MUMBAI, INDIA—School officials across India are embracing the First In Math Online Program, and JBCN Schools demonstrate how many are seamlessly blending FIM into their academic programmes, helping their students develop higher order thinking skills that go beyond rote learning. JBCN Borivali is currently the #2-ranked FIM school in India, with more than 642,606 maths problems solved in less than two months, followed by JBCN Parel with 264,000 problems solved.
Left to Right: Principal Mrs. Debika Chatterjee; Ms.Riddhi Parekh; Ms.Smitha Manoj and Ms.Anu James congratulate the top three players.
Mrs. Fatema Agarkar, trustee of JBCN schools, spearheaded the implementation of the program at her schools. Ms. Anu James, head of Mathematics, serves as FIM School Anchor and assisted with the introduction of the program. “After having a FIM demo, we found it very effective and useful for our learners,” says James. “It is a great practice tool and if students make proper use of the program, the number of practice sums can be increased considerably compared to the normal pen-and-paper method, as those are more time consuming and tiring for them.”
James says that there was an immediate and amazing response from students, who participated wholeheartedly. “As they have a competitive spirit, their speed and accuracy also keeps improving. They all enjoy this program.”
Principal Ms. Debika Chatterjee and Vice-Principal Dr. Shetty were very supportive of getting all teachers and students on board and excited. “We sent a circular to parents along with the child’s FIM User ID and Password,” says Chatterjee. “Students were so excited most of them started playing from the day they received their ID.” The circular covered a brief description of the program and the steps to be followed. “Parents took it seriously and the response was exciting. Children of ages 10 and above are always very enthusiastic about computer gaming and parents don’t mind when it is related to maths practice on the computer.”
According to Dr. Shetty, teachers continue to take the program forward very enthusiastically. “Each Home Room Teacher is motivating her group by awarding the Player of the Day badges on a daily basis. Math teachers encourage students, and every Friday during assembly time the top three Players of the Week and the Teams of the Week are announced and are being presented with awards. This is a motivating factor for them and instills a spirit of healthy competition in them.”
“The amount of participation at JBCN is stellar, and sets an example for other schools to follow,” says First In Math India Implementation Consultant Akshita Gandhi, who points out that that students are so involved they also carry their interest in FIM with them after school. “When students have time they do FIM in the school, but they mostly play at home. During the weekends they do a lot, trying to solve all the available the sums related to the topics covered in that week. This helps them in mastering those concepts as well as the related skills.”
Student Aryan Prabhu (Gr IV Ekam) says that FIM improved his skills because he learns more through mistakes. “It has become my favourite game and I spend my free time on playing. I feel proud when I am the best player of the month.”