Did you know that there are over 400 billion Lego bricks in the world? My mother says I must have at least 10 million of those, looking at the clutter in my room!
My parents told me that my first word was “ka”, meaning “car” and that’s the start of my love for automobiles. I got my first Lego set when I was 6 months old, and started building many things with it. But what I built most of all were vehicles.
Since then, Lego and studying automobiles became my hobby. I have created trucks, boats, cars, cable cars, trains, submarines, planes, helicopters, hovercrafts, and more! I have even made animation films about my Lego creations. Now, I make better, more advanced, motorized, and programmable Lego models.
I like cars because I find the inner workings, how cars work, extremely interesting. I like watching classic car shows on TV. I understand them all because of Lego, which helps me with technical concepts I might not understand. Car shows also give me the opportunity to find some details in a real-world car that I can add to my Lego models. The history of cars is interesting, as well as the future. I can’t wait to see what automobile companies will think of next!
I like following the instructions of the Lego set as well as making my own inventions. Sometimes, when I make something with Lego before I start, I browse the web to see if I can find any images or useful information to follow. I see how others have done it, gather tips, and then make my own version of it.
During this lockdown, Lego has helped me learn to code. It has taught me about proportions when deciding the sizes of models that I make. Lego helps me concentrate and clear my mind of bad things, and instead fill it up with ideas of different engineering marvels I can make. Lego helps me with physics, engineering, and how things work – all this is perfect because I want to become an engineer when I grow up.
By, Ishan Thomas 4C Ekya BTM
At Ekya Schools, we believe that what we learn depends on how we learn. Our methodology and pedagogy are student-centric and we believe that students learn best when they are an active part of the process. We structure all our programs to equip our students with 21st-century skills along with the required content knowledge.
We use the Singapore Math Approach in teaching Math at the primary and middle school level. This is a highly effective teaching methodology originally developed by Singapore’s Ministry of Education for Singapore public schools. The method has been widely adopted in various forms around the world. It is a teaching method based on the national mathematics curriculum used for kindergarten through sixth grade.
Through this approach, students can develop critical thinking and mathematical mastery of their work. At the crux of this methodology is the Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract learning method (C-P-A) in which lessons are taught through scaffolding and students learn how to problem-solve with perseverance. This method also enables teachers to convey math concepts progressively from introduction to understanding to fluency. It is where content meets pedagogy.We aim to raise our student performance to the expected international levels.
How does this Approach help students?Math, for the most part, has been memorizing some steps and procedures again and again. To make it challenging, the numbers were made bigger. The bigger the numbers, the higher the challenge was the rationale given. That mindset has now changed. We now believe that this is not challenging, instead, it is just tedious. Singapore Math focuses on the Concrete – Pictorial - Abstract approach. This makes it easier to link ideas to the concepts.
We aim to equip students with sound concept development, critical thinking, and efficient problem-solving skills. What do our students learn in Math classes?Here are a few things we do in our classrooms:
By, Teresa George, Math Curriculum Designer, Ekya - CMR K12 Schools
Herbert Spencer once said that “The greatest aim of education is not knowledge but action” and to me, independent education is one that enables us to bring our potential to light and drives us to take that action. Our education systems have been designed on an instruction-based school life to suit the needs of the occupations that existed years ago. But today, the world has about 5 billion occupations and it is almost impractical to align ourselves with a process of learning that is common to all. Our education systems cannot be a measure of memorising and retaining with heavy importance towards a mere figure of marks. Learning isn’t memorising for a test and forgetting about it later. Every concept learnt at school should be an asset and embed within us as we grow. With the rate at which the world is changing today, we can never predict what the future will be but we can prepare for it and that’s what India can achieve with the help of independent education. That is what will succour us to be remarkable individuals who are lifted off a large scale of comparison and mainstream teaching methodology.
Our country is working so hard each day to provide the right education facilities to our vast population but apart from infrastructure, we need to respect the occupation of teachers with considerable measures so that the quality of teaching in government schools is enhanced. The idea of lecturing does not appeal to modern ways of teaching because education should mean interaction and not losing focus halfway through hours long of lecturing. Technology is going to be with us all the way and as students, I believe that instead of being able to say the periodic table by heart, we should be taught filing taxes, self-awareness, how to appear in job interviews, career awareness, and most of all-working smarter than working harder. This will help us ensure that our ‘educated’ population is able to meet the expectations of skills required in our future careers.
Are we all still stuck in 2020 and don’t realise that 2022 is just five months away? Well, so much changed in just so little time- The green chalkboards have become slides and my classroom is now my bedroom! I would say that education has transformed so much in the past year and it’s time for online learning to shine. The amount of classes it takes to learn a chapter at an online school is half the number of classes we’d have at an offline school with the help of new learning tools and techniques. And from my experience of online school I’ve begun to believe that it has shown us so many new ways and methods of learning that when we get back to regular classes, everything is bound to change (even if it’s just a little bit). We found new ways to socialise and connect, study and teach that we can save so much of our time. It’s affordable and everything is just a button away. However, at these times it is crucial for students to be educated about cybercrime and security. At times sitting for hours in front of the screen has adverse health effects on many students and they must be encouraged to get out there and stay fit. Educational institutions must take measures to limit screen time with proper planning and involve students in various activities. Socialising and communicating on video calls have been difficult for many students. Many who cannot afford to buy phones and laptops have had a tough time coping up with these classes. Online classes earn my huge respect for all teachers who are making an effort to make classes enjoyable. It takes a while to get comfortable with everything but once you’re in the place you’ll be able to see the sunshine through the storm. Students today have so much time to take up internships involving social work, research, social media management and do remote courses that educate them on subjects crucial to their careers. I’d like to tell each and every student that life is going to throw so many challenges at us but it’s about how we perceive them and what we make of it that counts. Happy learning!
By, Anvita Grade 11 Ekya ITPL
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