Bowl Of Surprises!

"Week Two at the "Leader In Us" was planned as a surprise for the students. however, it ended up being a surprise for us and how!" Mohit

The Poster of the Session. 

The  program started off with great energy bubbling through the room. The students who were obviously impressed by the last session looked forward eagerly for us to start the class.

This week we had planned a unique session for the students which included tasting various kinds of fruits and vegetables and then describing their tastes and origin in their own words.

The Bowls being readied!

The activity was kept as a surprise for the students so that they would not be distracted by the fact that they would be getting to eat while learning and listening to the class

.

Prof T Mohan who had taken the morning session before us complimented us for the fact that students were very enthusiastic about our initiative and had remembered many points from the first session and were recapitulating the same in his classes.

We started after class by asking the students some of the points that they had learned in the previous session. Many of them answered readily while others thought over at but could give examples ready. Manthan started the session by explaining to the students to different parts of speech i.e., he explained to the students how the speech should have a definite beginning , a middle filled with facts and supporting data, followed by tips to wrap up a speech in style.

Waiter Manthan?!! :)

Next up Mohit continued the session by explaining the students the importance of practice and regular reading to improve their vocabulary as well as making less mistakes while speaking.

The spotlight of the day, however, was a little boy of fourth standard who initially was peeking in through the door. Mohit invited to boy to sit in the session. The boy was very mischievous and kept moving around the class changing his place every time the facilitator turned towards the board. At this point of time Mohit asked the students what they knew about Abraham Lincoln. Many answers came in some in monosyllable, some in sentences and yet none of those answers were entirely correct. All of a sudden this little boy named Shreekar stood up and said “Sir I know something about Abraham Lincoln!”

Small Wonder- Shreekar in shorts standing in first row!

Intrigued by his sudden interest the facilitators asked him to explain to the class what he knew. Surprisingly in a very confident voice He started rattling off facts about Abraham Lincoln. The entire class was stunned into silence by the depth of his knowledge asked the facilitators stood dumbfounded at this little boys prodigious performance. Mohit asked Shreekar how did he come about so many facts about Abraham Lincoln. Shreekar in his childish voice explained to the class how a discussion between his Hindi teacher and Kannada teacher had led him to learn so many facts about this historical legend. What was to be a learning session for the students turned out to be a humbling experience for the facilitators for they never expected such talent to lie in this remote corner of our state.

It is also a lesson for all those teachers out there, not to take their role lightly. For in every classroom. There is a little Shreekar who is curious and enthusiastic to learn more. When the facilitators shared the story to the director of the institution, Mr Prakash he too was surprised by this little discovery. He, however, pointed out that the boy was indeed a smart and energetic fellow and they seem to be a good future for this young man if he continued his enthusiasm the same way he did today.

Manthan got two?

Shreekar full on batting!

Then came the main event, the bowl of fruit. The school had so generously provided us with six bowls of assorted fruit which contained Tomatoes, carrots, 
papaya ,pineapple and grapes. When Mohit unveiled the big huge bowl gasps of pure joy ran through the students as the smell of the fruits was more than welcome on that warm afternoon. The fruits are distributed amongst the students who needed no introduction to the topic and they went along eagerly chomping down the fruits chuckling as they went along.

This boy wants to be a director, we sincerely hope he does! All the best young man!

Mohit, then showed a little magic trick to the students as he called Lil Shreekar to the front of the class, and after mumbling few words pulled out at a tomato piece out of his pockets making the class go into peals of laughter. Little did they know that he had already seen little Shreekar put that tomato piece in his pockets in the first place.

Mohit gets a helicopter of his own!!

The surprises when not over for the day for The students suddenly stood up and announced that they had something to give the facilitators. It turned out to be a handmade helicopter, complete with a landing pad. The facilitators were both surprised and happy at this little gesture.

 Different styles of Presentation in action!

Confident!

Nervous... 

Just reading away!

Shy..
Finally, six students are picked up from the six groups and were given 10 min to explain to the class one fruit of their choice. The students were bit reluctant to do this activity as this involved them preparing on their own and presenting in a short span of time. The facilitators, however, put them at ease by asking them to write down their points and reading it out if they were so apprehensive about going onto the stage. The six students then went on to give presentations about the fruit in their own unique style. It was not perfect, of course, but some of the students did extremely well. The performance of the students was taken on video and then shown to them how they appear to the audience and what common mistakes they made. Thus ended the second session of the leader in us campaign of campus reach out at leaders International School, Gauribidanur.

Looking forward for the next session “face the fear” next week!