A typical day in AND school
The morning gathering: The day begins with some light group exercises. This is followed by an assembly in the Common Room, where the students are encouraged to sing whatever they like, the emphasis being on group singing.
Sharing on the podium: After the morning gathering, the students share their experiences of the previous day on the podium. Most usually stick to what happened in school, but on occasion some students talk about incidents out of school. There is no time limit for a student’s address. But the total time for the session is collectively decided before it begins, the idea being to ensure that every student gets the freedom to speak to her/his heart’s content.
The podium serves an educational purpose. Addressing an audience helps the students develop economy of thought and word. Sharing daily experiences also enhances friendship and camaraderie among them, bringing greater joy and involvement in the day’s activities. The shared recollections also serve two purposes - as a method of evaluation and to make course corrections. The students provide direct or indirect evidence of their progress while speaking and give honest feedback about the activities as well as their teachers and peers.
Planning for the day: An important part of the democratic method is the decision-making authority invested in each student. This is exercised through the process of planning the day’s activities every morning. Before the activities begin for the day, the students decide what they want to study and when. Choices are made from their suggestions and the available options. This unique session decides details like how many classes there will be, how long each session will last, what time they should break for lunch, and so on.
The most important end achieved by the daily planning exercise is to develop the decision-making abilities of the students and implement effective and participative democratic functioning.
In the theme rooms: The students move across different rooms, as per their daily planned schedule. They involve themselves in the activities they have chosen or ones suggested by the facilitators present in each room. These facilitators assist the students whenever needed and also actively engage with their activities.
Sticking to a work schedule decided by them is a great way for students to learn self-discipline and forward planning. Since the learning schedule is not imposed but voluntary, the students take responsibility for it, sticking to it to ensure the day’s learning activities are not disrupted in any way. Anyway, the staff may be unable to assist if changes are made in any part of the schedule during the day since they would be occupied in other activities elsewhere.
The teacher’s diary: All the facilitators maintain a daily diary of the activities conducted in class and the progress made and the challenges faced in conducting these activities. They also record any exceptional occurrences. This diary serves several purposes. It is a valuable retrospective record of the activities planned and carried out every day, the performance of students and teachers, and the challenge areas that need to be focused on in future.
Review and reflection meeting: At the end of each day, the entire school team meets to share and review what happened during the day as recorded in the teacher’s diary. The team reflects on the incidents, discusses them and gives valuable feedback. This is a great way to share knowledge and work together for the holistic development of each student. It also helps the team to track each student’s progress and identify problem areas where additional intervention may be required.
The morning gathering: The day begins with some light group exercises. This is followed by an assembly in the Common Room, where the students are encouraged to sing whatever they like, the emphasis being on group singing.
Sharing on the podium: After the morning gathering, the students share their experiences of the previous day on the podium. Most usually stick to what happened in school, but on occasion some students talk about incidents out of school. There is no time limit for a student’s address. But the total time for the session is collectively decided before it begins, the idea being to ensure that every student gets the freedom to speak to her/his heart’s content.
The podium serves an educational purpose. Addressing an audience helps the students develop economy of thought and word. Sharing daily experiences also enhances friendship and camaraderie among them, bringing greater joy and involvement in the day’s activities. The shared recollections also serve two purposes - as a method of evaluation and to make course corrections. The students provide direct or indirect evidence of their progress while speaking and give honest feedback about the activities as well as their teachers and peers.
Planning for the day: An important part of the democratic method is the decision-making authority invested in each student. This is exercised through the process of planning the day’s activities every morning. Before the activities begin for the day, the students decide what they want to study and when. Choices are made from their suggestions and the available options. This unique session decides details like how many classes there will be, how long each session will last, what time they should break for lunch, and so on.
The most important end achieved by the daily planning exercise is to develop the decision-making abilities of the students and implement effective and participative democratic functioning.
In the theme rooms: The students move across different rooms, as per their daily planned schedule. They involve themselves in the activities they have chosen or ones suggested by the facilitators present in each room. These facilitators assist the students whenever needed and also actively engage with their activities.
Sticking to a work schedule decided by them is a great way for students to learn self-discipline and forward planning. Since the learning schedule is not imposed but voluntary, the students take responsibility for it, sticking to it to ensure the day’s learning activities are not disrupted in any way. Anyway, the staff may be unable to assist if changes are made in any part of the schedule during the day since they would be occupied in other activities elsewhere.
The teacher’s diary: All the facilitators maintain a daily diary of the activities conducted in class and the progress made and the challenges faced in conducting these activities. They also record any exceptional occurrences. This diary serves several purposes. It is a valuable retrospective record of the activities planned and carried out every day, the performance of students and teachers, and the challenge areas that need to be focused on in future.
Review and reflection meeting: At the end of each day, the entire school team meets to share and review what happened during the day as recorded in the teacher’s diary. The team reflects on the incidents, discusses them and gives valuable feedback. This is a great way to share knowledge and work together for the holistic development of each student. It also helps the team to track each student’s progress and identify problem areas where additional intervention may be required.
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