The power of informal planning!

There’s a strange love in moving out of the usual space and doing things. The excitement of utilising another space than the usual is boundless, it adds up to the learning process. I have seen the students taking extra effort and interest in their learning when they explored their typical routine in a different set up.

I, personally witnessed this excitement along with the entire team of teachers when we moved out of school for a collaborative meeting. The tables were all buzzing with casually dressed staff members chit chatting about their drive to the mall. A lot of members clubbed and drove down together or took a ride on the 2 wheeler. This collaborative meeting was led by our DP Coordinator which was targeting the understanding of TOK across the school. Teachers were put into groups and the food court of the mall was  filled up largely by the staff members of WGS community. People were not at all worried about the on lookers and were actually enjoying the task at hand. The aura of the environment led to higher productivity and with greater time efficiency.

The staff members were all working with resources like charts, colour markers and pens etc. A very unusual sight for the passers- by in the mall, who would have least imagined that work can be enjoyed at a place like mall, where people only come for entertainment. The listening skills during the group presentation were practised with dire attention as the food court space had by then become a bit noisy, teachers didn’t want to miss out on any of the important part said by the other groups.

Right after the presentation it was lunch time and a final wrap to the meeting. Teachers filled in the reflection forms and moved towards the food counter to place orders. They had to place orders in groups which was another opportunity to find peers with different veg and non-veg preferences. We had 100 percent attendance on this day, teachers were all eager to start work in an unofficial space. Such is the power of planning in an informal set up where the success ratio is much more than the usual work space! Getting inspired by our respected principal Mr. Pradeep Sharma, who usually quotes, “ move out with your team and you will witness the unusual ideas!”