The book by Ron Berger is a ladder to bring real life successes through the education. It’s also an

indicator to the current education system that nothing is impossible to bring in the education. The

schools, who want to make their system better it’s a wonderful resource to begin, continue and

succeed.

Some of my connections, the statements that I felt to quote and some questions about how can I

implement any particular concept or idea into my practices are mentioned below

Page number Lines/ideas/questions My views/ connections

MY CONNECTIONS

pg- 7

If we want citizens who value integrity, respect, responsibility, compassion and hard work we need to build school cultures that model these attributes

- with TGES philosophy-

pg 25

Celebrating the hard work, dedication, support, critique and revision- it is the fruit of sweat and care-

by end of the year we see a huge difference in our students-

PG Everyone talks about raising the bar as if the broad range of attributes we hope to develop in students

majority of the schools does this

PG- 36

Peer pressure wasn’t something to be afraid of, to be avoided, but rather to be cultivated in a positive direction

own class room experiences

Pg- 43

The notion- “bigger is better”-

thanks to our TGES system we don’t carry this notion but we believe in “going deeper rather than going farther”

Pg 54-

Classroom day opens with the morning meeting- teachers and students sit in a circle and begin together-

we too follow this

it’s not by chance that we’ve earned the trust and support for the school.-

the gratitude that we get from parents at SPS

Pg- 71-

Though the process is universal the products are not uniform-

Same happens with our classroom set up because majority of the time we don’t provide worksheets to students to show their learning but they present their learning open ended in terms of either illustrations or their own write ups.

Pg 75-

We called them experiments, but we didn’t really experiment- reminds me of my own school days-

1- How ridiculously we had been studying?

Pg- 93

while giving feedback- be kind, be specific and be helpful-

this is what I promise myself to follow hence forth

Quotes

pg 8 To build a new culture, a new ethic, you need to begin somewhere

pg 8 Work of excellence is transformational

pg 8 There is appetite for excellence, once students have tasted the excellence; they are never quite satisfied with less

pg 9

Get off from - Treadmill approach, shift from quantity to quality-

Pg 22

A new draft is not always a better draft.

The power of culture rests in community- our own culture of parents expecting only the school and teachers to be responsible for their studies

Are parents and children less important than business clients

Pg Compared to building a community-

50. building a house is easy. To have a quality school, there is no choice – it takes attention always and lots of it

There is a lot more to life than the scores.

Pg 62

Excellence includes being excellent as a human being.

Pg- 70

Not just finishing but producing the work that represents the excellence for that child.

Pg -73

The motivation was intense- which I feel each teacher must posses and pass on to her students

Pg- 76-

No child is too young to be offered the opportunities

Pg 83

I felt inspired and sad at the same time- a true teacher faces this kind of situation many a times

Pg- 87

“Stop and appreciate” what a wonderful thought for a teacher to role model!!!

Pg 91

The fact that they have all succeeded is not just luck” the rigor put by students and teachers can only bring this miracles

Pg -93

Critique sessions are the lessons

Pg- 95

Our vocabulary is our kit of surgical tools

Pg- 120-

1- Doing it well, consistently, takes a unique stamina”. “Unless you see teaching as a calling, unless you feel that teaching is what you are intended for; that it is your way to share the best of what you have to give to the world”

Pg- 124-

“Teaching isn’t about papers and pencils; it’s about relationships”

Questions

Pg – 31

Begin with the taste of excellence- reviewing the excellent work before starting a new task- is it advisable to use at Kinder Garten level?

Pg – 44

Making advisory group for KG children- should be initiated or not? If yes how?

Pg- 55

To reach excellence in education you need to start with some inspiration and excitement- as students at kg level are excited to learn due to playway approach- but inspiration- do we need to get a check whether my students are inspired to learn- because the basic skills that we cover up at KG level curriculum are the needs for them for their future learning- e.g. writing at K1 level

Pg – 75

How can I reach to the sate when I can say “This is what I do all day”

P- 78

How can a teacher at KG level teach her students to do original research? And to what extent?

Pg- 85

Should we encourage imitation as a place to begin at KG level?- Are we not stopping them to think creatively or using their own imagination

Pg 143

1) we do permit and encourage students to take on genuine responsibility- but majority of the times they are losing their interest in a very short period of time or at times even after opting to fulfil the responsibility of own choice they do not perform it genuinely.