Divya Choudary ‘Riyaaz’ or practice leads to perfection. There’s obviously some truth to this idea. When you do something often you do get better at it. Sports coaches and music teachers tend to agree. Farooq, a physical education coach, found that his students loved to play, but practice? Not so much. “Students”, he says, “don’t come to class knowing how to practice. They have to learn it.” So he makes it a point to involve the students when planning the structure of the practice sessions and takes the time to explain the reason behind certain exercises, the “goals” involved in each stage of practice, and the effort that will need to be put in. “You have to give feedback at every stage,” he adds. Students can keep logs of their practice sessions to keep track of their progress. While positive feedback and words of encouragement keeps them motivated, it is “constructive criticism” that gets them to train better. Some students practice because their parents insist. Some love the fruit of their efforts – being able to shoot a three pointer, or swim a whole length without assistance. As a coach, you have to encourage the players to practice without being overbearing.Adults Inflatable Obstacle Course Dr. Adam Fraser, Australian educator and researcher in the area of human performance writes, “When we practice a repetitive task – e.g., golf swings, kick, dive, or sprinting – over and over again, this movement is embedded in our procedural memory. Each time we practice a movement it becomes more natural and smooth.” The same holds true for music. Malcom Gladwell, in his book Outliers writes about Mozart popularizing the theory that 10,000 hours of dedicated practice would allow a person to master the skill and become an “expert”. Whether it is singing or playing an instrument, the results are tangible. Practice longer and you will be able to bring a slow piece up to tempo or reach that high note that was eluding when you started out. But what happens when this “practice” is brought into the classroom? Students are often made to re-work the same math problems or re-write the same word over and over till they have the spelling down cold. The focus here seems to be on “practicing till the response becomes automatic.” As teachers, one needs to consider what proficiencies students really gain by this? Are intellectual processes simply a matter of behavioural responses? Sriparna, who taught in Krishnamurti Foundation schools for 15 years, says, “Practice