” I said with full confidence
“What a stupid girl. Rejected it without reading that.” That was dad’s comment.
Now only two hours available before sleep. Not enough time to prepare for the elocution. Had I read it in the afternoon when dad suggested, I should have got enough time
“What a stupid girl I am” I shouted.
And that stupid girl is standing in front of you, like a stupid fool, not able to talk,  not even a single word, about Abraham Lincoln's letter to his son's teacher.
So my dear priya mitrom, bhayom bahanoom, please read Abraham Lincoln's letter to his son's teacher and prove that you are not as stupid as I am.

64th Independence Day Speech

Respected teachers, Parents and my dear friends,
Let me first wish you all a very Happy Independence Day.
Today our nation is celebrating its 64th Independence Day

Long ago, India was under the cruel rule of the British.
Our great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak along with other leaders and millions of common people fought against the British and won freedom for our country.

On 15th August 1947, India won Independence.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru hoisted our tri-colour flag on that day.
Every year, on this day, we hoist the flag, sing our National Anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’ and distribute sweets.
We do all this to pay homage to our great leaders and to all who fought for our country's freedom.

 After independence India faced many problems.
Poverty, Unemployment, illiteracy and the very poor living condition of the people.
United we stood, against these problems and solved them one after another.
India started progressing in all fields including science and technology.
All this we achieved because we stood united.


Unity in Diversity. That is India.
People speak different languages.
Their religion is different.
Their customs and beliefs are different.
Still we all live together in great unity and love and work together for India's progress.

 But there are many countries and groups who do not want India to progress.
They try to stop our developments by destroying the peace and harmony among the people.
For this they use the Terrorists and plan attacks in different cities.
Don’t you remember the recent terrorist attacks and bomb blasts in Mumbai?
Many innocent people got killed and many injured.

 We should not allow these terrorists to kill innocent people like this and destroy the peace and harmony of our country.
It is our duty to fight against these forces like our freedom fighters fought against the British.

On this day, I request all of you to join together and start another freedom struggle to free our mother India from the hands of the terrorists.

JAI HIND

Why I Like School Competitions


Respected madam, teachers and my dear friends,
“Why I like school competitions” That is my topic for the day.
There are many competitions in our school.
Painting competition, drawing competition, singing competition, dancing competition.
And many other competitions.
Sports and games.
Even handwriting competition.
“In a competition there will be winners and losers. Losers should not feel bad or sad.”
“This is one of the aims of school competition”
“ I have that.  In school we compete with each other and at the same time we are friends also”.
“This attitude I developed by participating in school competitions.”
Each activity or competition, conducted in school, is also giving us a chance to show our hidden talents.
It helps other students to know in which area each one is competent.
It helps us in many ways.
1. If I win it increases my confidence.
2. If I lose, I understand how much I need to improve.
3. Helps to understand the hidden talent and ability of others.

I never feel bad or hurt when I lose in a competition.
All competitions are like a game to me.
I treat other participants not as enemies but as my friends.
By joining in a competition, I become part of that fun and enjoy it fully.
It doesn't matter whether I participate as a contestant or not.
I can be part of whole fun even by watching the competition also.
But I take active interest in all these competitions.
That is also a way of participating in competitions.
I enjoy the whole event.
After each competition, among my friends, we discuss each ones performance.
I compare myself with the winner and try to improve myself.

I feel that all these competitions should be creative, interactive and interesting and should not be a burden on us.
It helps the all round development of us.
Participation in co-curricular and competitive activities is also important as our studies.
These competitive activities in classrooms are to encourage us to be competitive in all fields including studies.
Thank you.