Speaker 1: Is it important to be involved in extracurricular activities? What do you think? Well, when I think about it, the answer is a big yes for me and in today's competitive world it is even more important. But let's go back a little and understand what we mean by extracurricular activities actually. In simple sense, extracurricular activities are activities that a student does beyond the academic syllabus or curriculum. So these are the activities students don't actually get grades for. You know, they get graded but they don't get grades in the academic report card. We all can list a few common examples. You know, the things like debate clubs, sport activities, painting, music. The answer to this question is yes. But if you ask me why students need to get involved in these activities, the answer is simple. Extracurricular activities are beneficial in multiple ways. We all know the basic benefits of extracurricular activities. You know, how about before I tell you, you list some based on your own experience. Go ahead, pause the video and write a few reasons why you would want your learners to be involved in extracurricular activities. Go on, I'm waiting for you. Welcome back. Done with your list? Good. I did some of my own work and I came up with many reasons that are beneficial for our learners. The first one that instantly comes to mind is their physical and mental well-being. I mean, these activities can keep you physically fit and is also a good workout for the brain. Creativity has room to flow outside academic textbooks too, right? Now imagine what happens when your learners engage in these activities. They become more open-minded, they become more creative and they collaborate with each other. Collaboration and cooperation are two key skills they're learning. In other words, their social-emotional skills develop and sharpen. This can assist us in preparing them for a world beyond schools and home. Some more skills that they learn are skills like leadership and teamwork. So leadership and teamwork are developed whether you are out on the field or in a practice room. They also start respecting diversity, you know, and then they rub shoulders with each other, they're working towards a common goal, they're working with students from different backgrounds, they're learning diversity. Did you know there is research that's found out that extracurricular activities can help maintain good attendance, it can reduce troublesome behavior and it can also improve academic performance? Yes, those are just some classroom related benefits. Do they also learn about self while they do these things? Yes, they do. They become aware of their strengths, weaknesses and the role that they play in the community. This is one skill that as teachers we struggle the most with but it is also one of the most essential skills to hone. So doesn't this show that participating in any extracurricular activity whatsoever is better than not participating at all? This can also help our learners get better at video skills and in the future get jobs. Think about it this way, extracurricular activities hone skills and qualities in students that are beyond academics. These qualities may show teamwork, leadership, management skills to potential employers who seek vibrant and proactive employees. I'm sure a lot of activities happen in a school but as a teacher how do we contribute at school level? As a starter I think we can start small. Start by taking out some time during the week to introduce students to various activities that they could do. It may be simple things like painting, reading, writing, playing sports, swimming or things like that. The more the options the more our students can experience and select the ones they like and they might want to stick to some of them then. Then you can choose to take their interest to the next level. You can enroll them for courses, training, competitions and it will have a snowballing effect thereafter. Now this may all sound great but how important is it for the students to get involved today? Well it's very important today and it's actually important more than it has ever been because today we live in a dynamic and competitive age. Change happens so fast that we might find it hard to catch up to it and even live up to the expectations. This calls for us to make our students extremely adaptable but this is nothing to be afraid of. With the right mix of academics and extracurricular activities we can ensure that our students are prepared for whatever they face. So are you motivated to motivate your learners to explore what they like?