Category: February 2008

The A to Zee of a class magazine

Cheryl Rao Teachers and schools are well-acquainted with the intricacies, difficulties and rewards of bringing out the annual school magazine. But what about the sheer joy of a handmade, informal class magazine on a quarterly or monthly basis? This could be an outlet for even the most hesitant child to express ideas and get into a very personalised Hall of Fame – a great way to boost the ego and prepare students for the world outside. How does one begin to set the ball rolling for such an enterprise? Who can the teacher turn to? How does the teacher include students in this activity? Perhaps an alphabetical list would be helpful in starting the planning process and keeping track of what needs to be done. The first thing that should be kept in mind is the Age group of the students for whom the magazine is planned. A class magazine is a reflection of the class, and students need to be old enough to take an active part in its preparation. Starting in class 5 or 6 is probably advisable as the students are young enough to take direction and old enough to be productive and more importantly, the right age to be enthusiastic and full of ideas! Next, the general plan of the magazine, the number and the type of Articles and the Art work to be included needs to be thought about. For this the teacher can turn to the students, who will provide the raw material – stories, poems and drawings on topics initiated by the teacher or collectively, by the students. Along with the articles, there can be a list of Achievers for the quarter. Here, high marks and discipline need not be the criteria. For example, “The class is proud of Rohit. When his parents had to rush out of town to visit his ailing grandfather, he took up the challenge of getting his younger sister and himself to school on time.” Or, “Congratulations, Sunita. Your stint at the blind school was appreciated by all to whom you read from your favourite book.” Bonding between students may be fostered with the formation of a core group to be the editorial Board. Students would love to have the formal designation of Layout Artist or Copy Editor and the teacher can outline the duties of each one on the board in order that there is no bickering amongst them-selves. Such roles can rotate among the students so that every one gets a

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Take a Moment… or More

As we near the stress-point of the school calendar – examinations coming up, syllabi to be completed, “laggards” to be dealt with – we are more focused on just getting things done rather than on the manner in which we get them done. If children have to be stuffed with prepared notes and answers to banks of question papers, so be it. If the decision to keep some back so that the school results do not “suffer” in the public eye, then so be it. If one more preparatory examination has to be squeezed into the already busy study schedule, then so be it. Even when we know that change is necessary and urgent, we push that consciousness to the back of our minds, deciding to wait “until the next opportune moment” to institute change or even think about it more carefully. I can almost hear you say: “But what can we do, the be-all and end-all of our existence is here, the board examination! How can you ask us to pause now?” If we decide that we cannot pause now, we decide to lose the moment altogether. Because the moment for change is when we realise the need for change. If you feel that instead of asking your students to cram for one more series of practice exams, you could ask them to sit back and reflect on how they could approach the idea of exams in a way that doesn’t defeat them, then do that. Be available to your students on the days meant for those exams to give them the extra attention they have been denied so far. And others who don’t need it can use this opportunity to help their classmates. Talk about ways of coping with success and failure and give them the quiet space to think about what they are learning… and this way they will perhaps be able to deal a little bit with the tensions that the outside world places on them anyway. If you’ve paused long enough to stop and read this, then allow yourself that pause in your classroom as well. Sometimes, it’s that split second of thinking (or not thinking) that gets us to where we need to go!

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