A new approach to teaching Chemistry!

Incorporating Multiple Intelligence into a Chemistry lesson‘

Faced with the challenge of

educating the vibrant new

generation, we thought of

exploiting multiple

intelligence to make the lesson

more interactive. The topic

chosen was ‘Creative writing

on the Limestone Cycle’

The ‘Word Smart’ learners

were asked to write a story

about the limestone cycle.

Here is a short extract:

‘A coral from my picnic bag

fell into the nearby barbecue

fire. The coral crumbled up

with an amazing glow of lime

light! As the rain drizzled, I

saw heat spread up and lime

slaking out. As more rain

poured, slaked lime was

transformed into lime water.

It will surely neutralise the

acids in the soil and the next

time when I come, I hope to

see purple petunia flowers

instead of pink ones!’

SUNU SARA JOSHUA

Contents

Articles of special interest

A new approach to teaching

Chemistry

Behavior Management 2

E.M. team in action 2

The Westminster Experience

3

Visual Harvesting 3

Learning Urdu through

cross-curricular lessons 4

A religious perspective 4

Primary Digi day 6

First Term in Pictures 7

The Westminster Insight Issue 3 18.12.2013

Behavior Management.

80% of teacher training tends to focus

on content, whereas only about 20% is

devoted to “human factors," those

minute-to-minute problems with your

youngsters that dominate each day.

Whether you are a teacher,

counselor, social worker or

psychologist, there are days

when you run out of answers.

Researchers have found out

that positive reinforcement is

one of the behavior

management strategies that

work in helping the students

with behavioral disability.

Hence educators need to plan

a strategy that is positively

proactive in managing the

challenging behavior. Being

proactive always anticipates

misbehavior, thereby the

teacher can be ready to

positively address the

behavior even before it occurs

A teacher’s main concern is to

help the students attain their

optimum level of performance

in all areas of learning and this

can be achieved only if a

teacher is able to manage the

students’ behavior in the

classroom.

One of the positive

intervention plans that can

best apply to students with

behavioral needs is the use of a

self-monitoring technique

wherein the students are the

ones in-charge of tracking

their own behavior. Among

the steps that need to be

followed is to identify the

targeted behavior and decide

on the possible reward that

will best motivate the student

to work towards the desired

behavior. The success of this

strategy depends on the

reward that the students will

receive. It would be best to

start with small goals for

students to feel successful. In

doing so, the students’ self-

confidence is also being

reinforced enough to focus

their interest in achieving the

acceptable and appropriate

behavior.

Esther Melba. G.

E.M. team in

action

There is a pleasure in the

pathless woods, There is a

rapture on the lonely shore,

There is society, where none

intrudes, By the deep sea, and

music in its roar:

I love not man the less, but

Nature more” said

George Gordon Byron,

expressing his love for Nature.

Man’s greed for more has

always been the root cause for

the deteriorating environment-

whether Hydrosphere,

Biosphere, lithosphere or

Atmosphere. Man’s ever

increasing demands for

materials has taken its toll on

the natural resources such as

minerals, forests, water, and

land. Environmental

Management is a subject that

creates a passion for

preserving this beautiful

natural world.

At TWS, the Department of

Environmental Management

helps to spread awareness

about developing a sustainable

planet and a sustainable future

through various programs

such as organizing clean up

campaigns, tree planting, and

field trips to recycling plants,

organizing student

workshops, and also

encouraging students to be

actively involved in

environmental activities in

school and outside the school.

Here are some of our

achievements.

Grade 9 EM student Parith,

speaking at the

Environmental Academy,

at JSS school, on 26-10-13

Our students at the

environmental workshop

Art from waste…… A Robot

MS. BEULAH

The Westminster

Experience!

Do you know the difference

between education and

experience? Education is when

you read the fine print;

experience is what you get

when you don't!

Well this was how I thought,

when I first came to the

Westminster. But it definitely

changed as time passed by

with the help of extremely

supportive colleagues. I

wondered what this new

school would provide in

return for the knowledge I had

to share. It provided me with

opportunities for growth

That is all an individual needs

to showcase her or his talents

…. An Opportunity! I was

motivated to do things like the

street play, a UN assembly

and even organize a session on

‘Dining etiquette’. And that

too in my first year and the

first term in a new school! This

has been a fruitful journey till

date. Learning how to multi

task between curricular, co-

curricular and extra- curricular

activities all at once.

Ms. Malita Jacinto

Visual harvesting

Last April, when I volunteered

to go for the ‘What Worked’

sessions organized by the

KHDA, I was introduced to

this unique concept called

‘Visual Harvesting.’ Being a

visual learner, my senses

immediately connected to this

creative form of translating

information into visual stories.

I moved from one workshop

to another admiring and

reading what was covered at

all the other sessions that I

missed, through the various

sketches.

In Sept 2013, I was presented

the

opportunity to get trained to

become a Visual Harvester

myself. The two days training

helped change my perception

of the way I looked at the

beautiful visual story. Today I

understand that a Visual

Harvester does more than just

make illustrations, she or he

makes dull meetings come

alive, brings conversations to

life, and adds a visually

inspiring component to

presentations and discussions.

In short, Visual Harvesting

captures the essence of the

discussion or meetings,

synthesizes the information

and repacks it in a way that

really excites an audience. It is

a powerful way to create

memorable, organized and

accessible communication.

I graduated from my class

with flying colours and I

presented my work as a Visual

Harvester at the next KHDA

‘What works’ session on 9th

December 2013.

Here are a few pics of the first

pieces I attempted, to the first

ever Parent conference in

collaboration with Ms. Rekha

in Sept 2013 at TWS.

Renny Jose

Learning Urdu

Through Cross-

Curriculum

To cater to the needs of our

21st century learners, the

Department of Urdu,

organized a few cross-

curricular team teaching

lessons.

A Novel Approach to teaching

Urdu

An informal letter writing

lesson on - ‘The Importance of

exercise’ was conducted for

the boys of Year 9. For this, the

subject teacher teamed up with

the P.E teacher. The girls of

Year 10 wrote a formal letter

on ‘Clean-up campaigns’. To

make the learning experience

more profound, the

Environmental Management

teacher paired up with the

regular subject teacher.

The girls of Year 8, were

engaged in a project based

learning on advertisements

and discipline.

Ms. Naheed

A Religious

Prospective.

To highlight the importance of

Islamic Calligraphy, the

Department of Islamic Studies

involved the students from

year 3-13 to use calligraphy to

depict the 99 names of Allah

(SWT). To ensure parental

engagement, the 99 names of

Allah (SWT) were distributed

to all the year levels and the

students were asked to

calligraph them with the help

of their parents. The response

from the parents was awesome

and visible as you walk along

the school corridors.

For the first time in the history

of the Westminster, the

students of the Sixth Form

enlightened all our students

about the significance and

importance of the month of

Muharram, during the core

value period. This was

organized to celebrate the new

Islamic Calendar.

Young minds and hearts were

enlightened with the spirit of

graciousness and generosity

when a bake sale and a garage

sale were organized in the

Primary School by the Islamic

Students.

The contributions were

numerous and involved the

entire school. The funds

collected were sent to

Jameeah-Beit-ul-Khair and

VGF.

Ms. Nasim

Updates

As a part of the Computer

Science Education week

(8th Dec -15th Dec), The

Westminster, participated

in some online games on

Friday and Saturday.

Looking Forward to the

Staff Party

From the Primary Desk…

Ready to dazzle everyone!!

We are all set to sing and dance. The proud creators!!

Creating our own stick

puppet.

Ready to rock and roll!!!

The proud creators!!

First Term in Pictures

Inauguration of the Astro Turf

Wow day Activity

Sewa Week – T shirt Collection

Curriculum Conference Wow day Activity

Spelling Bee Leadership Ceremony

Curriculum Leadership Ceremony Anti smoking Workshop

Teachers Day Art Festival

Puppets Day Pink Day

Smart Lesson Science Week

Flag Hoisting Awards Day

Business Campaign Face to Faith -Videoconference

Un Assembly Meet the Author – Ruskin Bond

Parent Teacher Conference International Assessments

Supporting sign for EXPO 2020 Workshop on Dining Etiquettes

Tree Planters of the Environment Club National Day at TWS

YWL Summit Digi Day