Endless fun and limitless learning!

This Diwali we concluded a series of Arts of Communication workshops with a group of 7th graders attending the Rajeev Gandhi High School in Mulund. The students went through a number of play sessions that focussed on developing skills of active listening, effective listening, self expression, public speaking, presentation skills, non verbal communication, body language and working in teams.

In the play sessions, we weaved in several nuances to help unlock the class potential. Some of the interventions were –

• Using encouragement to boost sense of self worth, confidence and intrinsic motivation among students. The students learnt to appreciate specific tasks and behaviors of each other rather than focus on criticism;
• Using words and expression to manage emotions rather than reacting and hitting or abusing one another;
• Using stories and common interests to get to know each other better. This created a sense of oneness and enabled a more compassionate and empathetic classroom environment to some extent.

When we started, classroom management was a uphill task due to the large group size. However, as we shared the responsibility with the students, they nominated themselves for discipline management, made rules and kept each other in check.