"I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything,
but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do."
~ Helen Keller ~
Academy of Teacher Excellence News
Twelve students have enrolled for the One year Diploma course in Special Education. The classes for ATE students commenced
on 28th June 2006. We have students, who are very enthusiastic, coming from diverse backgrounds. In the first term, courses are:
Introduction to Special Education
Child Development & Psychology
Educational Psychology
Biological Bases of Learning
Assessments in Special Education
Education of the intellectually challenged
Curriculum and Methods of teaching
The last two courses will continue into the next term.
Convocation 2006: On July 15th 2006, 23 students who went through the One-year Diploma Course in Special Education were
conferred with their Diploma by the Honourable Minister of Social Welfare of TamilNadu Government, Dr. Poongothai Balaji.
On 8th July, Ms. Pavitra, a special educator from the USA introduced our trainees to Expressive Art Therapy for special
children. In this unique session she dealt with sand therapy, clay therapy, puppet therapy and theatre therapy, which can
be used to stimulate learning behavior in children.
Kaleidoscope Learning Center (KLC) News
The Pre Vocational job training began on 3rd July in collaboration with Gopika Varma. The children are learning to make
rolled pens.
On 5th July, KLC had its first in-service training on team building. It was conducted by expressive Art Therapist Pavithra who
was visiting Chennai from the U.S.
The IEP's have been in full swing and meetings with parents were held from the 24th to the 28th of July.
KLC celebrated Fruit Salad Day on 31st July. Children learned about the shapes, sizes, and colours of fruits. They also
learned how to cut fruits and the benefits of eating them.
V-Excel Remedial Center (VRC) News
VRC has been very actively pursuing appropriate emotional expression with our children all month. Working towards that goal,
the children learnt not only to express but also to receive and decode the emotions of the teachers.
Sri Varshini consoled her teacher by patting her head and saying, "Do not cry", when the teacher pretended to be upset in class.
Vishnu tried to de-stress her teacher when the teacher was genuinely stressed about hygiene in class. She tried to help
the teacher to clean up and cheer her up.
Sri Kamakshi tried and succeeded to write independently when the teacher expressed that she has to do so to remain in
regular school.
Akshaya Vahini drew a peacock as a gift to her teacher when the teacher pretended to be upset with her for non-performance
in class. The child overcame an emotional overload to express positively about the situation.
Gokkul prayed with the teacher, for help from God in de-stressing Mukund. Gokkul closed his eyes and prayed fervently
until Mukku calmed down. Everyone who watched the incident had tears in their eyes as the power of prayer in healing
never ceases to amaze us.
Deepan wrote five couplets from Thirukkural, on ‘Sinam’, on the board when he perceived the teacher to be slightly
angry with his non performance. The teacher realized that the child is much smarter and more evolved than she is.
Bridges Learning Academy
BLA started working full day from July with kids getting music, aerobics, dance, art, computers and other group activities.
Classes were regrouped in end June to suit the academic needs of the children.
IEP meetings started at the end of July: teachers were busy writing IEPs and forming year long goals.
OT sessions started for the children who need help with coordination and fine motor activities.
The academic group is learning about India in its afternoon group while the other two groups are learning to sing the
National Anthem. The dance teacher is also working towards the Independence Day celebrations on August 15th. We hope that by
then the kids will be able to put up a show for the celebrations.
V-Excel News
Carnival 2006: This year V-Excel Carnival was back with a bang on 1st July 2006. Lots of games and food were organized
to entertain the children of our school. Parents and teachers also partook in the occasion with great zeal and gusto. We
are very grateful to the members of the Rotaract Club of Chennai Vepery, for their presence, involvement and valuable
support to organize this event successfully.
Assessments workshop: A five day Professional workshop on Psychological and Intelligence testing was conducted at our
Mandaveli Centre for the Special Educators of our school.
Arts Competition: An inter-school Drawing and Painting competition was organized by us on 29th July. About 56 children belonging
to seven different special schools in Chennai participated in the event. The children came in with their teachers or
parents and took part in the event with lot of enthusiasm. Mr. Jeyaraj, a well-known artist of many Tamil weekly magazines
was the chief-guest and the judge for the competition. Watch this space in the next issue of Strides for the results of
the competition!
Contact Info :: India:
V-Excel Educational Trust
#1 Norton 2nd Street
Mandaveli Chennai 600 028
Tel: 91 - 44 - 24620243
91 - 44 – 24956373 E-mail us or visit us at www.v-excel.org
Contact Info :: USA:
Academic Concepts, Inc.
1403 Merrywood Drive
Edison, NJ 08817
Tel: (732) 572-3748
Tax ID: 22-3632715 E-mail us
Volunteer Info:
Volunteers are an integral part of our success. Our most pressing needs are in the areas of occupational and speech therapies, and
as teacher aides. We also require assistance in library management.
If you have any of these and are interested in volunteering at V-Excel, please contact us.
Tricks That Work With At-Risk Kids
Refuse to accept appearances
- The trick is to see the child "as if" he were competent, capable, responsible and a pleasure to be with.
Reverse the labels
- List the labels you have already accepted as the truth about this child and then make a new list of labels reflecting the
exact opposite. Affirm what you would like to see in the child.
Stop accepting excuses
- Accepting an excessive number of excuses demoralizes children and enables them to act "as if" they are incapable.
"No, you cannot!"
- It is truly the magical trick which teaches children that you love them enough to expect them to have boundaries (limits)
and behave appropriately.
Eliminate manipulation
- The magic of understanding manipulation is to see it as a child`s unskilled attempts to get his needs met.
Refuse to remain engaged in conflict
- Don't ignore or suppress anger and hurt feelings. It helps to remember that anger stems from one of three things: hurt,
need and/or fear
Insist on high performance
- It is absolute magic to watch the wheels turn in a child`s head when you refuse to accept anything less than his best.
Get a new attitude
- Before you can change anyone else, you must first change yourself. Your attitude holds 50% of the weight in an interaction.
Trash the wet blanket
- -Children are wide open to adult suggestion, and criticism. Instead of limiting children, visualize something beyond what
you originally thought possible for them and see what magic happens!
Mary Robinson Reynolds
