I get so excited when I cross out a date on the calendar because it shows that I am one day closer to my goal.
~ words from Taniya that keep us thinking and wondering ~
Not hers. Not yours. People are always more than the chapters anyone could share. Hold what is here gently. Approach with curiosity, before judgment.
Notice what you notice. Wonder what you wonder. There is no quiz, no right way. Read until something stays.
this film has no words. notice what you notice. notice what you wonder. wonder out loud. and don't forget to notice what you feel, too.
Creating Confidence
I just finished my yoga practice, so you have stopped by my house at the right time! I am about to update my yoga calendar to track that I completed my poses for the day—can you do me a favor and make a mark in that box right there? Thank you!
My favorite yoga pose is called Pada Bakasana.
It takes a lot of focus, balance, and I have to control my breathing while I do it.
How about you get out of your seat, stretch, and show me what you imagine that pose looks like!
Do you know why this calendar is special to me? It is because I will be in a yoga competition soon! At the competition, there will be many different types of yoga— it sometimes surprises people how much variety there is! With some poses, you have to stretch your arms and reach up to the sky. With others, you bend down to touch the ground. Sometimes we even lie really still on our backs and take deep breaths. Whoever does the poses perfectly at the competition will be the winner. I get so excited when I cross out a date on the calendar because it shows that I am one day closer to my goal.
I bet you have goals in your life too!
Tell me, what are some ways that you track them, so you can see how close you are to reaching your goals?
How can this help motivate us?
What are some other ways you stay motivated?
I first learned yoga at my school here in Bawana, India, about three years ago. I really like yoga because it helps keep people healthy. Plus, it’s fun to stretch your muscles! This is why I try and practice every single day.
Is there anything you enjoy so much that you try and do it every day?
What are some of your habits that help keep you healthy?
Are there any new ones you would like to try?
Even though I aim to practice yoga every day, I usually end up practicing about 20 days a month. If I do this in a month that has 30 days, can you write the number of days I practice as a fraction in its simplest form?
Now, let’s say I do this schedule for the 4 months of the year that have 30 days each (April, June, September, and November). What is the equation that shows the fraction of all the months I practice, combined? Please let me know when you have solved it, as I am curious to hear your answer!
Guess what? I also like to dance too! My favorite type of dance is Bollywood, and I have been a dancer since I was 10 years old in Class 5. Speaking of motion... my favorite subject in school is science—can you guess why?
I really like science class because we get to learn about our bodies and how they move. And that’s exactly what I do with yoga and dance! I practice both of these activities at school and also when I get home. But a few months ago I noticed that I was starting to have trouble seeing in the evening, even during yoga and dance practices. I also had a hard time when I looked at something in the distance, no matter the time of day. When I looked in the mirror during dance class, it was difficult to see the facial expressions that are so important to the performance. When I looked at the blackboard at school, I could see only blurred letters.
Sometimes we don’t realize that something is going on because it happens gradually rather than suddenly. What are some things from your own life that you notice happen slowly over time? How do you relate to that differently than something that happens quickly?
This was troubling to me, since I wasn’t able to do the activities that I loved as well as I wanted to, and it made learning at school challenging. I could still do things even with my poor eyesight, but it was tough. I used to have to sit very close to the board and was always asking my teacher to make sure I didn’t misspell the words. I would also have to hold test papers very close to my face so I could read them properly. My friends would complete their work before I did, since I always had to check with my teacher to make sure I was doing the right thing because I couldn’t trust my eyes. I had to adapt my behavior because my eyesight had changed.
Can you tell me about a time when you faced a challenge and had to change the way you acted? How do you think it made me feel to always ask my teacher for help? What would you have done in my situation? Is there anything you think would make things better for you if you asked for assistance, but for some reason — maybe you’re scared, or embarrassed, not feeling the confidence, or don’t know whom to ask — you haven’t?
I didn’t know it at the time, but there were other students in my class who had trouble seeing too. But we never talked about it until we had our eye check-up. I knew that eyeglasses might be an option, and when I learned we were going to have an eye screening at school, I thought it might be helpful for me.
Can you think of a time when you thought you were the only person experiencing something?
How did it make you feel?
Would you have felt differently if you knew others were experiencing the same thing?
Why?
Did you know there are around 624,000,000 people who would have better eyesight if they had eyeglasses? In total, there are about 7,680,000,000 people in the world (source).
Can you write a fraction that shows the proportion of people who have poor eyesight and no eyeglasses, as compared to the total world population?
Do you think eye screenings, like the one at my school, help increase or decrease this fraction?
Why?
And here’s a BIG question if you’re ready for it.
It’s going to require some research in one of the sources linked above!
What is the impact of a pair of glasses?
What are the different ways you can quantify that?
Now that I have eyeglasses, so much has improved! Let me think of some examples... well, I can follow along with the facial expressions and movements during dance practice again. I can see the blackboard clearly. I can sit straight during exams and keep my paper at the right distance. It feels great! I feel confidence in so many ways!
“What does it mean to be ‘confident’? What is confidence? How do we develop this in a healthy way?” You can start by brainstorming other words or phrases that students think of when they hear “confidence”.
With your class, watch the video “I Am Taniya” and read the story “I Am Taniya”.
You can check reading comprehension by asking, “What made Taniya start to realize her eyesight was changing?” You can then discuss how Taniya’s behavior and appearance changed as her eyesight changed.
Let’s practice approaching math with confidence! Before doing the math challenges of multiplying fractions and whole numbers and fractions as division in the story “I Am Taniya,” express to students that you believe in their ability to keep trying until they figure it out.
Lead your class in an activity to visually express our confidence. Students can start by drawing a picture of themselves in the middle of a piece of paper (or instead you can have them write their names).
Then, they can write or illustrate different aspects of themselves that they are proud of. Encourage students to not only think of external things (such as their appearance or skills), but to try to focus on internal characteristics (like their personalities and how they express their values).
This is one way to teach this story. You could also weave your own way, threading two or three other people the AI finds for you alongside.
Want to weave a full lesson around this story?
The weaver finds 3-4 real people whose stories thread together with this one.
Weave a lesson →Seeing Clearly
Hello! I am just about to make some chai, if you would like some. I normally make enough for many people here in Bawana, India, so you are in luck! First I take a bowl, then I guess how much water and milk I will need (depending on the amount of people), and then I pour it in. Next, I add tea leaves, ginger, cardamom, and sugar. After it is heated, I let it cool. Then it is ready to drink!
I am making 4 cups of chai, and I want to give each person 1/3 of a cup to try it. If I do this, how many people can try the chai I made?
I love riddles, so while the chai is cooling you can figure out this one: what has four legs, likes to leap, and is purrrfect?
Can you guess what it is?
Riddles are fun because they make us imagine things differently.
Let’s try something—choose an item you see every day, and try to think of it in a new way!
How would you describe it in a riddle by being creative and taking a different perspective?
The answer to my riddle is… my cat! I really like cats because they are soft, cute, and jump around while playing. I jump around too when I dance! But a few months ago, something happened that made this a challenge for me. I started to have trouble seeing things that were far away. It was difficult to do the activities that were important to me, like dancing, playing, and doing well in school. I had to hold things very close to my face to see them properly—whether that was an exam paper or my cat. Because I had to strain to see, my eyes and my head both used to hurt. When this happened, it was so painful I couldn’t concentrate on anything.
Sometimes I would get a headache that would last for 15-30 minutes. Let’s say that I had 3 headaches during the week that each lasted 15 minutes (so 1/4 of an hour). What fraction of an hour that week did I have headaches?
But then, I had the chance to try on eyeglasses when my school hosted a vision camp through VisionSpring. Some eye doctors came into our classroom, set up different stations, and gathered our information. At the first station, I covered one eye and tried to read letters on a chart that was far away. Students like me who had trouble because of our blurry eyesight then went to another area, where we looked through goggles that could switch among different pieces of glasses material in the lens. The eye doctor asked me to read letters on another chart— some letters were still blurry, but I kept trying to read them while the eye doctor would swap the lens to make them more in focus. This helped the eye doctor understand which type of eyeglasses would help me see the best. After my eyes were checked, I went to the station with different eyeglasses frames and was able to pick out my favorite!
I knew that I had trouble seeing, but I needed the help of doctors to determine exactly how to fix my problem.
What are some ways that other people in our lives—whether friends, family, or experts—can help us find solutions to the challenges we face?
How does it make you feel to know that you don’t have to figure out everything all by yourself, and that you have support from others?
When I was waiting in between stations, I would spend time with my friends so I didn’t feel like I was going through this process all by myself. The eye doctors were kind as they answered our questions and talked to us about how to take care of our eyeglasses once we received them. I learned that it is super important to let someone know if there are any changes to my eyesight! Since the doctors now knew what prescription I needed to see better, they went to work creating eyeglasses just for me… and my friends got custom eyeglasses for free, too! Now that I have my eyeglasses, there is such a difference in my life. I used to have trouble seeing things that were far away, but now everything is clear!
I was at first nervous about the eye exam process, because I wasn’t sure what was going to happen.
But then, once it was explained to me, my nervous feelings went away!
Have you ever had an experience where you started feeling nervous, but then you gained more confidence?
Can you tell me what helped your perspective change?
Encourage your class to explore the room while relying on some senses and not others—students can close their eyes and feel their desks, or cover their ears and look around, or try and pick out different smells, etc. Did their experience of the room change depending on the senses they were focused on?
“What are some other ways we “see” something, besides with our eyes?” You might receive answers about physically using our vision, but encourage students to dig deeper and think about the meaning in other ways.
You can explain how to “see” something can also mean to understand or know about it. You can then ask, “What are some things that could get in our way of ‘seeing clearly’?” You can write two columns – one “external” and one “internal” – and track students’ responses.
With your class, watch the video “I Am Taniya” and read the story “Taniya Sees Clearly”. You can check reading comprehension by asking, “What was a challenge that Taniya faced?
How did she realize this was an issue?” Students may respond that Taniya had difficulty seeing, and she recognized this when she started getting headaches and her eyesight was blurry.
What are some steps we can take to “see math clearly”? With students, look at the math challenges of dividing and multiplying fractions and whole numbers in the story “Taniya Sees Clearly”.
Before solving, together come up with a list of ways to help students clearly approach the math. Examples of “external” aspects that could help are understanding the relationship between fractions and whole numbers as well as what it means to divide and multiply, and “internal” could be having the confidence to solve the challenge.
“Now that we have learned the importance of ‘seeing clearly,’ let’s come up with ways to help others do this!” Have students create “seeing clearly” posters that share ways to do so physically with their eyesight and also mentally through understanding.
Students can either combine these topics in one poster, or you can have some students work on vision ones while others create ones about mental perception. You can then hang these around your classroom and school!
This is one way to teach this story. You could also weave your own way, threading two or three other people the AI finds for you alongside.
Want to weave a full lesson around this story?
The weaver finds 3-4 real people whose stories thread together with this one.
Weave a lesson →Finding Balance
Recently, my entire class participated in a vision camp at our school to see who needed eyeglasses. Now that I’ve got my new eyeglasses, I can see and welcome you by saying, “Namaste”! That means “Hello” in Hindi. In yoga classes, saying this word is also a way to end a practice, as it can also mean, “The light in me honors, cherishes, and respects the light in you.”
My friends and I are showing our classmates some of the yoga postures we’ve been practicing. I’m the one balancing on my hands on top of two cans! It may look easy, but it takes a lot of work — and sometimes a lot of falling down — before being able to do this posture called Tittibhasana or Firefly.
What activity do you spend a lot of time practicing so you can improve?
Why is it important to you?
Do you ever share it with others?
I was so excited to share my yoga with you that I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Taniya, and I am in 9th grade. I live in the town of Bawana (about 2 hours away by bus from Delhi) which is in India.
If I wanted to travel to Delhi, I would have to take 4 buses and it would cost me 56 Indian Rupees in total. How much would it cost me if I wanted to go further to a city called Noida and needed to take 7 buses to get there (if the the price of each ticket is the same)? You can write a proportion and find the cost of 7 bus tickets.
There are many people in my country, and we have one of the largest populations in the world. With so many people around, finding balance in the crowds can often be a challenge. Luckily I have been practicing yoga every day to help me maintain “samasthiti,” which refers to my internal balance or my steady state.
What does “internal balance” mean to you?
How do you maintain your internal balance?
I feel grateful that the practice of yoga is embedded in my culture. Yoga originated from Hinduism, which is a major world religion especially in India; but now people all around the world are practicing different aspects of yoga. So many people enjoy doing yoga because of how wonderful you feel after practicing! Yoga can involve physical postures, mindfulness, and also a spiritual aspect. What is so amazing about yoga is that you don’t have to be a professional or even Hindu to do it. Yoga can be as simple as sitting with your legs crossed on the ground, closing your eyes, and breathing deeply.
A major part of yoga is focusing on your breath to have greater control of your nervous system.
Do you ever feel like you get really overwhelmed?
When this happens, your body turns on the sympathetic nervous system, or that “fight or flight” feeling.
What are some ways you handle this?
By taking a moment and focusing on inhaling and exhaling, you can actually calm down your body, which turns the parasympathetic nervous system on (the “rest and digest” state).
Maybe try to take a few deep breaths in and out now to see how you feel!
Yoga has helped me learn how to focus on a goal and take small steps every day to reach it. One of my goals was to be able to do the Bakasana pose, or what some people call the Crow pose. In this pose, you balance your knees on your tricep muscles (on the back of the upper arm). Finding the right place to balance can be hard — that is why I had to practice every day for often hours at a time until I was able to do it! It took me 20 days to accomplish this pose, and I still have to practice it daily. My yoga practice has taught me that doing things slowly and with focus leads to improvement. Rushing my practice only makes me frustrated, and that is usually when I fall.
Taking things slowly can sometimes be annoying, but it can help save you time in the end because you don’t have to go back and re-do mistakes.
Are there examples from your life when you were rushing and had to go back and fix a mistake?
What did you learn from this?
Yoga has also helped me stay balanced in other situations, like when I get into a quarrel with my friends. When I get upset with them, I take a few deep breaths to calm down, think a kind thought, and then speak with compassion. There is really no reason to be upset with others; if we can learn to be compassionate, it helps us collaborate and solve problems together. Compassion means that you show empathy toward other people and take the time to be understanding of what they are going through.
Think about a quarrel you may have had recently with your friend, sibling, or parent.
How did you react?
How do you think taking a breath first and then collaborating to solve the problem would have helped?
What can you do going forward when you are in a similar situation?
Practicing yoga, mindfulness, and finding balance in all that I do has also helped me look at the world differently. I use to be selfish and only thought about myself. Now I think about others, such as how they are feeling and how I can help them. I’m on a yoga team at my school, and this change of thinking has helped me work better with my teammates. Before, I use to try really hard because I wanted to be the best yogi possible, but now I try my best for my team so we all can learn and grow together.
As a team, we had the opportunity to do yoga on stage at a National Math Day conference! There are 16 yogis on my team. If we do a total of 24 postures on stage, what is the ratio of yogis to postures? What is the simplest form of the ratio? Then, can you write three equivalent ratios?
When you are kind to the people around you and are considerate, it is contagious. This means that when you show these positive actions and attitudes, other people around you start doing the same! It has a multiplying effect, since we all impact one another. I have learned to be kind and find balance in everything I do because I know it is good for me, but also because I know it is good for my community. If we all showed more kindness, took a breath before getting upset, and found balance in our hearts, I believe our world would be a little bit better.
What are some small, kind actions you could do today that might have a positive, multiplying effect on others around you?
“What does balance mean to you? Why is this important for our health?” Begin brainstorming with your class and record the different answers on a two-column chart.
In one column, write the students’ responses about the word “balance” to show that it has different meanings. Then, when you ask the second question, have students connect which definitions of balance help answer how it impacts our health (in column two). You can add to the columns as you guide students, saying, “How do you find balance in different situations, such as when you are nervous or upset?” Discuss what being balanced can look like externally and how it might feel internally. Do the same with what “being unbalanced” could look and feel like. “If you saw a friend that is displaying an unbalanced emotion, what recommendations would you give to help them?”
With your class, watch the video “I Am Taniya” and read the story “Taniya Finds Balance”. Ask students to focus on key details about Taniya by making connections between the story and the video.
“What information did you learn about Taniya from the written story that you didn’t learn in the video?” You can discuss how the video shows Taniya needing eyeglasses and her process of getting them, and that it only referenced yoga when she was looking at her yoga calendar. “What inferences can you make between Taniya needing eyeglasses and her yoga practice?”
Let’s prioritize balance while solving proportions and equivalent ratios! Before solving the math challenges in the story “Taniya Finds Balance,” share with students the importance of finding balance in all the different activities they do.
“If a math challenge is difficult at first, what are some things we can do to stay balanced and not feel overwhelmed? What do you think Taniya would encourage you to do?”
Lead your class in an activity to reflect on balance by changing our perceptions.
Share the quote, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change.” Remind students what you had discussed throughout the lesson about finding balance and appreciating the journey.
This is one way to teach this story. You could also weave your own way, threading two or three other people the AI finds for you alongside.
Want to weave a full lesson around this story?
The weaver finds 3-4 real people whose stories thread together with this one.
Weave a lesson →Not hers. Not yours. People are always more than the chapters anyone could share. Hold what is here gently. Approach with curiosity, before judgment.
If a moment stayed, follow it. If a question rose up, hold it. The quiet teaching is still teaching.
Three or four real stories woven into one lesson, your topic, your time. Taniya is one. The weaver finds the others, threads the math, the literacy, the values, the reflection.
Open the weaver →