Teachers' Reflections

Sr KG B:

“The animal kingdom is an incredibly diverse group that even includes all of us humans.What does it mean to be an animal, and how do we relate to all of these living things?” As a Teacher we were aware about this topic but now it was the time to make children familiar with this term ‘Animal Kingdom’.

In order to see that children get the maximum exposure during this project, we prepared different strategies .When we were using these different strategies children were developing more understanding about this topic.It was amazing to see their responses which were beyond our imagination.

In order to foster their learning to the next level we arranged the field trip both virtually and physically by doing a live session from the zoo.

As teachers now we knew that children had gathered sufficient knowledge about this topic which was clearly visible in the models they made.It was a sense of satisfaction to see their learning through various mediums they used to express

Throughout the three phases we had observed that children were engaged in learning and their curious mind was getting enough food to fulfill their quest to learn more about this topic.

Overall it was an amazing experience for both teachers and students.

We take this opportunity to thank parents for getting equally involved in the learning journey of our kids.

Meghna Mehta and Rekha Menon

Sr KG C:

‘Animal Kingdom’, what a glorious topic to do as a project. Still this year we were very much skeptical about the journey as the physical boundaries were always there as a barrier of exploration. But when we started the project, we always felt the enthusiasm in children to share about their experiences. They kept the whole journey so much interactive with all their sharings. We enjoyed their funny faces and imitations of animals. We felt amazed to see them creating clay models, animals with palm printing. We together were mesmerized to see the cuddling interaction of gesture between the zoo animals and Dr. Shah and with other caretakers there. Though we were not physically present together during their visit to the aquarium or animal farm, we sensed their excitement from their gestures and sharing on the very next day. How excited they were when they shared about ‘Malai-and Kulfi the dogs, Khatti-Mithi the donkeys, Maya the pig, Buddha the Mule’ How empathetic they were when they shared “We can tickle the mouse with only one finger otherwise it will get scared.” While listening to their experience inside the aquarium tunnel we forgot that we had never been there. We will always be beholden to the parents for sharing part of our responsibility in children’s learning process.

This virtual project strengthened our bonding with parents as team members in the child's growth. We will never forget how interesting it was to find answers for children's queries in Kiddle and to know about animal facts from them which they investigated from encyclopedias. We also broaden our knowledge with their shared information, like, “Skunk is the stinkiest animal.” When children were asking riddles to us and creating stories and rhymes, we also brainstormed with them, giggled with them. The negotiation, the exchange of peer's suggestions and creative ideas while making the models were the ultimate pleasure to experience in the pandemic situation. All these finally satisfied us about the justification of our part of job in their project journey. We felt like an achievement when they were sharing “ma’am, we enjoyed all the activities, I liked all in Animal project.” and finally their welcome note declared the victory of these little minds against all odds.

Krishnakali Dey and Khushali Trivedi