ELEVEN POINTS OATH FOR TEACHERS

1. First and foremost, I will love teaching. Teaching will be my soul.

2. I realize that I am responsible for shaping not just students but ignited youths who are the most powerful resource under the earth, on the earth and above the earth. I will be fully committed for the great mission of teaching.

3. I will consider myself to be a great teacher for I can lift the average to the best performance by way of my special teaching.

4. All my actions with my students will be with kindness and affection like a mother, sister, father or brother.

5. I will organize and conduct my life, in such a way that my life itself is a message for my students.

6. I will encourage my students to ask questions and develop the spirit of enquiry, so that they blossom into creative enlightened citizens.

7. I will treat all the students equally and will not support any differentiation on account of religion, community or language.

8. I will continuously build the capacities in teaching so that I can impart quality education to my students.

9. I will celebrate the success of my students, with great élan.

10. I realize by being a teacher, I am making an important contribution to all the national development initiatives.

11. I will constantly endeavour to fill my mind, with great thoughts and spread the nobility in thinking and action.

We pledge this with the most loved president ever Abdul Kalam
I feel these points  are our first step towards making Sapphire International School a pioneer in its field ; here each teacher is working towards making learning child friendly and long lasting .

Kritika Mehta

‘Don’t be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure which can be carried very easily’

A Teacher, as we all know and say is a noble profession. I often wondered, what makes this profession so noble and dignified. Since my childhood, I had been hearing from my parents that you should always revere and respect your teachers. Question when the doubt is genuine no matter how stupid and irrelevant it is, seek your teachers’ advice but do it yourself, you may grow professionally or intellectually but should always remain a student to your teacher – these were a few highlighted points which my parents always aimed at while sending me to school.

Today, when I myself stand as a teacher, I see and understand why my parents highlighted those points in my childhood. A Child is nurtured, nourished, and cared for when he/she is with his/her teacher. The tender hands held by a teacher to learn those initial letters, those innocent minds shaped by a teacher to study the multitude of subjects, those interactions and exchanges done in the classroom, the care and concern given to every child all adds up to let a child grow not only intellectually but also emotionally, socially and to a great extend spiritually. Education, as we all know, is an overall development of a personality which enhances the knowledge, skills and habits of an individual. It’s not only about learning things from the text books and testing the cerebral capacity but also goes deep into our lives and touches the soul. As a teacher, I feel it’s important not only to impart knowledge to a child but also to impart every good thing that helps in developing a child’s personality and overall growth. And as I realize my dream of being teacher, I always express my heartfelt gratitude to God, to Sapphire International School, Headmistress Ma’am and all my colleagues who guide me constantly in my endeavor for being a better teacher and a mentor to my students.

So dear students, “Grow, Go and Get. Achieve your dreams. Sky is the limit. But never forget your beginnings”.

Ms. Mancy Mani

PHONICS!!!

World is changing and it is important that we keep ourselves updated. Well we all hear about phonics and how important they are. But first we need to ask ourselves a question what is phonics and what it has to do with reading?

There are many tools that help children to read and phonic is one of them. Phonic is the connection between letters and sounds and how we use these sounds and letters to read. We teach children phonics when they are first learning read so they realize that the letters on the page come together to form words.

One should always remember that it is important to balance direct instruction of phonics skill with meaningful, thoughtful application. Therefore, one must make it a point to teach phonics sensibly, as research says one should. I teach letter sound in context so that my children have enough time to practice them – instead of in isolation. Well I do this in a variety of ways :

v  I teach consonant sounds first as they tend to be more regular than the vowel sounds.Reseach shows that vowel sounds are rampantly irregular.

v  Well research shows that teaching all those tough phonic rules doesn’t work so one should focus on a few consistent patterns.

v  I always tech them in context .The context give my direct instruction an extra boost.

By teaching phonics in context, I am applying the most scientific research methods and making the best use of instructional time. I hope that this might prove to be a help to eager parents and curious teachers.

Thanks,

Pratima

‘Finger pointing’ – The Tough Question

Parent: ‘I noticed that you use your fingers to point while reading. Now my child has picked up this habit. When I was in school, we weren’t allowed to use our fingers as a crutch to read. Why are you encouraging this behavior?’

The researchers concluded that finger point reading is a necessary stage for children when they are learning to read. Here’s why:

Ø  At first, children don’t understand the concept of speech to print – that one spoken word equals one written word. This is because we don’t clearly separate our words when we talk. We don’t pause between words. Instead, we blur the individual words together.

Ø  Children need to understand that the spaces in text, the junctures between words, are makers. Early in the process, children often sweep under the text they have previously memorized, with no match at all to the print. They don’t track accurately with their eyes or know they are reading individual words. They need to understand the concept of a word as it occurs in written language. Finger pointing helps them do that.

Ø  I can’t teach word recognition if my students don’t know what a word is. In order for them to understand the alphabetic principle – students need to point to the words at first.

Ø  Once students have the idea of what words are and can see the similarities and differences among them, your child and even elders focus on sweeping through the words in sentences. Through shared reading of enlarged texts, students learn not just the concept of speech to print, but the importance of fluent, expressive reading.

Finger pointing is not a bad habit. It’s an important developmental stage and instrumental tool in reading. One has to make sure that children move past it because it’s important for them to know that reading is not about individual letters or words; it’s about meaning.

Parental Tips

In today’s world there are many parents who are looking for the best parenting tips. However, when parents look out for guidance they rely on school first. In Sapphire International you will find the best parenting advice. Here are few parental advices that you should know about mentoring children.

First, no matter how busy are you for the world you need to show love and compassion even if your kid goes wrong at any point. Whenever you get a chance praise your ward as it helps in boosting up his/her moral. It silently builds self-confidence.  This is the way you will gradually teach them discipline of life.

Second, need to discipline children. When they do something wrong, parents/teachers need to get down onto their level to make them understand. Kids won’t do well at first go. If you have set any warning you need to stick with it so that the kids don’t take you for granted. Even still they do things wrong repeatedly you need to discipline them by your set criteria and show them the boundaries. If parents, become lenient with the set boundary level they will naturally keep pushing on your limits.

Best advice any counselor or any institution would give is that you need control and handle your anger. Many parents act very badly in front of their children in personal and with their children. Give a pause to yourself take deep breath whenever such situation pops up and with calm nature confront your child. You need to approach kid in positive and understanding manner. When these things are done in proper manner, you will automatically see changes and things will become a lot easier to deal with.

Find some quality time for your child this way you will also relax and your child will feel supported, this way it helps to reduce stress and pressure from our child. You and your spouse need to make sure that you’re on the same platform so as to understand the child and make him understand.  This is not hard to do, but it demands time. These are the basic golden rule but many parents fail to do this because of all other things weighing down on them, they find that handling children problems can be pretty hard to deal with. All such things clashes and end result you tend to hurt the kid or themselves. Parents need to keep setting up examples of healthy living rather putting it in words.

Ms. Karishma

Things that every child should be taught!

There are certain things that every child should be taught and should learn before he/she reaches the adolescence age or turns 18. Often we are so busy in our lives that we fail to realize the how fast our baby becomes a toddler then a teenager and finally an adult. It's so important to impart knowledge to children about delicacies of life which shall flourish your ward into a perfect human being and develop his/her overall personality.

 1. Be kind. To each other and to yourself. Smile. Be generous. One kind word can create a ripple effect   that might change the way people around you feel today.

2.   Take responsibility for your actions. This is one of the toughest things to do in life, in my opinion. It’s hard (and humbling) to admit you’ve made a mistake, done something wrong or hurt someone. But being able to ‘fess up is one of the keys to being a strong, brave person.  Remember, it’s impossible to change without first taking responsibility.

3.  "You don’t have to attend every fight you’re invited to.” – James Lehman. Sometimes it takes more courage to walk away — or to not fight at all — than it does to throw a punch or say something cutting and cruel. You have the ability to decide for yourself whether to join a fight. You have the power not to join it, as well.

4.   Positive thoughts get you much farther than negative ones. If you want to accomplish anything in life, telling yourself you can’t do it won’t help. Life isn’t always easy, but being positive (and surrounding yourself with positive people) can help you take the leap necessary to start living your dreams.

5.  If you’re not trying, you’re not living. I don’t mean that you have to win at everything or be the best at everything, necessarily. Trying means you’re doing your best and not holding back — not coasting through life. When you look back, it always feels good if you can say, “I tried my best.”

6.  Being popular is not the same thing as having friends. True friends are the people who will be loyal to you no matter what, and who care about what happens to you. They’re happy when good things happen to you and listen to you when you’re going through a hard time. Being popular might feel good, but it’s fleeting. Good friends will be with you for a lifetime.

 

7.  Being popular is not the same thing as having friends. True friends are the people who will be loyal to you no matter what, and who care about what happens to you. They’re happy when good things happen to you and listen to you when you’re going through a hard time. Being popular might feel good, but it’s fleeting. Good friends will be with you for a lifetime.

8.  Your uniqueness is a strength. Maybe you don’t like the same things everyone else does. Maybe you don’t learn the same way, or see things the same way, either. That’s okay. Keep doing what you love to do. What makes you unique is also what will give you strength in life.

Junior Investiture Ceremony!!!

Sapphire International School, Noida held it’s Junior Investiture Ceremony on 27^th August, 2012 during which the students council for junior wing was formed. Investiture ceremony is that occasion where we as a school respect and acknowledge the upcoming young leaders and repose our trust in them. Sapphire ushers the child into a world of possibilities where his personality blossoms. Amitesh  Shukla (VI - A) and Depti Chauhan (VI - A) were honoured to lead the council as Head Boy and Head Girl respectively followed by Pragyhan Vaid and Megha Shakya, Binnet Singh and Prakhar Gangwar, Kuneek Chauhan and Lai Kadyan, Manish Kumar and Damini Narang as Junior Captains and Vice Captains of Alps, Himalayas, Pyrenees and Rockies houses. The Management board, Hon’ble President, Shri  Ajit Prasad Jain; Chairperson, Shri Jeevan Kumar Jain; Director, Shri Anurag Jain and Ms. Aakansha Jain, Headmistress Dr. Snigdha Sachdeva and entire school faculty congratulated the new elected council members.

Located in the heart of the city, Noida
Sapphire International School with its extraordinary and innovative approach has laid a new foundation for learning. Way back in 2003, Sapphire Nursery School was set up at Anand Vihar to provide quality and value based education to students.

The senior secondary school at Noida, sector 70, is a premier co-educational English medium day boarding school, open from pre-nursery to Grade VI. With its sprawling lush green campus, state-of-the-art facilities, modern technologies and world class infrastructure, it provides a perfect room for learning and knowledge for the leaders of tomorrow. A blend of tradition and modernity, this institution imparts a natural impetus towards a quest for excellence.