2. Step In
Step In Routine Involves the following.
I'm the other now (assume that is X). So, I'm X  (I step into the situation as X and answer the following prompts):
I see: 
I feel:
I care about:
--------------
You can ensure you are not projecting at this stage by asking yourself, "Would X say that about themselves?"

3. Step out

​You physically step into a different space and do this part of the routine.

​Knowing what I know because of my Step In what can I do differently?
Was the "I see" objective and wide in perspective? If not, how might we see/show objectivity and a wider perspective?
Was the "I feel" resourceful? If not, how might we bring/show awareness and help shift state to something more resourceful?
Was the "I care about" expressed resourcefully? If not, how might we encourage a more resourceful way to express the care about?

4. Iterate
​
​At this stage, you check if the solutions you had found are working or not . If yes, you have just now resolved something with empathy and creativity. Time to celebrate!
If not, you iterate back to the leverages in the "step out" stage and see if you have exhausted all your options. If not, use them. If you have, then you iterate through the "step in" stage. Maybe you missed something there. A different see, feel or care about that given this new information of what didn't work can reveal itself and you find yourself with multiple solutions again to work with.
No two situations, the underlying intentions or the resolutions are the same. The only thing that really works is remaining creative, resourceful and empathetic.

Contributed by Sreeja Iyer, Founder & CEO of Sparkling Mindz Global School & Preschool.

#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#21stcenturylearning
#empathyroutine
#socialemotionallearning

Last October, on the 2nd (on the 150th anniversary of Gandhiji's birthday), our children ran a solid 12KM marathon, beating their previous year's record of 6.6KM.

​What's special about this? Well, they wanted to dedicate their run to the physical and mental health of children all over the world as a run, or any sport, is much more than just a physical workout/ a challenge. It is "I can do this!", and "Let's keep going, you can do this!", and a whole lot of "I am not giving up."

​

 One of our Falcons shared her experience on the the whole process on where they started with this run and where they reached in that journey, which can be read here. 

A run is never just a run. It's so much more than that; it is physical, mental, emotional...and holistic. At SM, sports is an experience, a celebration, and we are all about pushing limits and growing from our comfort zones, watch ourselves become more resilient, set more goals for ourselves through the trainings and workouts, learn to work in different teams thereby, going beyond our familiar spaces, learning to focus more on the whole experience...And oh, there is more! We build muscles of growth mindset and go beyond our limitations and beliefs we that have set for ourselves too! And yes, this is sports for us, SMzians! Hence, a run is never just a run for us.

How about you, have you ever ran a marathon? What was your experience? Share in the comments below.

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#inspiringconfidentlearners
#holisticlearning
#12kmarathon
#everychildcan

Bravery – a word often used to describe something heroic; saving a life, sacrificing for someone else, catching a wild animal…

What comes to your mind when you hear this word for the first time?

Let me tell you mine: I see myself jumping off a cliff into the ocean (although I can barely swim). I see people riding vehicles through a busy road, exploring a non-treaded path...list is endless.

‘So is bravery all about doing daredevil things?’ We asked ourselves when we were reflecting over lunch today about what it really means to be brave. This topic of conversation came up in between us while contemplating about a recent incident where one of us had to choose between continuing to ride through a busy street, passing through a narrow passage between a lorry or wait until the lorry has passed, for the sake of safety of others who were riding with her. And it got us thinking…

If personified and empathized with the word ‘bravery’, one can probably feel how misunderstood and left-out the word truly feels, as it is often left to stand in the shoes of outwardly humongous achievements by others. So then what about the little actions and decisions made, like choosing to be a mother? Or confronting somebody when all you want to do is run away at the mere thought of standing up for yourself? Or even choosing to answer a phone call when you experience anxiety every time you talk on the phone?

And that took a turn when we went deeper on the topic with ‘what about the times when bravery to somebody is all about being brave to prove to others and yourself of your capabilities? Where does this intention come from, what drives this behavior of wanting to do things for the sake of some kind of approval?’ This led us to ponder over another thought about being brave - doing things for the sake of pure pleasure, avoiding the consequences.

Examples kept piling up between us when we were struck with another question, ‘How about being brave responsibly?’ What does it mean to be responsibly brave? Is taking care of yourself when you live all by yourself responsibly brave? How about facing the crowd and presenting a poem? That left me with another question, ‘Does being responsibly brave come with growth?’ I think the answer is, perhaps?

Some of the examples received from two of my other colleagues who happened to pass by while we were reflecting were words such as,
-          Having a sense of purpose
-          Confidence
-          Soldiers
-          Animals and reptiles such as snakes and tigers
-          David Goliath
-          Good over evil
-          Me
-          Facing the fears
-          Moving out of comfort zones
-          Staying true to who you are
-          Upholding your values
-          Smiling in the face of strife/adversities
-          Willingness to change

This would mean, we are all brave, doesn’t it? Sometimes we are too hard on ourselves, that we often don’t tend to see the truth behind our lenses of harsh self-criticism. But I think the truth is, we are all perhaps, brave, taking bold decisions, living our lives to fulfill whatever purposes we give our lives. And maybe, being brave is also a form of self-love? I leave you to that.

#reggioemiliainspiredlearning
#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
​#inspiringconfidentlearners
#facilitatordiscussiondiaries

Contributed by Sruthy Krishna, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool. 

On a gloomy Monday afternoon, the facilitators at SM were busy preparing for their classes next day when T (a 5 year old pre-schooler) walked in and sat on a facilitator's chair.
F: Do you want to be a facilitator?
T: I want to be a scientist! 
F: What does it mean to be a scientist?
T: (now in thoughts and guestured to not know) What does a scientist even do?
F: But you wanted to be one? 
T: Maybe I want to be a doctor or a librarian. I have not decided yet, when I become fifteen I'll get to choose.
(Something strikes her and she continues) Ah! I know! I want to explore space, I want to learn about the universe, I wish to be the first kid on space. Hmmm... What's a space ship driver called?
F: You mean an astronaut?
T: Yes! I want to be an astronaut.
T: (still thinking) Maybe I want to be a writer! 
F: What would you write then?
T: When somebody goes missing, I 'll write missing on a paper and put it up so that they can find them.
T: (continued with her eyes sparkling as bright as the sun compensating for the gloom outside) maybe I'll write stories!
T: Hmmm... Maybe I'll be a zookeeper, I love animals specially dinosaurs.
F: Do we have dinosaurs in the zoos now?
T: No, they died 15 million years ago, but I'll draw them... I'll become a zookeeper!
T: (seeming confused) they are all so cool, I'm unable to decide!

By then, her Mom arrived to pick her and she leaves. as she left, she screamed out loud from the door, "Ma'am! I want to be a tooth fairy"

If we can sustain this unique and imaginative thinking through their schooling years we would have succeeded in creating individuals that will carve their own unique paths and become changemakers in their own right!

#reggioemiliainspiredlearning
#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
​#inspiringconfidentlearners

​Contributed by Yashika CG, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool.

Covid-19 lockdown has visibly affected this entire world. We are literally all in this together. During times like this, it can get difficult to stay motivated and carry on as usual due to the obvious factors such as not being to get together with our friends, extended family, colleagues, and so on. When we couldn't even go out to get our groceries, it can definitely take a toll on our wellbeing in general. How can we stay inspired so we come out of this lockdown stronger than ever?!

​Well, at SM, we have our morning Inspiration Stand-Ups to keep us up and going throughout the day. One of those days, our morning inspiration was to do something creative and share how that inspire us. Here's the results,

Sheela inspired herself by reflecting on nature, writing a poem,

 Nature  

Nature is everywhere, Nature is everywhere
With beautiful trees and plants, with different shades of green, some yellow, some brown that make them grow every day 

Nature is everywhere, Nature is everywhere 
With beautiful birds and animals, flowers and fruits, human, and all other things that grow.
It attracts everything around to admire it.

Nature is beautiful in every way that you have ever imagined off 
its wonderful, exciting and home for all of us 
it needs our care to survive forever 

So listen, learn, and do your part to keep nature alive and beautiful forever.

Here's what she said, "Today's prompt was to do something different that you have not done before inspired me to write a POEM. 
I choose Nature
In this lockdown, we are locked inside our house and facing our own challenges.
But the nature around us is free without any pollution and it's alive, as there is no one to cut it down or to hurt it. That is making it grow green and blossom too.
 This is inviting all the animals and birds to rest and move around it without any fear.
This inspired me to write a poem about Nature when I looked out and saw all this beautiful things around."
​

Neha got inspired by two of our facilitators and wrote a poem.

"I attempted expressing what I feel through a poem.. inspired by Yashika ma'am's article about Shiva, and one of recent INSPU (Inspiration Stand-Ups) thoughts by Happy Sir."

 Extremes of ME

Sometimes I am this cool person who knows a lot of things and at times i am the dumbest of all,

I long for all the luxuries in the universe and sometimes I just need is two meals,

At times I contradict all what I say, and sometimes I stand by my side as firm as a rock,

There are a few times when I want to burn the world in my anger, and most of the times I feel to fill every heart with love,

I wish to drop all the identities and just be clean slate and at times pick as many as I can and be one in all,

I become an open book and at times I am the darkest secret,

Am I this or that...

Our team constantly find ways to inspire ourselves and each other. Tell us about what you do at times like these?


#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspirationstandup
#teamwork
#teamspiration
#youngachieversacademy
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#covid-19

T is visibly upset, screaming and crying, sitting on her pink mat, "I want H to sit next to me not Ash!!!!!!!"

Now both the classes, Cubs (4 - 5 y/o) and Joeys (5 - 6 y/o) were staring at the scene, wondering what was happening. 

T was then reminded to use her words and that we couldn't help her if we didn't understand why she was so upset. After a few seconds, when nothing seemed to help her calm down, the facilitator (F) stepped in, "Can T please come with me? Let's go to our calming corner."

This was done so that her emotions could be addressed with her calmly and to help her calm herself. 

T and the F then came to their class (Cubs' class) for further discussion,

F: What happened? 
T, still crying, at this point her words are not clear, murmurs something. 
F: You know I can't understand what you are trying to tell me. 
T, calms down and starts to talk after a few seconds: I wanted Ash to sit here (pointing to her left) and H there (pointing to her right). I didn't want Ash to sit here (pointing to her right). 
F: So what can you do about it?
T (now angry): I told her so many times. She didn't listen!
F: Okay, I hear you. 
T: NOOOOOOOO!!! (screaming and crying slightly) She made me upset. 
F: You're saying that she made you feel upset and cry? 
T: Yes.
F: What can T do about this now?
T, now calm: I can take a deep breath and go sit somewhere where there is space. I can make new friends also. I was upset because she made me. 
F: Hmm, so you are saying that somebody else has the power to upset you and make you cry?
T agrees. 
F: So you have given the power to make you feel angry or any other emotions, to people outside of you?
T: Yes. Only others can make me feel bad and happy. 
F: Interesting. So that's what you're choosing to tell yourself ?
T, now pondering, but also agreeing. 
F: Okay. Let's think about it this way, what does this power of yours look like? 
T: Like a mossy rock!
F: Awesome! And?
T: Yellow, bright like that sun (points at the ceiling, to show the sun in the sky). Oh, I don't need that sun, I can make a sun for myself!
F: WOW! And where is this power?
T points into the middle of her chest.
F: In your chest? Wow. So when you give your power away to others, when others have the power to upset you or make you happy, where does this bright mossy sun go? 
T, thinking. No response. 
F continues, "Next time you feel like others have upset you, can you look for that power within you and see where it is?"
T: Yes.
F: And if you that power is missing, what can you do?
T: Put it back in my chest! And I'll be powerful and bright like the sun! (does a little dance)
F: Awesome! Would you like to think about this and come back after a bit, so we can talk more about it?
T: Mm-hmm. 

And off she went hopping and skipping with the power of mossy sun within her! Who knows what hidden powers we carry when we don't stop to introspect or too easily hand over all our power to others to hurt, to anger us. What if, we chose to take back that power and work with it instead? What would your power look like? Have you wondered?

And off she went back to the class, happy as ever. Holding space for children to express their emotions give them the understanding that it's okay to feel what they are feeling without feeling judged. In this space, they feel safe to be themselves, and to be open to express and explore different parts of them.  

Now when T starts to get triggered, she can simply be reminded of the sun to shift it back to within herself and she's good to go. And that's all it takes, to emerge out as an empowered person, to realize and remember that we have the power within us to do whatever it is that we want to, that it is nobody but us who are responsible for our own lives. ​


#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#socialemotionallearning
#youngachieversacademy
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#everychildcan
#21stcenturylearning
​#powerwithinme

Contributed by Sruthy Krishna, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool

**Long Post Alert**

If you think of the word interview and the words ‘nervous’, ‘scary’, ‘dread’, ‘boring’ or any of those come to your mind, it is clear that you have probably not had an interview at Sparkling Mindz Global School. At SM, we have a learning area called ‘LIFE’, short for Learning Is Forever and Everywhere, and we take that very seriously. Even an interview is a learning experience for both, the interviewer and the interviewee. In the beginning of April, we had an interview which led to the resolution of deep-seated beliefs about the learning of math for one of the facilitators who was part of the interview team. It was also a refreshing experience for the interviewee, S, who saw math and math anxiety in a whole new light. As if this was not enough, all the people involved in the interview also had an ‘aha’ moment about maths during the interview! 

The interviewee, S, writes: 

Expect the Unexpected 

“Expect the unexpected” that’s exactly what you should expect in Sparkling Mindz. And I had my first such experience in my Interview itself!!! 

I had to do a demo session on Parallel lines for 4-6th graders... After the 1st demo session, I had a few comments as the areas of improvement and then the very next day I had to redo the session. 
All the feedback was explained well with examples and the need for making the specific changes. I was able to relate to them and understood how to implement the same. With all those inputs and a quick connect with one of the facilitators helped me to gather my thoughts and structure my day 2. 

All Set!! 

My session was now on an overarching umbrella - Lines... the students were a mix of those liking math, those not liking, some knowing some of the topic, some not knowing much of it......But when I started, each one of them was enthused and excited, because I asked them to draw their favourite imaginary toy!! 

That’s how we started “the lines” After putting their imaginary toys on the paper, talking about them a little.... It was the moment I introduced the lines – vertical, horizontal, slanting... 

Then I brought in the second line!! 

So while explaining the parallel lines, One of them called out- 
“Ma’am are all HORIZONTAL LINES Parallel lines? 
Woooohhhhhhoooo!!! that was the Aahaaaaa moment!! 

It was exciting... the student discovered something so did I... And so did my interviewer who was silently watching all that was happening in the session!! 

All VERTICAL LINES are PARALLEL lines too!!! The joy and the pride on the face of the student for being able to say something so important was satisfying and is unexplainable in words for me.......It was not a part of my script.... 

While there will be those difficult questions that the I would not have thought thru during the preps and may throw me completely off track, I realised at that moment, there will also be THESE moments when I will discover many the wonderful things with children!!!And that’s what all the hard work will be worth for! 

The Facilitator, P, writes: 
The Class in which I found math (and the ball found it’s lines) 

As I sat for the second math class of my adult life, I was not sure if history was going to repeat itself. Well, it had already repeated itself yesterday, when in the middle of the class a veil fell upon me. The old familiar veil of ‘I can never get this’. Now this is a transparent veil, and it is difficult to spot it. Also this is a layered veil. It is made up of many emotions and thoughts, like: ‘I hate this’, ‘I am not getting this so this must not be worth getting’, ‘But the others are getting it so maybe it is worth getting but I lack the ability to get it’. Between all of these though, and the most difficult one to spot, is ‘I want to get this!’

This veil has often been the reason I have had a strange relationship with math. As I write ‘have had’ in the past tense, I realize that an opening has been made and I have a chance to open the veil and look through in some way. 

So, what made the unimaginable happen?

This was a repeat of the class on parallel lines conducted by one of the interviewees, S at SM. Just yesterday, I thought parallel lines are a farce, an illusionary concept that does not exist in life. I gave a lot of feedback during and after class to the interviewee with the view that another child shouldn’t ever sit through a math class and feel anxious like I did, another child shouldn’t have to face the veil and be helpless about it and if I could do anything to change how a child might feel in a math class I’d do it. So, today again, despite my meltdown and math anxiety, I went with an open mind. Let me give the person a chance, let the person use the feedback that was given by us to account for the emotions of students, look at the big picture of a concept and not just narrowly look at parallel lines, define and establish purpose and connect for the students etc. - I went to try and understand what lines are, what line segments are. I told myself let me not be that student in the English class who, in the middle of a very evocative poem, asks,“but how can the moon talk!?”...It can’t, but the poem does not mean to say the moon is talking literally, it is a representation, a symbol, a form. So I thought let me not break apart the form of mathematics. Let me stick to the piece of paper, to line segments and see what unfolds. Little did I know that a lot was going to unfold. 

The interviewee had taken the feedback well and planned a very different class. At the outset, we were asked to draw an imaginary toy and I drew a ball. Why did I draw a ball when I could have easily drawn something with straightforward lines on it? Well, partly to test mathematics, and partly because well: I think it was just to test mathematics. 
“Oh! You say lines are everywhere. This is my ball, where are your lines?” 
“A circle is a curved line.”
 Okay, I melt a little bit. 

Creating change makers of tomorrow needs children to learn to deal with successes and failures in their own terms. In one of our visualization games, the prompt given to the child reads 'overcoming fear of failure'. The visualization process helps a child become aware of moments when they have faced failure and how they have perceived it will determine what they have learnt. 
​
One of our 10yr olds, R, is a proud recipient of this prompt. R attends our  After School Program, Young Thinkers and Achievers, developed to create inspired, independent and confident communicators. This is achieved by developing various skills such as creative and critical thinking, emotional and self- awareness skills, communication and interpersonal skills, decision making skills, and values. These skills are imparted through designed games which are considered to be the highest form of experiential learning; visualization games being one of the many that we play with children in the course of the program. 

Sharing R's visualization output.
"Doing something that I'm comfortable with is okay, when I'm doing something I've never done before and coming out of my comfort zone is overcoming fear of failure. In the baking committee I took on a challenge to make a cake which I hadn't done before. It was something completely new for me! I had never switched on an oven, or broken eggs. I had a 100 questions and was worried that when I break an egg, are egg shells going in or the yolk, should I put the vanilla essence a little bit or too much, then I was wondering will people like it or not? I told myself, "I'm going to do this and learn" a 100 times. It was a success, everyone loved it at school. But, the part where I baked and stepped out of my comfort zone is the part where I overcame the fear of failure!"

R is also a 4th grader (Leopards), at Sparkling Mindz Global School. Children were given a challenge to move beyond their comfort zone by opting to do something that they would like to  but have never done before, and R chose to bake a cake!

Raising challenges and building the sufficient skill set is imperative in raising a generation of inspired and confident learners and achievers. We at SMGS believe that every child is capable of anything that they put their mind to, all they need is a little push in the right direction towards creating the change that they want to make, to enable them towards a brighter tomorrow.

#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#youngachieversacademy
#everychildcan

As narrated to Sreeja Iyer by Poonam Pradeep, Facilitator Young Thinkers and Achievers Program at the Sparkling Mindz Young Achievers Academy. 

The 4 to 5 year olds pretend played being doctor and nurse.

It was G and P's turn to be the doctor and nurse. P goes and sits on the doctor's seat, G wants to be the doctor too. 

F (Looking at P): Do you want to be the nurse?
P: No I want to be the doctor

Both G and P sitting quietly waiting for the other to let go.

F waited for a while and respectfully tried giving them a suggestion after seeking their permission saying, "Since you get to attend 2 patients do you mind taking turns being the doctor for each of them?"

G immediately says, "Ok then I'll be the nurse"
And they took turns happily.

When shown fair chance children immediately expand their horizons and can see possibility of a different kind of interaction. One that involves being caring and empathetic towards each other and not just grabbing opportunities for self. 

We believe children are respectful individuals who deserve to be respected the way adults do and by modeling respectful behavior they pick up cues to respect each other.

Contributed by Grace Veronica, Facilitator, Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool

Sparkling Mindz makes you do things beyond your comfort zone; gently nudging and pushing you to grow.  This one (as you must have guessed from the article) is about HOW I RAN A 12K MARATHON! Actually, how all of us at school ran a 12k Marathon?

Yes, we do run a marathon every year and this year on Oct 2nd, 2019 we all ran a solid 12 kilometers! While at any other place a marathon maybe about running and winning. Not at Sparkling Mindz. Here, it stands for everything that we as Sparkling Mindzians stand for -

1. Beating my best - it was not about comparing with anyone else but bettering our own timing
2. Being one with oneself - spending an hour+ running by yourself can bring out a lot of voices in your head - some that are cheerleaders and others that can be very discouraging
3. Finding my rhythm - running is all about discovering the rhythm in your breath, body and mind and each can find a different one

Something interesting happened on one of our last day of practice,. You must be wondering why bring up a practice session? Well, it was the day where we would run three rounds of around 4K each on site testing whether we could really do 12Kms or not! The moment of truth was here.
​
As soon as we began stretching you could already see the different thoughts running through people's minds, "Yay! We are doing 3 rounds today!", "Can I really run 3 rounds.... [sighs]",  "Oh my, I am so excited! I am sure I can do it", and more.  All of us having different thoughts, all of them that affected our run. Thoughts affected run? Yes! Let's explore what I meant through this.

We began our run and the facilitator screamed a heavy ‘Ready.......Steady.......Go..!’ and all of us ran with our hands moving front and back, our lungs filling with air, our legs drifting across the surface and thoughts running across our minds. All that were there in front of us was the pitch black road with trees on either sides, rocks laying here and there and wind passing by. In the first stretch some of us stopped and some took time off, all based on what we chose to tell ourselves.
We all finished the first round like we were flying through air and when the second round began, things started to get different. Few had pulled themselves up, some had fallen behind, some were determined, some were just talking and others were just walking. All telling themselves different things - ‘I can do this I will finish .’, ‘What! Where is my friend I can’t run like this.’  and ‘[sighs]...I am so tired I am not sure if I can do this’. Throughout the second round there were distractions, motivations, goals and narratives all of them new and some, different. Well, all of us managed through the second round.

​You ever hear the words ‘strong determination’? Well now we witnessed it because in the third round, narratives shifted and patterns changed. Everyone who committed to the third round began and this round started off like a bird taking off with its wings wide open. All of us told ourselves, "We could do it!" All of us with a productive mindset. This round was as fast as the wind and everyone by now was very eager to finish this run and achieve their goals.

The run ended and everyone was stretching- when we closed our eyes and took a deep breath,  we could feel this energy inside of us, something that drove us for the rest of our day. It was a source of power within us.

Why is this so important? Well, because that day the amount of improvement all of us showed was huge, how some of us learnt to shift states and narratives was an achievement. That day was the day when we all gave it our best, the best that we could give then. 

What’s next? Well, we are from Sparkling Mindz...so we want to constantly do more and do better, and so we will! We will continue our practices diligently and continue growing and learning. This is just one of our milestones in the many coming ahead.

Contributed by Meenakshi Tanikella, Falcons (Grade 8), Sparkling Mindz Global School. 
Edited by Sreeja Iyer, CEO & Founder Sparkling Mindz.