The City School

Cantt Nursery Peshawar

table of contets

introduction

why i selected this topic

how can it be helpful

my own stretegies

outcome

future plan

INTRODUCTION

Turning pages of newspapers, we often come across various pictures and figures.
one such picture, i recall, is that of a so called optical illusion: a white colored
vase on a navy blue background. taking another look, i had to reconsider my
perception because now it appeared to be a profile of two people. an alternative
interpretation was pointed out which made my mind swing between the two
interpretations.

this whole scenario illustrates an important point. we do not just passively

respond to visual stimuli that happen to fall on our retinas. instead we actively
try to organise and make sense of what we see. this is what we call
perception---- a constructiveprocess by which we go beyond the stimuli that are
presented to us and attempt toconstruct a meaningful situation.

some of the most basic perceptual processes can be described by a

seriesofprinciples that focus on the ways we organize bits and pieces of
information into wholes. known as Gestalt's lawsof organization, these principles
were set forth in the early 1900s by a group of German psychologists who
studied these patterns.

they discovered that these principles are validnotonlyfor visual btauditory

andother stimuli as well. all thisleads to next step of learning called cognitive
learning theory whichfocuses on thought processess that underlie learning.

our class teaching is based on another alternate method called observational

learning. here the learningis by observing the behaviour of another person or a
model and the classroomenvironment as a third teacher which is my main
subject.

combining this approach with the onesformerly mentioned, we created an

enriched environment and engaged students into roleplaying which helps
students learn n perform better in academic and extra curricular activities and
grooms their overall personality.

why i selected this topic

so far we hav focued on two termsin this discussion: enriched environment that
acts as a third teacher and roleplay learning.

an enriched environment is one that awakens the entirenervous system, is

stimulating to the senses, curiosity feeding, capableof answering many
questions, a setting of which is alive with resources, reflective of life and
stimulates imagination and bursting with energy. selection of this topic was a
difficult task for me bt interesting too at the same time. this topic is imp for me
as i have dealt with it and found that it has a great impacton the memory,
performance, behaviour, learning and motivation of the developing young mind i
tend to deal with day in and day out.

i would b delighted to sharemy experience withyou and look fwd to get feedback
so that i can imrove my teaching skills and teach kids better. we allknow there is
always room for impreovement and it is the biggest room in the house!

how it can be helpful

unlike the way i was taught myself conventionally, i refused to teach my children
same way. our system of education and teaching is still based on 'garbage in,
garbage out' and reflectionof it can b seen and felt in society at large. i believe
that i can serve better through skills i achieved as a teacher by being innovative.
my emphasis has been on the two aspects oflearning which have mostly been
neglected so far in our setting of education. i will explain how these things will
affect and have affected my students in a positive way and how these efforts wil
bring fruit for me and my students.

my own strategies

a. enriched enviroment (environment as a third teacher)

b. role-play
 enriched enviroment (environment as a third teacher)

the key question is how to elicit maximum activation of students' brains? not
surprisingly,there is a direct corelation b/w the number of senses activated
and the amount and areas of brain activity. for education to be morepowerful,
all the senses need be involved and evoked.

my classroom acts as a third teacher for stdents because it is not

barren, boring, sterile, unpleasant or restrictive. it is neither over
stimulating nor discomforting. instead, it is inviting and warm.
studentslike to be here than anywhere else.

it allow students to take risks and let them learn things on their own.
this also helps them to make decisions and gain confidence in their
judgments.

physicallayout of roomis relaxing and reflects part of my teaching

style. my classroomcontains plants, art, rugs,posters and charts with
lots of information that students gain by passive and active learning

circle or u-shaped configurationof seating for group studies or

discussion

end of session discussion and revision to consolidate their long

termmemory

other important features include temperature , lighting, and noise level

adjustments. these features affect students in a different way
individually and subjectively and customizing them to
students'preferences, it brings the best out of them.

freedomof giving students extensive mobility instead of keeping them

seated most of time. sufficient space is available for this purpose in
theclassroom.

established listening stations where students are provided with

headphones and a quiet study area for those who work better in
silence.

complete immersion experience reflecting on the concept. we have

many resources, print and non print, related to topic at hand for
students. these include realthings, models, diagrams, blue prints,
sketches etc
 roleplay learning

availability ofroleplay area in classroom

special roleplay session at start of day in school assembly

facility of a theatre to stage roleplay

give students opportunity to contricute to grouplearning

roleplay on rhymes readers stories

learning of sequence of events, language speaking,pronounciation,

speech fluency, recognitionof readers/characters

encourage students to share leadership roles

make learning interesting, meaningful and relevant

challenege students

allow students to learn from peers n teacher both

students challenge and encourage each other

in developing socialcontracts at school/roleplay, students have

toanswer these questions;

a. how should we treat each other?

b. how should we treat our teacher?

c. how should we treat each other during conflict?

outcome

teaching is a productive n creative job as there is always something new

tolearn each day and each day is a challenge. i try to enhance my skillsof
teaching in order to improve the methods by which i impart knowledge to my
students and this is something beneficial for me and my students alike. i
compare the outcome of my efforts and results of students and it gives me
pleasure to see that there is a continious progress and that results are better
each time than previoustimes. it is a source of satisfaction for me to know
that i am growing professionally and that contributing positively to the
society.

future plan
my creative skills have enhanced and improved and it will helpmein future to
dealwith students and help them learn in a better way. now i am more aware
of methods of teaching that are more productive and yeild better results than
conventionalmethods whichfocusonly on bookish knowledge anddo not
motivate children learn things in a broader perspective and understand the
essence of things. i am sure that with this teaching variation, my students will
excelfar more than those who are follwing same lines that many others
around are. i wish success to all those who are involvedwith me in this cause.
may God bless us all.