My Winter Wish list 

Experiencing winter in Dubai is an indescribable feeling. The thick fog enveloping the sky at the crack of dawn with droplets of mist settling on the clear glass window looked mesmerizing. Gazing out of the balcony with hazy view of pedestrians and cars, only cacophony of a morning hustle and sun rising at a snail’s pace and gradually painting the sky with different shades of orange and yellow. The scene looked dreamy and beautiful. 

- I wished to get an eyeful of its magnificent morning beauty which would fill my heart with silence and stillness of nature.

- I wished I stayed away from my device and pushed emails and messages to the back seat and stood calmly and felt the sense of being.

- I wished I would have worried less and smiled more. 

- I wished I could have felt more grateful for waking up to watch the gorgeous day unfold and enjoyed the hot coffee, chai and conversations with friends and family a bit more.

- I wished to have banished the negative emotions and embraced the coolness and calmness which winter offers.

- I wished to have said ‘no’ to working on weekends and ‘yes’ for meet ups with friends or a self-care day.

- I wished to have done so many things which would make my heart sing and my soul smile. 

However, I still count my blessings that I am alive and fit to live the outset of winter on my terms and make the best of this season which my heart was yearning for many years. 

By Tarannum Sheikh

 

Prioritize Wellbeing of Teachers

By Tarannum Sheikh 

Enough has been said and written about today’s distressing time which is unbelievably true. Homes have turned into office spaces and classrooms and that period was severely difficult time for all of us as there was a 360 degree shift in the modus operandi to learning. 

Precisely, ‘expectation from teachers’ have changed too rapidly than we could imagine with little or no time for trial and error. The teacher also has to be a tech-geek to manage new challenges every day. Meetings and deadlines are pretty much the same. Amidst all the chaos, finding work-life balance can prove to be extremely challenging and with the ongoing downsizings and dismissals; the fear of job loss creeps in posing a danger to their mental being. 

At this time of crisis, we must protect our children from emotional breakdown, panic and unpleasantness around, to which teachers have and will continue to play a major role. We need to build a nation where children are resilient and have unbeatable spirits so prioritizing teacher well-being is highly imperative to create generation of learners who don’t succumb to trying times.

School leaders must prioritize ‘teacher well-being’ and can come together to form well-being team to conduct virtual activities like hosting staff e-lunch, tea with Principal, reward mechanisms, happiness call etc. to boost their mental well-being to deliver learning which is at its best and remains unhindered during unprecedented time.