College life can be challenging, with multiple responsibilities such as classwork, homework, project work, and examinations all piling up simultaneously. It’s no wonder students can feel overwhelmed and stressed. However, learning to manage this workload is vital for success in academics and maintaining mental well-being. Fortunately, there are various methods of managing stress, but physical exercise and meditation are some of the most effective.
Physical exercise has been known to produce endorphins that help reduce stress and relax the mind. Training can take many forms, such as running, swimming, cycling, or playing sports. A simple 30-minute workout every day can go a long way in helping a student cope with academic pressure. Regular exercise can also improve physical health, further contributing to mental well-being.
Meditation, on the other hand, is a mindfulness practice that focuses on the present moment and trains the mind to remain calm and centred. Regular meditation has been found to reduce stress and anxiety levels significantly. Meditating for ten to fifteen minutes twice a day can help improve concentration and boost productivity, which are crucial for academic success.
Combining physical exercise and meditation can produce even more significant results. Physical activity before meditation can help reduce mental chatter, making it easier to focus and remain calm. Moreover, exercise can help release tension from the body, making meditation more comfortable and practical.
Apart from physical exercise and meditation, students can manage stress in other ways. Some of these include getting enough sleep, eating a balanced diet, and seeking support from family and friends. It’s crucial to remember that managing stress is not a one-size-fits-all approach, and what works for one person may not necessarily work for another. Therefore, students should experiment with different stress-management techniques and identify what works best.
In conclusion, stress is a common experience among students, but learning how to manage it effectively is essential. Regular physical exercise and meditation can significantly reduce stress, improve mental well-being, and boost academic performance. However, these are not the only ways to manage stress; students should experiment with different techniques to find what works best for them. With the right tools and strategies, students can overcome academic pressure and maintain their well-being.
-Dwijesh Bhaskar XII D
Very true! These words perfectly echo the truth and reality of all educators and classrooms worldwide. Effective management is about setting expectations well in advance and letting the students know the consequences of breaking the guidelines. As educators, creating child-centric lesson plans - the most important, engaging, enriching and inclusive learning environment- is vital. Still, failure to manage a classroom effectively depicts the wasted time and energy invested in creating those lesson plans.
Simple, it might sound, but classroom management constantly involves utilizing and implementing constructive strategies to create an environment of amicable teaching and learning. You can make the lesson plan to end all lesson plans — the most individualized, engaging, and differentiated activities with opportunities for collaboration and hands-on learning — but if you cannot manage the classroom effectively, your plans only turn out futile.
Classroom management might sound simple, but it becomes more effective when it involves utilizing several strategies and boundaries to create an environment where students can learn in an organized manner. Teachers use words, signals, symbols, cues, and nonverbal communication to manage their classrooms. They understand that every student's behaviour (positive or negative) represents a communication or need, be it attention, validation or assistance they seek from the teacher or peers.
A few strategies which can be implemented, and I use, to ensure that the classroom environment is cohesive, collaborative, inclusive, independent and manageable are
Entry Routine is a technique in which teachers establish a consistent, daily routine that begins when students enter the classroom to ensure order and manage time. This technique can avoid the disorder before the beginning of a class.
Do Now is a brief written activity given to students when they arrive in the classroom. Dictation of a few words, searching for given talks in the textbook, providing the complete forms of acronyms etc., work well before the beginning of the class.
Task Transitions is a technique in which teachers establish transition routines that students learn and can execute quickly and repeatedly without much direction from a teacher. For example, a teacher might say "reading time" and ask students to read a few lines quietly.
Signal in the seat should be a technique in which students use nonverbal signs and signals to indicate that they need something, a restroom break, or help with a problem. This technique assists in appropriate communication and helps to minimize disruptions during class.
Rhyme after me is a method where the teacher uses phrases to draw students' attention when they can be noisy while doing peer work. For example, the teacher can say "LIS",... and the students complete the phrase .. "TEN". Another example is "Macaroni and Cheese….Everybody Freeze" and "Hocus Pocus… everybody focuses".
B + Positive is publicly recognizing and praising students who have done something good, such as answering a difficult question or helping a peer. The technique is intended to establish a culture where working in groups becomes easy in which accomplishments and positive actions can be rewarded.
Nonverbal communication is when teachers establish eye contact or make simple gestures that let students know they are off-task, not paying attention, or misbehaving. The technique helps teachers efficiently and silently manage student behaviour without disturbing them while a lesson is being taught.
Do It Again is used when students do not perform an essential task correctly, and the teacher asks them to do it again correctly. This can work incredibly for spelling in English and formulas in Mathematics. This technique reinforces the fact that consistent expectations that quality work is appreciated.
Most of all, educators should consistently habitually demonstrate the behaviour they expect from students. Maintaining eye contact, using respectful language, being empathetic, showing concern and ensuring that the student is valued can create an atmosphere of an efficient classroom routine and culture.
Effective and sustainable classroom management is more than just about keeping everyone silent and organized. It's about building solid relationships with students, encouraging them to participate in their learning, and sharing a little of yourself. A classroom culture that is flexible yet firm for students will always reap benefits.
Ms Virginia Isaac, Educator - Ekya School, Byrathi
Ken Robinson famously suggested that creativity is the heart of all successful learning experiences. Creative teaching provides learners rich and varied contexts for developing their subject knowledge and encouraging critical thinking.
In physical schooling, we have a classroom environment that promotes creativity. Students have opportunities to converse and stimulate innovative thinking. As we moved to a physical classroom, I faced the enormous challenge of transforming my virtual class into an environment that could stimulate creative thinking. And I found three ideas suggested by Robert.J.Sternberg to nurture creativity in the classroom and promote it as a habit to be highly useful:-
Opportunity to engage in creativity - Students need varied activities to engage in creativity through interactive and engaging lesson plans. So, I make sure that I plan a few hands-on activities for creative exploration; performance activities like role play and character study to develop a deeper understanding of the concept. Using tools like ‘Do Now, Think-Pair-Share, Put on your Thinking Caps’ allows students to follow along and participate creatively in our lessons.
Encouragement to participate in the opportunity- Sitting with students 5 minutes before a session for an early chat with classmates and I has proved to be a great way to build informal connections in my class. Open discussions on any topic help students think critically, and open-ended questions help students think out of the box and develop innovative solutions. Allowing students to make even seemingly small choices can be motivating, like letting a student choose which song to play before the lesson starts.
Reward when they respond- Recognising all types of achievements, not only academic but non-academic, has played a vital role in tuning in. Rewarding gives students a sense of pride and an incentive to continue doing great work.
Learning and teaching may seem complicated, but they are much simpler when we use the right tools and teaching strategies. By focusing on the needs of our students and preparing our materials well in advance, we can ensure that our classroom remains creative and rewarding.
Ms Shanthi Shetty PPM Facilitator, Ekya BTM Layout
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