One Year Ticked Away......Too slow too soon!

 

Too Slow Too Soon !!

...and just like that one year has passed. Seems like only yesterday when a nervous but excited wreck of me joined a new assignment - a new challenge.  The attention I got was nerve wrecking, for a person who though has always been on stage would love to lose herself to some corner and just be without anyone being able to see her. The stares from students, staff, parents and others alike - it took them time to believe I was actually the Principal 😀😊

Each day of the year gone by tested me - emotionally, mentally, psychologically, socially in all the ways i could never imagine.  24 hours of everyday seemed like 240 mired in one difficulty or the other (a typical element of any new learning) but ironically the day would come to an end in a flash with so many pending works to be done.  From just being 6 to 7 hours in school earlier in the comfort of my Language Lab with my beloved students, to spending close to 12 hours (sometimes even 14 ) stuck in that revolving chair, glued to screen for emails and google sheets or mouth continuously in function to talk to parents - some irritated, some confused, some requiring guidance or advise, others ready to open a verbal wrestling match at the slightest pretext....it has been a roller coaster...sleepless nights to emotional breakdowns to simple yet purest of pleasures like getting best  Principals card and sashes on Teachers' Day, the feeling of pride at students achievements.  With being away from family and friends to making new friends and being a part of their family - Oh my my, can't be summed up in just one post.

So life has been too slow too soon in the last one year but with the help and support of my family, friends, staff and students it has been an enriching experience which has made me more resilient and more prepared for what may lie ahead.

STUDY MATERIAL -XII (2024 -25)

 

STUDY MATERIAL - XII (2024-25)

STUDY MATERIAL - XII (2023 -24)

Study Material Class IX (2024-25)

 

STUDY MATERIAL  IX (2024-25)

Holidays!!

 

HOLIDAYS

So the holiday season has finally rung our doorbell and we have welcomed it with an open door and a glad heart.  Suddenly the day has acquired a brighter sunshine and a cooler breeze.  Is it the sun being happier or the breeze more free? Well, whatever it is holiday season is all about lazy mornings, late coffee, leisurely breakfast, afternoon naps, evening gossips and a wholesome family dinner.  How different from the rest of the days when we scurry about loaded with tasks in our mind and household chores in our hands and school responsibility in our bags (staring at us from our sofa or bed,  with a look of  'when will you open and check the bundle of answer sheets / notebooks or frame the ques paper?').  

Going to grandparents' / parents' house is another attractive feature of holidays that we look forward to and plan months before.  Being pampered by parents / grandparents, with no care in the world is such a rich feeling.   

I wish I could still enjoy all these ......

This time though I will enjoy my pseudo holidays through you all....because for me the holiday season is now a memory of the bygone era which I will nostalgically walk through every year.......

But one thing I wish for you all i.e Enjoy these days and make the most of it to rejuvenate yourself because sometimes you need to keep life simple and enjoy the little pleasures it offers you so that you can energize yourself for greater things in life.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL !!! 

Classified Advt.

 

Advertisements have invaded our space in a big way.  They are the most convenient way to promote and publicize a product, service or idea.  Through this video lesson students can learn to write a classified advertisement in an easy way.   

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENT

Notice Writing

Notice means to be aware, to take notice of, to pay attention to. This is an important question in Eng exam and the good thing is it is easy to write.  So let's learn how to do it....

 NOTICE WRITING

writing skill

 Writing is a uniquely expressive form of sharing your ideas. It has a better and authentic shelf life, unlike the spoken word which may be twisted (as it travels from one person to the other) or may be altogether ignored or forgotten. The best part is you can go back to your writings and re-live all those feelings, emotions and experiences.

 

1.   Article Writing

2.  Classified Advertisement

3.  Notice Writing

4.  Poster Making

5.  Report Writing

6.  Speech Writing

7.  Letter Writing   (Basics of writing a letter)

8.  Letter of Enquiry

9.  Invitations

10.  Replies

XI English Core - Support Material (2022 - 23)

 

Support Material - XI - Ahmedabad Region (2022-23)

XII - STUDY MATERIAL (2023-24)

 

STUDY MATERIAL - XII (2023-24) 

Sample Question Paper(2022-23)

Marking Scheme of SQP (2022-23)

Interactive Study Material - XII - ZIET Gwalior 

Study Material - XII - Ahmedabad Region (2022-23)

Study Material - XII - Ernakulum Region (2022-23)

Study Material - XII - Raipur Region (2022-23)

Study Material - Term 2 - Ranchi Region (2021-22)

Must Do Content - Term 2 (2021-22)

Magazine 2021

 

Click to open the book

School Magazine mirrors the creativity, perceptions and aspirations of the budding minds being readied in schools. This is the most suitable tool to help students unfold and unravel their talents and discover their potential while the teacher sits back and simply guides them, all the while rejoicing at the accomplishments of his students.  

As CCA I/C and Publication I/C of my Vidyalaya I am glad to share with you the contributions and compositions of the students of KV Yol Cantt.  

Happy Reading!

Corona Curse Returns

 

It has been a long time since I wrote anything here.  It may seem to many that maybe the novelty of having and managing a blog has worn off (we humans have this remarkable tendency to get fed up easily) but the reasons have been more than one and certainly not the one listed above.  

The first and foremost reason was that as the cases of corona curse started to slide downwards, work at school started picking up pace (Dec last year) and this was a welcome change.  The earlier dread of last minute work bombs seemed to be something I was longing for (because that at least reminded us all that things are inching towards normalcy). Having students in the class once again (of course, recognising them under the colourful layers - which changed everyday, has been a challenge ) was very soothing, along with the fact that reading their expressions, which were heavily guarded with masks posed a new test. 

Spring brought about with it new hope, clearer sunshine and the belief that all is going to be ok with the new vaccines that were already on everyone's lips.  So with a spring in my steps, I too started looking up to little joys of weekends with washing, cleaning and other womanly stuff  and this blog took a backseat.  

Then came the month of March - feverish activity of conducting offline exams for reluctant students and again the dread of getting infected.  All were trying to play it safe while carrying out our tasks. But then again the curse of corona started raising its hood with new mutant strains and multiple variants (do you think this corona has latched itself to the idea that we Indians are never satisfied of a single colour or version of anything and always vie for variety - and so is working tirelessly to make versions of itself !!!).    

Once again the corona curse started to deepen its roots and affected figures began to rise everywhere - Board exams for X were cancelled and this gave rise to a new topic of debate - Life itself had become an exam , an everyday exam and what is the relevance of a mere board exam in the larger picture of a difficult life.  What still evades me is the fact how could those who participated in gatherings for purposes larger than Board exams could escape this deadly virus unscathed while we are going all out to safeguard our future by shutting ourselves inside once again and are still getting caught (I would say it is an intelligent virus - it knows whom to spare and whom to attack).  

Still firm on the belief that the virus is not anywhere near us, some of us went to our jobs everyday (with due precautions) - to admit the future of our nation in our classrooms - working towards a hope that soon this nightmare would be over and we would cherish our classrooms, teaching, notebook checking, identifying excuses etc with a new bunch of naughty little flowers.

But it seems the virus doesn't distinguish between who's who - except for the bigwigs with larger than life missions- and so the virus now has landed right under my nose...or should I say - in my nose, well only tests will confirm that (a few of my colleagues have already shaken hands with it and I am shaking inside out with a fever - I just hope it is a simple viral 😅😅! ).

Well, I have appeared for many tests in my lifetime with a lot of positivity but I think this is the first time in my life that I am feeling nervous about being positive!!  

So all of you out there pray for me and for everybody else who is struggling with this unflinching and till now invincible virus.

Study Material - X (2024-25)

 

Study Material X (2024-25)

Study Material - X Chennai Region (2022-23)

Study Material - X Ernakulum Region (2022-23)

CBSE QUES BANK - X

MIND MAPS - X

Student Support Material XII (Eng)

 

Support Material 2020-21

(KVS - Agra Region)

Student Support Material 2020-21 

(KVS - Ahmedabad Region)

Support Material 2020-21

(KVS - Raipur Region)

Question Bank

New Year 2021

 

As we enter the new year - 2021, we all are praying and hoping for just one thing. I am sure we all agree on this, we want to leave behind the tumultuous 2020 - for good. This year will definitely go down in history, mostly for wrong reasons - the pandemic (which is still raging in different forms), numerous people losing their lives to it, numerous others losing their means of livelihood and all of us still living in fear of it.  Everything from the beginning of 2020 to the end of 2020 revolved around Coronavirus and uncertainty.

The world turned upside down, a lot of  hitherto unimagined changes became the new norm of life.  But even in this bleak time human beings learned to adapt . The only silver lining was the flourishing flora and fauna, which seemed to be happy that reckless humans were caged because of Covid. 

On our part we learned that we can survive without many of the modern day habits - shopping, cinema, dining out etc etc.  Also we learned that actually happiness lies in contentment and just being - all we need is clean air to breathe, bright sunlight, unpolluted water, enough food and a comfortable shelter (Wi-Fi - can't be ignored, that is what made life worth living during lockdown).  

Also, this dark time brought to the fore , inherent human kindness - the instinct to help .  We saw many good samaritans coming forward to help those in need, many people pushing the limits so that less fortunate people could be reached and helped.  Such people revived our hope in humanity and I am sure inspired many to follow the path.  

With only four hours to go for the new year I wish that the new year 2021 rings in with a cure for the pandemic, I hope for a year of new jobs for those who are struggling to make ends meet, I hope for a new year of  good health for those who survived the virus, I hope for a new year of education and learning for those who had to drop out of school and learning for want to money to pay the fees or for want of a device to continue online learning, I hope for a new year of peace and happiness for those who faced and battled depression and anxiety because of the virus.

I wish we all learn to respect nature and respect life in this new year and may we all be blessed with good luck in the coming year.

Within a few hours 2020 will be uninstalled and I hope the virus too will.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2021

Crossing the 5000 mark!

 

Crossing the 5000 mark I am filled with joy.  Well who does not like to achieve milestones and I am inexplicably excited perhaps because this is the first milestone I have reached!  You might be thinking what this 5000 figure stands for?  Actually it is the figure I have crossed with regards to the page views of this blog.  I am really humbled that there are people who are interested in what I am doing.

Not that I don't know that there are many more people out there who login just to see what all nonsense I get the time to create - after all the online classes, online assessment, online grading, google sheet data filing (which rains like cats and dogs these days on my muddled head).  😝 In fact that is why I have not been able to add anything to the posts for a long time because adding what matters most for my students has become a priority now.

What started as a simple desire to celebrate Reading Week in a befitting manner (like all other schools were doing)  catapulted itself into an idea of creating something for my students (Actually it is more for myself - all the PPTs that are asked for during inspections... done once and for all😌).  

Also yesterday after exactly three months of work I have been able to put all the PPTs for class XII syllabus on this blog and I just hope that my students will get the advantage of studying anytime anywhere with regards to English through this small effort of mine.  

The credit for this goes to my insanely supportive friend Vandana, who introduced me to this world and who also kept awake with me tirelessly on many a nights helping me do things which I hitherto never knew.   Also, whoever invented the video call option be blessed because Vandana and I spent at least a fortnight on video calls for as long as five hours or six ( that too in the dead of the night) to put some sense into my dummy brain about how to manage things on the blog - right from creating a library to adding gadgets and having a picture scroll.  

Also, my dear colleague - Sushma Ma'am - she has been a darling, giving in to my stubborn late night demands of going through the PPTs I uploaded in the silence of the night for corrections and suggestions.

This is for you my dear friends....But that is not all..... I am going to cling onto you ever more in the quest for learning new things.

Hope we get to the 10,000 mark soon!

15th Aug, 2020

 

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY !!!

20-20 vs 2020

The first I heard of 20-20 was when the new format of cricket 20-20 came into play internationally (17 Feb 2005). I remember all being very excited.  The rush of life had made it very difficult for all of us to enjoy the game of cricket for its length of play.  So this condensed version of the game was a boon for all who couldn't spare time to watch the entire 50 over cricket ( and there is no way we could do without watching because Cricket is a religion for us) and who would snatch every chance to get to know the score amidst busy office schedule.

In fact, (again back to reminiscing the past - here I go) my earliest memory of  watching this gentlemen's game is my father taking an off from office and my brothers not going to school, just to catch the ODIs on our black & white shuttered TV. Also my Mom had an extra busy day as the demand for pakoras and snacks in between the game soared.  Then I remember my brothers having bets of dosa treats if this team won or that, no matter who won i was the winner as I relished those dosas more than anyone or anything. But as technology developed and life caught on with us this privilege was no more available, so the newer and shrunk avatar of the game was a life saver. 

So this 20-20 was an instant hit and a trending word for anything that is quick and interesting and was definitely a  'go down in history' thing.

But who had thought that this 2020 has a knack for registering itself for more than one reason. We are in the year 2020 and mind you this will definitely go down in history, though for reasons we would like to bury & forget.  20-20 was introduced to bolster crowds for the game in the stadiums which had started dwindling owing to the madness of life which left little time for such a long game. And 2020 will ironically be remembered for social distancing (though this distancing made us realise the need to get together more often- not virtually, mind you!), masking up (the already masked & fake smiles, i hope we start to feel stifled by our fake feelings and smiles just like we feel suffocated under our masks) and a virus which has attached itself to our lives in such a way that no formatting is going to delete it from our system, for now at least.

Did you notice something?

20-20 although apart with a distance created by '-' was to bring people together in the stadiums (didn't I mention that before too?).

And 2020 is close together but only superficially. Paradoxically, it is going to remembered for creating distances,  empty classrooms, empty playgrounds, shut down canteens, empty malls, traffic less roads, zoom meetings, collapsing economy, confusion, uncertainty and a wish to live the way we used to before 2020.

I read a post on Whatsapp which finds relevance here and i am going to share it with you  

Oh God! 

Please uninstall this year 2020

It has a virus!

 As a teacher of English I would say this has made me realise the importance of punctuation more than ever....no no... i am not going to give the same example 'Let's eat Grandpa'.  It's a new one now, and mind you, one which you won't forget easily...

20-20  &  2020

See what a world of difference a small hyphen can create!!!

Jyoti Sharma

My First Result as PGT (2019-2020)

Evaluation makes us all nervous.  As students we all experience the anxiety and fear of impending results, especially the board exam results.  But to have experienced it again as a PGT (my first result of CBSE board exams was declared yesterday , 13th July 2020 - my result, because in a way your students' result is a testimony of your effectiveness in the class!) was an altogether different experience. 

The moment i got to know that the result has been declared,  chanting a silent prayer (i was dead nervous myself )I sent a good luck message to my students' whatsapp groups. Those moments of silence, when students were busy trying to get their result, were like ages - scary, haunting.  In fact, i don't remember being that nervous for my own result as a student,ever.  Time and again i picked up the phone hoping to have got a message from my student telling me his or her score.  But the wait was a hauntingly long one. Not that i doubted my students' abilities but that i wished to know if all the sincere work we had put in was favored and to what extent could I make my students realize their potential.

 The CBSE site was a bit slow and that made the hearts beat a little faster.  Slowly the messages started pouring in.  A tinkle here and a message there, the phone kept ringing the entire day - students elated over their good scores, students overjoyed because they never expected to do so good, students who were a little disappointed that they could have done better, students worried because their result couldn't be seen because of technical glitches, students looking for a word of encouragement in their battle to download their result.  Students thanking me for what they did themselves !! O yes, i mean OK, i was there in the classes with you  but you were the ones in the exam rooms !!! Messages flooding my inbox that the classes had been so much fun and that they will miss me.... 

Suddenly it dawned on me that the sculpting of these children's personality was over ..that i could do no more and that they are now ready to embark on their own journeys.  Unlike my results as a TGT, whereby i could see them being groomed for another two years before they left school, here i am wishing them good luck for their journey ahead -  a journey in which they will now discover themselves, journey which would take them into the world of grown ups - to become one of them.  

Mixed feelings - anxiety now, not of their scores but whether i have given them all i could have that would help them in their journey ahead.  

Yes.... i too would miss u all but i would light up every time one of you would ring me up to tell that you got admission into that coveted course, or that you have learnt this new thing, or that you are going abroad for this course or to that university, or that you  have cleared that big exam or that you have cracked that interview.  Your success will light up my day and bring a smile to my face.

Most of all I would light up when years down the line, one of you would call me to say - "Ma'am we still remember what you taught us and we miss those English classes".

 

Remember learning books isn't important .. .. learning the lessons books teach us is important .... i just hope i have taught you well.

Every phase in life is bound to teach us something valuable.  But it depends on us whether we analyse the lessons or just turn the pages.

All the best to all my students of 12 A and 12 C, the world is waiting for you....

Jyoti Sharma

PGT English

KV Yol. Cantt.

The Fun They Had!

Some 14 years ago  when i taught Class 9th in NVS , the very first lesson of the newly adopted ncert text book 'Beehive' - 'The Fun They Had' really set the class in a discussion mood.  There were varied views on the story.  The class became so noisy and at the same time lively because it gave the young minds some food for thought. Not that i was complaining of the noisy mode my class had gone into, i was rather enjoying,  still it was a bit difficult to digest and envision the point made in the story.

OMG, I and my ramblings.... forgot that not everybody knows the story.  So let me get you through the story in brief.  

The story is set in 2157 , Margie and Tommy are the two main characters, Tommy being elder to Margie by 2 years. The excitement began when Tommy found a real book in the attic of his house - a book , the pages of which had turned yellow(as it was a very old book).  They found it weird that the words remained still on the pages and they agreed such things simply became useless once read.  They talked about how their tele-books had the capacity to store millions of books and how the words on the screen moved. Margie asked what the book was about and was disappointed to know it was about School. She found it distasteful that somebody could write about something as boring as a school. But Tommy told her that it was not the same school as theirs, rather it was a building where all the children from the neighbourhood went to study. While discussing about the old styled schools they started wondering how enjoyable it would have been to go with fellow children to the building called school, studying the same books and then playing together while going back home. They compared it with their robotic teacher who gave them solitary lessons in a confined room in their homes, asked for homework to be put into a slot and mercilessly gave them test after test. Margie is surprised to know that the teachers in olden days were human beings.  She wants to read more about this interesting building but at that moment her mother asks her to go into her school room as her robotic teacher had been repaired and was ready with the lesson.

Now, this story which was futuristic at the time it was written has just become the new normal for us.  In-fact I would say we have progressed much further technologically as the new e-books not only have verbal content, but also pictures, animation, videos and what not. And with apps to create a virtual classroom we have gone a lot ahead than the writer - Issac Asimov could even imagine . Also, we have been pushed to use these tele / virtual resources to carry on with our learning in the wake of  Covid spread.  

Comparing the two scenarios - one of the story and other of our lives at present (especially teachers & students) I found that even after being in a better situation than what was presented in the story there are some elements which are similar.   

Although most of us are making use of video calling apps (which are coming up like mushrooms in rains)  we all are missing that hustle bustle of the staff-room, that noise spread in the corridors during lunch break, those cups of tea in the school canteen, that rush to complete those urgent works which rain upon us so frequently and unexpectedly that it seems a void has been created in life working from home. 

The students too are feeling the pressure of online classes, classwork & homework have lost their meaning since every kind of work is to be done at home only, the occasional jokes in the class made at the cost of classmates or teachers are being missed badly. The lame excuses which saved the day for many of them have been forgotten perhaps. The lunch boxes are stashed away in some corner of the kitchen. Screen time has increased exponentially and parents are ironically coaxing their kids to be ready with their phones before the classes start.  

In- spite of the numerous benefits of technological classrooms under the present circumstances, the pace of learning is not as good as it used to be in the traditional classroom (you may differ from me). Teachers are using technology like never before (learning new things even if they hate technology), PPTs, videos, audios and virtual class apps have become the indispensable oxygen required for our classrooms to survive, still the result is not comparable to the traditional approach of classroom.  

Analysing the reason for this I found that we teachers were using technology in schools also, we were handling many more tasks than we are probably doing now, even then we were happy amidst the noise, the chaos, the urgencies of school work.... the same can be said for students (they definitely don't look happy on screen in Google Meet classrooms) .... despite all that what made learning fun was not those fancy projectors projecting some fancy slides on the screen but the essential human touch - the unsaid and unseen bonding between the teacher and the students.  Learning was quick and easy not because of technology alone.... but because of the much needed human touch which reflects even when a teacher's words are not dripping with sugar.

We are  face to face with students through video calling apps, however their faces are not as cheerful, and I think the reason is that probably human touch doesn't feel as good and as real in these virtual classes  because the technological screen comes in between !!

And for all of us now, we can only reminisce The Fun We Had!

Jyoti Sharma

Online Classes

 ONLINE CLASSES

We all are grappling with an unprecedented situation - spread of a virus which has not only shaken the health infrastructure in countries all over the world but also shaken all of us mentally and emotionally. It has thrust some unwelcome changes in every walk of our life. It has proved that all the paraphernalia  - the shopping malls, the movie theatres, that human beings have constructed around them can become meaningless in an instant.    

Even then, one admirable thing which has come to the forefront is human beings' unique trait of adaptability.  No matter what the circumstances are, we all have that innate ability to come to terms with it and move ahead taking on the challenge.  As is said, 'Every cloud has a silver lining', we too  - teachers and students, have clung to that silver lining.  Schools have introduced online classes and both the teachers and students are struggling to get used to this new mode of learning .  (Well I won't say teaching because I think whenever I use google meet or design forms in google docs I discover a whole lot of new features - so I am learning myself, everyday!)

Learning is a continuous process and every adversity teaches us some very important lesson. Even in these trying times we are learning to adapt to the changes and also new ways to bring life to a regular rhythm. Looking at the brighter side  the best part about online classes is that it has forced us to get in touch with the latest technology and brought us out of the traditional mould of classroom teaching and learning.  We all are discovering a whole new technological world which can so effectively help us connect (no matter how far we are) for educational purposes, while helping us keep the disease at bay. Children who were always nagged for using their mobile phones or being addicted to their tabs are using it now for the purpose of learning and that too with parents' permission.

 

There are a lot of problems too, since we have to come out of our comfort zone and we are being pushed to do something new, as also problems of net connectivity, power cuts, long screen time etc. But we can't get anywhere until we step up and walk on.   So brushing all the hurdles aside we have to move on with our learning while learning all the way how we can learn in ways other than classroom teaching and learning.

Hope we all find a way to turn the negatives of these circumstances into opportunities for expansion and growth and of course - learning!

Happy Learning!!