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SEPTEMBER 2016

C O N T E NT S COVER STORY

REDEFINING THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER

volume IV issue 6

Mrs. Yasmin Khan Principal, The Paras World School India, Gurgaon

Institutional Profile

24 Dr. Ashok Kumar Pandey Principal, Ahlcon Intl. School, Delhi Meena Kak Principal Lakshmipat Singhania Academy, Kolkata

Mentoring

28 Mr. Sanjay Ingle Founder, Harshansanjay Salon and Academy, Aurangabad

Career Ms. Sunita Singh Principal SGVP International School, Ahmedabad

52 06 ��READERS COLUMN 07 �� EDITORIAL 08 �� NEWS 20 ��KUDOS 27 ��EDUCATION – Alternative Education

Rio 2016 A Flashback

Limits on 48 Setting Digital Devices

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Remember, their Problems are Like Yours!

technology 50 Can substitute the teacher?

32 ��SPORTS 38 ��TEACHING 40 ��SPECIAL FEATURE 42 ��PEDAGOGY 44 ��PEDAGOGY 46 ��TRAINING 54 ��SKILLS 55 ��BRITISH COUNCIL 56 ��LANGUAGE STUDY 58 �� MIND MINE

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READERS’ COLUMN NEP – 2016 The cover story on National Education Policy – 2016 is very comprehensive. It has clearly brought out the pathetic condition of education in government schools in India. The Union Government’s initiative is certainly a positive move to bring about a quality education accessible to common man. Various factors involved for this condition of schools in India are analyzed. Views and opinions of educationists call for qualitative changes in curriculum and instruction.

NEW CONCEPT

Ms. Suguna Kumari, Principal, Chennai

Writing Skills WATCH

LISTEN

Now you can read as well as listen to your favourite article and also watch videos on education, career, sports, skill building, entertainment and a lot more. Brainfeed magazine started presenting a new concept – that is you can listen to your favourite article being read by experts while you go through the article. And also watch videos of your interest from the list of videos given in the magazine. This is how it works • A QR code sign will be given along with the article or the video. • All you need is a QR code scanner or QR code reader app on your Smartphone. • Download the app from Google play store or Apple app store. • Open the application, focus and hold the camera on the QR code of the article or the video you want to listen to or watch. • Then the QR code will lead you to the audio file of an educational expert, read the article for you or to the video that you wanted to watch. Don’t you think this is cool – so go on, read like an expert reader by just listening to an expert reader, read an article for you or watch a video to learn about an issue or topic or to learn a new skill.

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The article ‘How Do Students Learn to Write Effectively?’ is very useful from the point of view of an English teacher. It provides useful tips on the technical aspects of making a learner write effectively. Students find it difficult to write because they never get an opportunity to learn in the classroom. It is the most neglected skill. Students generally rely on their memory when they learn by heart. This has to change. It is an eye-opener for teachers as to how they can really help students in the classroom. Ms. Rajini Agnihotri, Headmistress, Mumbai

Classroom Management ‘How to Make Students Attentive in the Classroom?, is very practical. Teachers always face this kind of problem in the schools. This is a universal problem. Keeping students constructively engaged in the classroom is a stupendous task for a teacher. Ideas of teachers are noteworthy. Brainfeed should bring out such articles useful to teachers regularly. Mr. J. B. Patnaik, Berhampur, Odisha

Principal as Leader Dr Ashok Kumar Pandey’s expertise in the field of educational administration and school management is really very useful to tackle a variety of issues arise in schools everywhere. If closely followed, the day-to-day issues in schools could be easily solved. A Principal needs to be a visionary and farsighted and should be accessible to everybody in the school. Principal as a leader is certainly able to carry the school forward. Ms. Revathi Principal, Vishakapatnam

Corrigendum Mr. Mohd. Abad Ali, Prinicpal, New Vision School, Khammam was erroneously printed in August 2016 issue. The error is regretted.

EDITORIAL september 2016

volume IV

issue 6

Chief Editor Brahmam K V Editor Seshubabu P V Executive Editor Bhageeradha G +91 91775 13996 Sub Editor Vanalatha Reddy T Art & Design Lakshmi D Rakesh N Director-Sales SreeNivas R B +91 85018 26497 Circulation Hemachandra Rao S +91 91777 74851 +91 85018 26317 Printed, Published and Owned by Kakani Veera Brahmam

Printed at Kala Jyothi Process Pvt. Ltd. 1-1-60/5, RTC X Roads Hyderabad-500 020, Telangana, India

eptember, the ninth month in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, indicates the onset of autumn in the northern hemisphere and commencement of Ganesh festival in many parts of India. The edition is dedicated to all teachers. The Cover Story has brought out a fitting tribute to Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan by ‘Redefining the Role of the Teacher’ in the changing educational scenario. National Awardee teachers share their views on the Teachers’ Day. Ms Shyama Chona in ‘Remember, their problems are like yours’ emphasizes to own problems of children. We have brought out the colourful pageantry of the Rio Olympics on the centre spread. The Institutional Profile highlights the special agenda of Paras World School. ‘Alternative Education’ directs you to the new unexplored paths in education. Dr A K Pandey enlightens with his expertise on ‘Principal as Leader’. ‘Teacher: A Multi-tasked Professional’ explores how the teaching profession is different from others. ‘Indian Sports’ explains how achievement in sports is more a matter of personal endeavour. In Special Feature, Ms Revathi Balakrishnan talks about Global Competences’.

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‘Pedagogy’ spells out ‘How to make Homework Relevant and Meaningful?’ for students and identifies ‘Multiple Intelligences’ to make learning simple. Skills advocates ‘Continuous Professional Development for Teachers’. Ms Anne Sivanathan advises about ‘Setting Limits on Digital Devices’.

‘Can Technology Substitute the Teacher?’ is dealt with in detail by Mr Peeyush Khare. The ‘Career’ takes us to a totally new profession less explored ‘Make up Artist: Dress up with a Smile!’ while ‘Divergent Thinking’ is all about numerous ways with which thinking can be creative!

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Congratulations! President Award Winners for Best Teachers! Happy Teachers’ Day!

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Brahmam K V Chief Editor september 16

NEWS Students from 9 nations can appear directly for JEE Advanced

he Joint Admission Board (JAB) of IITs has decided that the students from Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, Singapore, the UAE and Ethiopia will be allowed to directly appear for JEE Advanced. Students from these nations will skip the JEE Mains that Indian students have to appear. The decision was taken to showcase India’s soft power and to improve IITs’ international rankings. Foreign students will not

eat into the seats meant for Indian students as the former will be given seats under supernumerary category. All the IITs should ratify the decision and IIT council will approve it. Exam centres will be set up in all the countries and cost of admission would be recovered from the foreign students as government will not bear their expenses. Pakistan was exempted from this programme due to Home Ministry’s objection. IITMumbai will implement the programme.

Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards presented

resident Pranab Mukherjee honoured Rio Olympic medal winners PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik and Olympic finalists Dipa Karmakar and Jitu Rai with the prestigious Khel Ratna awards on August 29, at a programme held in Delhi. Rajeev Gandhi Khel Ratna award carries with it a cash prize of Rs 7.5 lakh. Athlete Lalita Babar, boxer Shiva Thapa, hockey players Rani Rampal and VR Raghunath, shooters Gurpreet Singh and Apoorvi Chandela, table tennis player Soumyyajit Ghosh, wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Amit Kumar, Archer Rajat Chouhan, cue sports specialist Sourav Kothari, cricketer Ajinkya Rahane, football player Subrato Paul and para-athletics Sandeep Kumar Mann and Virender Singh were honoured with Arjuna awards. Six coaches were honoured with Dronacharya award and three sports persons with Dhyan Chand award.

Delhi govt takes over Pvt Schools

n a first of its kind, the Delhi government has taken over the TWO BRANCHES of an unaided private school for violation of norms. Rohini and Pitampura branches of MaxFort School were taken over the government. The action was initiated following the complaints on violation of norms for admitting students from economically backward classes, misappropriation of funds, false records and others. As the school management failed to give a satisfactory reply to the show-cause notice issued by the education department, with an approval from Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, Delhi government has taken over the two branches.

Kudankulam Nuclear Plant dedicated to nation

rime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa jointly dedicated to nation the 1000 MW Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNP) Unit-1, through video conference on 10th August. The nuclear power plant had been set up using Russian VVER type reactors and its second unit will start operations soon. The government will set up another five more units of 1,000 MW each in Kudankulam. India has seven nuclear power plants with an installed capacity of 5870 MW. Nuclear power is the fourth largest source of electricity in India.

Compulsory NCC training not feasible: Manohar Parrikar

efence Minister Manohar Parrikar has said that compulsory National Cadet Corps (NCC) training in schools and colleges would not be feasible due to shortage of infrastructure, manpower and resources. He made this statement while replying to a query in Lok Sabha recently. The Minister said that four crore students should be trained

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against the present 13 lakh if NCC was made compulsory. It may be noted several political leaders and others demanded the government to compulsorily impart NCC training to all school and college students in the country. As of now NCC training is voluntary and it helps the students to handle modern weapons and undergo arms training.

CBSE changes class XII maths paper pattern

he Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has revised Class XII mathematics paper pattern for the public examinations to be held in 2017. The board announced that it will introduce short questions to reduce the controversial HigherOrder Thinking Skills (HOTS) questions.

per the new pattern, the board has categorised 20 % of total questions as easy, 60 % as average and 20 % as difficult.

Short-answer type questions carrying a weightage of two marks each are added to the new format. The HOTS questions will now carry only ten marks and will be split into two sections of four and six marks. As

• 8 questions of two marks each (Total: 16 marks)

Academics and teachers welcomed the move as short-answer type questions require less

time to solve and would help the students to complete the paper on time. As the college entrances cut-off regularly touch 98-99%, maths score is key to boost grades in class 12 examination.

NEW PATTERN • 4 questions of one mark each (Total: 4 marks) • 11 questions of four marks each (Total: 44 marks) • 6 questions of 6 marks each (Total: 36 marks) PREVIOUS PATTERN • 6 questions of one mark each (Total: 6 marks) • 13 questions of four marks each (Total: 52 marks) • 7 questions of six marks each (Total: 42 marks)

Urjit Patel is new RBI Governor

he Union government has appointed Urjit Patel as the next Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a three-year term. He succeeds Raghuram Rajan and takes charge as the 24th Governor of RBI on September 4. Patel (52) is currently a Deputy Governor at the RBI. Patel completed his BA from the London School of Economics (LSE, University of London), M.Phil from Oxford University and Ph.D in Economics from Yale University. He is an expert on inflation and worked with IMF, and many MNCs.

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NEWS S

100-yr-old Indian athlete wins 3 gold medals

20 habitable planets identified

cientists have identified 20 potentially habitable Earth-like rocky planets. These planets are among the 4,000 exoplanets discovered with the help of National Aeronautical Space Agency’s (NASA) Kepler telescope. An exoplanet is a planet that orbits a star other than sun. The scientists found that 216 of the 4,000 exoplanets are within their star’s habitable zone. Habitable Zone is an area around the star in which an orbiting planet’s surface could hold liquid water. Twenty of the 216 exoplanets in the habitual zone have rocky surfaces and may hold liquid water. Kepler-f was among the 20 earth-like planets and it was discovered in April, 2014. Kepler-f is the same size of earth and has suitable conditions for possessing water resources. It took three years for the scientists to identify the planets. This discovery adds strength to the theory that universe is teeming with planets and moons where life could potentially exist. The research is big milestone in our quest to probe life beyond earth. If a planet is too close to its star, it will experience high surface temperature, pressure, and poisonous atmosphere like Venus. If it is too far, water will freeze as seen on mars. It may be noted that the average temperate on Venus is 461.85°C. As water boils at 100°C, water could not be seen on the surface of Venus. Indian-origin scientist Ravi Kumar Kopparapu, from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre, was among the team that conducted the research.

an Kaur, a 100-year-old athlete from Chandigarh in India, has bagged three gold medals at American Master Games being held at Vancouver in Canada. She took 81 seconds to finish 100-metre race. Kaur was the only female athlete in her age category for older athletics. She also won gold medals in Javelin and shot put. Her son Gurdev Singh (78) also participated in the tourney. Singh started encouraging his mother to start running at the age of 93. Kaur has won over 20 medals in Masters Games held across the world. Good diet and exercise are the secrets to her long life.

Sindhu to be brand ambassador for CRPF

io Olympics medallist PV Sindhu will be soon appointed as brand ambassador of CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force). The CRPF will also bestow honorary rank of Commandant on Sindhu. A Commandant rank in CRPF is equivalent to Superintendent of Police (SP) and he/she commands a battalion of 1,000 personnel. CRPF raised the first all-women battalion in 1987 and at present has four such contingents. Few years ago, BSF had appointed Cricketer Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador. Wrestler Sakshi Malik, who won bronze medal at the Rio Olympics, was appointed as brand ambassador of ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign by Haryana government.

Govt to scrap ‘no-detention’ rule in schools

nion Human Resources Development Ministry is planning to scrap ‘no-detention’ policy till Class VIII. The government is said to have chosen executive route instead of legislative route to scrap the ‘nodetention’ clause in Right to Education Act (RTE). A majority of the states also urged the Centre to scrap ‘no-detention’ policy under which no student is failed or expelled (i.e automatically promoted) till Class VIII. There is a growing consensus that no-detention policy should be limited to Class V. The legislative route to amend RTE may take more time and the government may face problems as it does not have majority in Rajya Sabha.

september 16

Parliament passes GST bill

he long-delayed Goods and Services Tax (GST) Constitutional Bill was approved by the Lok Sabha on August 8. Speaking during a debate on the Bill in the house, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that GST will bring an end to corruption and help small states and entrepreneurs. The Rajya Sabha passed the Bill on August 3. The Bill has to be ratified by at least 16 states within 30 days. The GST is a uniform indirect tax on goods and services across the country. It will replace various taxes being levied on goods and services.

France’s Chevalier award for Kamal Haasan

ersatile actor Kamal Haasan has been chosen for the coveted French honour of Chevalier Award. French government presents this award to those who had made significant contributions to arts, literature, or propagation of these fields. The award will be presented to the actor at a special ceremony. Kamal has won three national awards for the Best Actor and the President’s Gold Medal for the Best Child Artist for the film ‘Kalathur Kannamma’ (1960). He was honoured with ‘Padma Bhushan’ award by the Indian government in 2014 and ‘Henri Langlois’ award by the French government in recognition of his service to cinema.

Nearly 10 lakh teachers’ post lying vacant: Minister

ahendra Nath Pandey, Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development (HRD), has said that around 8-10 lakh teaching posts are vacant in schools and colleges across the country. Speaking to the media at Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, the Minister admitted that there was an acute shortage of teachers in the country. Government has identified that there is a requirement of 10 lakh teachers in schools and colleges across the country. The government is taking necessary steps to fill the posts, he said.

NEWS NTSE 2017 EXAM SCHEDULE RELEASED Stage

STAGE-I (State)

STAGE-II (National)

Area

Tentative Dates

Last Date for Submission of Application Form

To be notified by the respective State and it may vary from state to state

Examination in Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Andaman and Nicobar Islands

05th November, 2016 (Saturday)

Examination in All other States and Union Territories

06th November, 2016 (Sunday)

Examination in Bihar and West Bengal

13th November, 2016 (Sunday)

Examination in All States and Union Territories

14th May, 2017 (Sunday)

VIDEOS TO WATCH

http://www. brainfeedmagazine.com/ video-sept-01

Teach girls bravery, not perfection | Reshma Saujani

he examination The exam pattern for Stage-I Scholastic Aptitude schedule of Test (SAT). and Stage-II is similar National Talent with three papers- MAT There will be negative (50 marks), LT (50 marks) Search Examination and SAT (100 marks) with a marking in Stage-II (NTSE) 2017 has and 1/3 mark will be duration of 180 minutes. been released. deducted for each The examination is for the exam. On the wrong answer. Indian conducted every year basis of performance students studying Class at two levels- Stage-I in the exam, NCERT X abroad can directly (State level) and Stage-II announces 1,000 appear for Stage-II NTSE (National Level). scholarships for different examination. stages of educationThe qualifying marks for States and Union Class XI and XII, Under candidates from general Territories will notify Graduation, Post category is 40 % in the fee to be paid for Graduation and Ph.D. each paper and for SCs, Stage-I and NCERT does STs and handicapped Both the Stage-I and not charge any fee for persons is 32% in each Stage-II exam will Stage-II exam. Others paper. comprise of three partsdetails are available on Mental Ability Test (MAT), the website All the students of class Language Test (LT) and X are eligible to appear www.ncert.nic.in.

Indian teens in Google Science Fair 2016 Finals

ansha Fatima, a student from Sadhu Vaswani International School, Hyderabad, and Shriyank, a student from National Public School, Bengaluru, are among the 16 global finalists to win the $50,000 scholarship in the Sixth Annual Google Science Fair 2016. Fatima, 15, prepared a project titled ‘Automated Water Management and Monitoring System in Paddy Fields’.

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She developed a system which controls the operation of gates at the main reservoir and the supply at the field irrigation canals. Shriyank, 16, developed a project titled “Keep Tab: A novel way to aid memory with deep learning algorithms”. The tab acts as a human memory. The sixteen finalists will meet at Mountain View, California, and the winner will be announced at a ceremony on September 27, 2016.

http://www. brainfeedmagazine.com/ video-sept-02 World without Teachers

http://www. brainfeedmagazine.com/ video-sept-03 What are the qualities of a good teacher?

http://www. brainfeedmagazine.com/ video-sept-04 Documentary on Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

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COVER STORY

P. V. Seshubabu

REDEFINING THE ROLE OF

THE TEACHER Teaching is recognized as one of the most challenging and respected career choice, absolutely important for the social, cultural and economic health of our country. Teaching is a multifaceted profession.

eaching is a profession rather than a trade. The role of teachers has fundamentally changed. The present day role of teachers differs from the old conventional ‘chalk and talk’ practices and ‘teacher fronted’ classroom to use of educational technology akin to modern medical techniques. Instruction is not limited to lecturing to students but offers rewarding and unique learning experience to students. The

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teacher only facilitates and manages to help students get unique learning experience. The educational environment isn’t confined to the classroom instead extends into the home and the community and around the world. Information is not bound primarily in books: it’s available everywhere in bits and bytes. Students are not consumers of facts. They are active creators of knowledge. Schools are not just brick- and-mortar structures – they’re centres of life-long learning. Prompted by massive revolution in knowledge,

information technology and demand for better learning, schools nationwide are gradually restructuring themselves. Teachers are rethinking every part of their profession - relationship with students, colleagues and their professions, the community, the tools and techniques they employ; their rights and responsibilities; the form and content of curriculum; standards to set and assessments to be made; preparation of teachers towards the on-going professional development and the very (infra) structure of schools, and in short,

re-inventing themselves and their occupation to better serve schools and students. New Relationships and Practices Traditionally, teaching has been a combination of informationdispensing, custodial child care and sorting out academically inclined students from others. The underlying model for schools has been an education factory in which teachers are paid hourly or daily wages and students sitting still for standardized lessons and tests. Teachers are informed about what to teach, when to teach and how to teach. The teachers are required to educate every student in exactly the same way and are not held responsible when many fail to learn. They are expected to teaching using the same methods as past generations and any deviation from traditional practices is discouraged by and by supervisor prohibited by myriad education laws and regulations. Thus, many teachers simply stand in front of the class and deliver the same lessons year after year, growing gray and weary of not being allowed to change what they are doing. Many teachers today, however, are encouraged to adapt new practices that acknowledge both the art and science of learning.

They understand that the essence of education is a close relationship between the teacher and motivated child. The most important role is to get to know each student as an individual in order to comprehend his or her unique needs, learning style, social and culture background, interests and abilities. Teachers must inspire in students a love of learning. They adopt the role of educational guides, facilitators and co-learners. Teachers must make students passionate participants in the instructional process by providing project-based, participatory, educational adventures. The curriculum must relate to their lives, learning activities, must engage their natural curiosity an d assessments must measure real accomplishments and be an integral part of learning. Students work harder when teachers give them a role in determining the form and content of their schooling – helping them create their own learning plans and deciding the ways in which they will demonstrate that they have learned what they agreed to learn. A teacher’s job should be one of the designing and guiding students through engaging learning opportunities. An educator should be able to

The fundamental job of teaching is no longer to distribute facts but to help children learn how to use them by developing their abilities to think critically, solve problems, make informed judgement and create knowledge that benefits both the students and society. construct meaningful educational experience that allows students to solve real world problems. New Tools and Environments: New Technology is changing the teachers’ and students’ roles in education. The old model of instruction was predicated on information scarcity. Teachers and their books were information oracles, spreading knowledge to a population with few other ways to get it. But today’s world is awash in information from a multitude of print and electronic sources. The fundamental job of teaching is no longer to distribute facts but to help children learn how to use them by developing their abilities to think critically, solve problems, make informed judgement and create knowledge that benefits both the students and society. Recasting the relationship between students and teachers demands that the structural of school changes as well. One of the important innovations in instructional organization is teamteaching in which two or more educators share responsibility for a group of students. An individual teacher no longer has to be september 16

COVER STORY all things to all students. This approach allows teachers to apply their strengths, interests, skills and abilities to the greatest effect, knowing that children won’t suffer from their weaknesses, because there is someone with a different set of abilities to back them up. New Professional Responsibilities: Re-investing the role of teachers inside and outside the classroom can result in significantly better schools and better-educated students. How to become and remain a transformational teacher.

How to become a transformational teacher? However talented, no one is natural –born teacher. Honing the craft takes significant care and effort not just by the individual but also by the school at large. Though experience does matter, it matters only to the extent that a teacher commits to continued professional development to refresh his/her status as a transformational teacher. Transformational teachers share best practices, build mentoring relationships, observe their peers, keep things fresh, models the subject usefulness, and demonstrates care beyond what is taught.

Teacher leadership as professional development

A transformational teacher

5 PBL best practices for redefining the teacher’s role:

• Constantly shares best practices

What’s transformational teaching?

Project-based learning transforms the roles of students and teachers in ways that benefit all. This decentering of the classroom and of knowledge helps students develop a sense of agency as learners.

• Finds a trusted mentor

1) Framing the learning

• Models the usefulness of what is taught

There is a lot of talking about teaching that transforms - i.e. teaching that changes people, altering fundamentally the way learners understand themselves and others. The way they engage in and contribute to their larger world. How many teachers have truly changed the way about teaching or about life in general? Transformation can sometimes feel like an empty signifier. How does one move from aspiring to transformation to achieving it?

2) Idea development 3) Consultation and revision 4) Peer feedback and self evaluation 5) Presentation

• Commits to classroom observation, change things up

• Cares beyond what is taught

“Transformational teaching is about employing strategies that promotes positive changes in students’ lives. The goal is not simply to impart certain information to students, but rather to change something about how students learn and live.” 16

september 16

Meena Kak, Principal Lakshmipat Singhania Academy, Kolkata

T Transformational teaching considers the relationship between several teaching methodologies used by numerous faculties across the country, specifically interactive and collaborative learning strategies and transformational teaching, “increase students’ mastery of key course concepts while transforming their learning – related attitudes, values, beliefs and skills”. A transformational teacher not only achieves transformation in her students but who also models a willingness to be transformed by learning herself 1) Establishing a shared vision 2) Providing modeling and mastery experiences 3) Intellectually challenging and encouraging students 4) Personalizing attention and feedback 5) Creating experiential lessons How to be a transformational teacher? • Let yourself be inspired • Put theory into practice • Always show that you care • Talk openly about pedagogy • Give feedback that counts

eaching as a profession has evolved greatly from the ancient times. Therefore, teachers too have added dimensions to their attributes. They have to be specialized in their subjects and areas of functioning. They must primarily know the needs of each individual child. They are free to experiment and explore with innovations. Their approach must be positively logical when it comes to handling students. In fact they must devel into the psyche and measure mentally the emotional needs of the student. A high level of competence is the key to a teacher’s success in today’s world. The chalk and talk method that stood the test of time, still prevails but as mentioned earlier, the teachers of today must be role models for the students to emulate. Teachers must be well-read, knowledgeable and computer wizards of the Teachers are trendiest order. They must have IT on their expected to have high fingertips. They must know how to balance emotional their personal and professional life since a quotient to deal teacher is a highly demanding profession with tender with the raised expectations of parents and impressonable changing scenario of the society.

minds of children of all ages.

A teacher has to be a tutor, trainer, PRO, psychologist, friend, philospher and guide all rolled into a full package. His/her relationship with the students must be warm and cordial. He/she needs to be firm but never rude. Must be flexible enough to come down to the level of the taught and understand their problems. Teachers must bear in mind in thin line separating them from the students. A teacher’s personality must ooze of dignity however approachable one may be. The noble profession of a teacher has been tarnished time and again due to unscrupulous individuals lacking in discretion. This is not just another profession. For a teacher his/her profession must be his/ her vocation. Honesty and professional ethics go hand in hand. There can’t be any room for dishonesty in this profession. To sum up we could say that the teachers being the nation builders must be competent conscientious, caring and careful people who nurture young generations one after the other. They must themselves adhere to high moral standards. Only then the old glory of a teacher will be answered to the generations of teachers of today. september 16

COVER STORY

TEACHER IS A PERSON WHO EDUCATES THE STUDENTS. Ms. Sunita Singh Principal SGVP International School Ahmedabad

To be successful he/ she need to be multifaceted possessing a personality which is able to cope with stress or pressure. He should be able to work in team, should possess good time management skill, creativity. He should be a motivator, empathic towards others, a good public relation officer. 18

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eachers have the most important responsibility of molding life of young. It is rightly said, ‘the future of any nation is mapped in its classroom.’ With the change of time, the electronic media and technology has entered the classroom. Students can now explore on the subject and increase their knowledge using internet and the I-pad thus shifting the role of teacher from agent of knowledge to a facilitator. Today student look upon his/her teacherfor moral support which develops a deep bond of friendly relationship between the two unlike the bygone era, when the senseof respect for teachers was mixed with fearwith an image of the teacher as a grim faced person holding a stick in hand. Present day teaching is child centric which is designed to give what the child wants to learn and how. It is more of activity based and interactive where as in the past it was teacher centric and unidirectional. Teacher had to decide what and how to teach and students were more of passive learner. Today the teacher creatively plans the lesson using Gardener’s theory of multiple intelligence, thus making learning more hands on rather than having students simply sit, listen and memorize. Hence the teacher today needs to be better trained than once they were. Today’s student learns from teacher, peer, internet, books, movie, people of other state and country. Students learn through inquiry, observations,

exploration, experimentation and investigating new ideas. They have more exposure to global happenings and connections hence their learning is not confined to teacher, classroom and text books as in the past. Teacher today is no longer a lecturer. He/she need to have technical knowledge so that they could handle computer, photocopier, projector etc. To be successful he/she need to be multifaceted possessing a personality which is able to cope with stress or pressure. He should be able to work in team, should possess good time management skill, creativity. He should be a motivator, empathic towards others, a good public relation officer. He should be a professional who respect and follow ethics of the job like, to serve as a role model for students, remain calm and should not lose temper, must not discriminate against any student should be careful about body posture and professional attire should be positive in thought and action towards children. Thus the job of a teacher is more challenging today. Teacher should be a source of inspiration for students as their dress sense,mannerism, punctuality, fluency; clarity and diction of the language, teaching methodology, correction of note books, handling crises, knowledge of subject teach values to the students. THUS IT IS SAID THAT A TEACHER IS NOT BORN BUT IS TRAINED TO BE ONE BY ACQUIRING SKILLS.

KUDOS

P. V. Seshubabu

TEACHERS’ DAY

National Awards to Teachers - MHRD ‘A GOOD TEACHER IS LIKE A CANDLE; IT CONSUMES ITSELF TO LIGHT THE WAY FOR OTHERS. . .’ ‘A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell when his influence stops.’ – Henry Adams

‘It’s the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge’ – Albert Einstein

‘Those who educate children are more to be honoured than parents, for these only gave life, those the art of living well.’ – Aristotle

Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo Maheswara, Guru Saakshaat Param Brahma, Tasmai Sree Gurave Namah! -sums up the role of teacher in India. Teachers have always been placed in high pedestal and considered to be omnipotent, omnipresent and all pervasive. Teachers’ Day is celebrated as a tribute to the valuable contribution made by teachers to the society by imparting knowledge and enlightening and shaping the career of students. Teachers’ Day is also an occasion for students to pay reverence and gratitude to teachers for their selfless effort in shaping their career and enriching the education system in the process.

In India Teachers’ Day is celebrated on September 5 every year commemorating the birth anniversary of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, a great thinker-philosopher and teacher.

A teacher is the most respected person in a student’s life due to the teacher’s unconditional effort and support for shaping and making the student’s academic career and future bright and successful. A good teacher plays an important role for making the student personally a good human being. A teacher is the real fortune maker to a student; a good teacher always gives the best for the student’s success. In the fast-changing educational scenario, the role of teacher has also been changing. The teacher needs to be a multi-faceted person requires updating knowledge and technology-based skills.

BRAINFEED presents the views of national award-winning teachers on the occasion of Teachers’ Day this year.

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what prompted you to take up the teaching profession?

As a teacher what innovative methods have you applied for students learning?

Have you ever imagined that you will be awarded with the Best Teacher Award?

what are the maladies of the existing educational system?

Do you think NEP-2016 would find a solution to the educational issues?

M. Varalakshmi Principal Jubilee Hills Public School Hyderabad

B.S.K. Raju Principal Atomic Energy Central School No.2 Rawatbhata, Rajasthan

I love teaching profession. Teaching is a dedicated service to life building, character making, confidence building and perfect human being. The main role of teacher is to bring out hidden talent and wisdom to be lamp and light to him aand others.

Since I am basically a science teacher, I teach all the concepts by activity method, so that students can understand easily by over serving and doing.

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I have trust in almighty heaven for the reward for every good deed sooner or later.

Present education system is restricted to testing the students’ ability to reproduce content knowledge.

Of course, curriculum and assessment to be given importance as per present needs and challenges. The use of ICT is also needed to be integrated for fostering quality education.

I wish the students make it a habit to read Brainfeed Magazine which provides up to date educational information. Some more National and International, geographical, ecological and environmental issues to be published.

what message would you like to give to the Brainfeed readers?

“WORK HARD IN SILENCE, LET SUCCESS BE YOUR NOISE”

I have started my career as a teacher with the zeal to serve the society through education to see that the Literacy rate increases in India.

I have been in the teaching field for the last 28 years and I am the CBSE Resource person for Mathematics and CCE and I am currently training many Principals and teachers. I was one of the 11 Principals who were selected to visit Asia Pacific University, Japan in 2015 as a delegate from India.

I feel confident that I have done my part and success has followed which increased my responsibility further more.

NEP 2016 is focusing on some aspects that are good for the Education system :

• Comprehensive assessment for students • Following CCE Pattern • To adopt ICT • To conduct teacher development programs • Literacy rate should be increased You need to have commitment to your profession and accountability in your work to achieve success. Building future human force with morals and values is our prime responsibility.

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1 what prompted you to take up the teaching profession?

As a teacher what innovative methods have you applied for students learning?

Have you ever imagined that you will be awarded with the Best Teacher Award?

what are the maladies of the existing educational system?

Do you think NEP-2016 would find a solution to the educational issues?

6 what message would you like to give to the Brainfeed readers?

I have never given a thought to get an award because a teacher gets the reward in students’ success. Success of students in life is the real award for a teacher. A true teacher learns only to give, not to take. I always thought that every moment I should keep contributing for my students, for the society and for the education system. I never thought that I was working for the award but this recognition will inspire me to stretch my horizon and put in rigorous efforts with renewed zeal.

The socially backward people were not getting the right opportunities to educate their Dr. Satyabrata children. Keeping Minaketan this in view, in 1989 Principal I opened a School ODM Public School with ten children. I Odisha realised teaching is a noble profession to mould a child into a human being and a School is a platform for inculcating values for life. If I wanted to promote good education I should be a good teacher first. In the year 1994, I opened a Tribal School –“Barada Binayak Vidya Mandir” at Valunka near Bhubaneswar.

Teaching and learning process is an art and every teacher is an artist. Teaching and learning process can be meaningful and effective when innovative. I believe in value based education with life skills. Learning a lesson means gaining knowledge and the inquisitiveness to read and understand the learning outcome.

• Teacher needs to provide the opportunity to every learner for critical thinking - think out of the box. • Child should be active and teacher should be passive learner. Learners should get ample opportunity to develop communication skills to move ahead with confidence. • Every lesson should be related to the values of life. Innovation should be encouraged to help students achieve higher goals.

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• Lack of trained teachers. • Trained teachers lack self- confidence.

• Teaching profession is opted by chance not by choice. • There is lack of healthy relationship between teachers and students. • In our framed system of curriculum, the lesser adoption of technology in the methods of teaching should be changed.

It is hoped that the NEP-2016 will bring a lot of changes in the existing educational sector.

Teaching -learning process is a bifocal system. Learning and teaching do not become effective if learners are dependent on only bookish knowledge. Learners should be innovative, creative and understand why of reading and how it would be helpful and meaningful in life. Learners are examination oriented instead of practical understanding. Opportunities should be provided for learning by doing – skill oriented - which should be encouraged. The young readers of Brainfeed should keep in mind that successful education is not defined by scorecard but by the implementation of what is learnt in becoming a complete human being. I wish success to all the readers.

Sri Venkateshwar International School Presents

Sri Venkateshwar International School Model United Nations On

OCTOBER 5-7, 2016 Sri Venkateshwar Model United Nation (SVISMUN) is a debut MUN venture to be hosted by SVIS from 5-7th October 2016. ‘Model United Nations’ Conference is a recreation of the United Nations proceedings with the students’ role playing representatives of different countries in UN committees or of different famous Indian personalities in Indian committees. The purpose of aggrandizing the Model UN is not for politicising learning, but it is engineered to sensitize students to have a greater understanding of the UN and notable global affairs through an interactive and enjoyable educational experience. It seeks to engage

students in global challenges and encourages them to think creatively with an international outlook to problem solving that attracts the brightest minds in the country. Ban Ki- Moon himself was once am MUNer and presents a role model worthy of emulation. The SVISMUN conference structure includes a Secretary General, a Director General, Charge D’affaires and a well-organized Organizing Committee of capable individuals; the OC further sub-divided into teams for Finance, Fundraising, Logistics, Marketing and Public Relations. The SVISMUN envisions the simulation of 6 main committees:

• UNGA: DISEC (UN General Assembly: Disarmament and Security Committee), • UNHRC (UN Human Rights Council), • AIPPM (All India Political Parties’ Meet), • IPL (Indian Premier League) • EPOC (Expert Panel on Censorship) • FAI (Fashion Association of India) • Subsidiary body, the International Press (IP) to cover the discussions in a daily newsletter, OHANA or family, which means that no one gets left out. The UN has a critical role to play to protect the sovereignty of nations and the school wants to ready its citizens to value, cherish and preserve International Security, Stability, Human Rights and Economic Development. SVISMUN ‘16 has an epic participation of nearly 300 participants, including students from DU, colleges outside Delhi, prestigious schools in Delhi-NCR and beyond. Sri Venkateshwar International School is ambitious about encouraging any ‘acadeventure’ which shall promise to take its students into forays that have been till date untouched and unreached – a business of valuing human life. http://www.facebook.com/svismun

https://www.facebook.com/SriVisDebSoc

INSTITUTIONAL PROFILE

P. V. Seshubabu

nquiry based learning

iSTREAMM The Paras World School India (TPWSI) has an agenda for the optimal and innovative use of varied teaching methodologies to enhance learning experience. The school has amalgamated the best practices and proven applied educational research in “iSTREAMM” for curriculum delivery.

Making Learning Visible

The Paras World School India (TPWSI) believes that learning is an ongoing process of inquiry and reflection. Inquiry-based learning begins with a significant question relevant to the student’s own life in a universal context. The student engages actively in a careful process of research to find answers rather than being a passive recipient of inert information.

kills for 21st century

Reggio Emilia Approach

Inquiry Based Learning

Multiple Intelligences

The spirit and process of inquiry are enhanced and nurtured by rich opportunities for explorations, building hypothesis and experimenting to develop independent problem-solving and critical-thinking skills in students in our skill development labs. An inbuilt life skills program is aimed at inculcating social, selfmanagement and communication skills.

hematic Approach

Skills for 21st Century

Technology Integration

In the thematic approach acquisition and application of knowledge, principles and values are integrated simultaneously in more than one subject through interdisciplinary curriculum planning. Technology Integration is a ubiquitous tool and mastering its use has become as integral to school education as learning to write. ICT is, thus, integrated and used in all areas of learning.

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eggio Emilia Approach

Interaction with exemplars and expertise of experts and practicing professionals from fields associated to their inquiry provide insights and learning in myriad ways. Children have the freedom to choose in any of the 100s of ways. Students are encouraged to use relevant learning to contribute in an age appropriate manner to the TPWSI outreach programme.

aking Learning Visible

A student’s learning and growth is manifested in conventional and unconventional evaluation and it sparks further curiosity in a life-long process. Making Learning Visible creates and sustains powerful cultures of learning with understanding, coherence and integration that empowers the student with confidence to take responsibility for own beliefs and actions and commitment to work towards a better world.

ultiple Intelligences

No two individuals are alike and each one functions in a unique combination of intelligences. At TPWSI “Multiple Intelligences” strive to enhance individual talents and capabilities for maximization of individual potential and expose each one to different talents of others for effective communication and understanding.

Mrs. Yasmin Khan Principal

Mrs. Paramjit K. Narang School Mentor

How has the school leadership established improvement agenda for school through research practice?

The school has created a Strategic Development Plan for the School. The Plan identifies, goals, strategies for achieving goals, people/groups responsible for achieving them, time lines and check points. Hence the curriculum is dynamic, subject to constant scrutiny and review to ascertain our remaining focused on our aspirations by meeting milestones of teaching/learning. There is a practice of: • Planning each unit/event by identifying the real life concepts • Designing the process as per our objective and the needs of the students • Reflection of the teacher and review of the supervisor recorded on the plan for future modification • The resources used by the teacher and outputs of students collated in individual portfolios for record, review, reinforcement for authentic, valid and verifiable record. • Identifying training needs of the institution and individual teachers

It is believed that the school has sequenced plan for curriculum delivery ensuring consistent teaching accompanied by continuous assessment to monitor learning across the year. Please elucidate.

Curriculum-based Formative and Summative Assessments are conducted as per guidelines of CBSE. A variety of strategies – collaborative/group discussion and work, individual research and reflection, use of community resources – human, material and institutional, multidisciplinary tools for recording and communicating. The assessment takes conventional as well as unconventional forms and is diagnostic in nature. A weekly newsletter to the parents keeps them informed of the work done with suggestions to apply and/ or extend the learning in real life situations. Feedback from parents gives us insights into the effectiveness of our work. Summative assessment reinforces learning and determines overall achievement. Anecdotal comments of the class mentor and alpha grades are authentic records and are used by the parents for review and the student for future reference and reinforcement. september 16

INSTITUTIONAL PROFILE to the highest Q adhere levels of academic The lesson plans

and extra-curricular are considered curricular and integrated in the teaching learning process as well as the assessment and communication of learning process.

enterprise.

The process detailed above, is transparent, authentic, valid & verifiable. It is documented and reviewed at various levels for adherence to TPWSI and CBSE’s vision and mission is followed to ensure the highest academic levels.

“The school offers a broad

balanced, distinctive Q and academic education.

The curriculum is founded on a three-way partnership of parents, students and teachers to ensure full involvement in the child’s growth.” Could you describe? The active involvement of parents complements the efforts of the teachers in the school. Please elaborate

Whether teachers are

continually to Q trained enhance and update

their know-how in the teaching-learning process to identify the learning needs of students?

TPWSI trains groups and individuals on a daily basis through direct inputs, supervision and review, guiding research and its integration. Each week, each team member engages in a one on one interaction for an hour and in a group as needed. Team training for specific skills and concepts is conducted. In addition to this, specific training inputs are out sourced as per school needs and opportunities available locally, nationally and internationally How is your school able to succeed to equip students to excel in the competitive world?

TPWSI is committed to supporting each student to discover her passion and excel in that area. The school has a rich programme of academic and other curricular disciplines. Students explore each area to find their passion. At the same time, they are encouraged to strive for their best in all areas as a way of being. Students are

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given many opportunities to evaluate their own work, identify gaps/ shortcomings/ /errors; plan strategies to deal with them and execute their plans. When students take responsibility for their own performance, the foundation is laid for the attitude for achieving success. Focused work and practice is to gear up for specific competitive events in and outside school and participation itself enable students to come to grips with high pressure situations and deal with both achieving success and missing it in today’s competitive world. What kind of curricular, co-curricular and extracurricular activities the school has envisaged for the students?

Like Reggio Emilia, TPWSI also believes that the children learn and communicate in a “100 Languages”. So whatever happens during the school day is considered curricular. Hence all activities which are traditionally classified as co-curricular

The School believes in students use the learning spontaneously to either solve a problem or create something original –arriving at an “original” idea, making new connections, refining or changing of a belief, taking action towards making a better world. Opportunities for this are made available in school. Authentic and enduring learning becomes visible in real life situations. Parents are kept well informed of the work done in school through weekly newsletters, compiled Unit Booklets, participation in school events, PTMs and one on one meeting as needed. This enables parents to not just become our partners in evaluating a student’s learning but also in extending it and enriching it. Parents share their own experiences, connecting to others who can facilitate a research, ask relevant questions and extending thinking. Parent participation in all school programmes and feedback from them is at the foundation of school growth and improvement plan and fundamental to achieving TPWSI vision. There can be no dichotomy between the two.

EDUCATION

Praveen Alugubelly

lternative education has many meanings and it can serve different kinds of students. It can refer to

Unhappy with mainstream education: Those who feel let down or frustrated with conventional learning system are exploring alternative education models.

• Education for gifted children

Information Explosion: With the advent of internet, parents can now access latest research on a variety of educational schools of thought.

• Vocational training • Homeschooling etc. It covers all the education activities that fall outside the traditional schooling system. Now-a-days, parents are seeking overall development of children and are opting for alternative schools. Alternative education is an outlook, not a procedure or a programme. It is based on the belief that there are many ways to get educated. These alternative schools do not have a standard curriculum and places no emphasis on marks and grades. These schools lay emphasis on learning through self-discovery and they have “Conformity a different leads to approach and mediocrity”, philosophical this adage values when aptly suits compared to the alternative formal schools. schools which are This system based on the recognises that premise that conventional everyone does schooling kills not learn in the creativity, same way and curiosity should not be and critical taught in the thinking. same manner. The alternative schools are mostly child-centred schools and they do not follow the concept of punishing students to make them study or complete homework. These schools believe in gentler methods and teachers will be friendly to students. The reasons for choosing alternative schools can be summed up as follows:

Learning in the real world: Home schooling can allow the children to learn in natural environment Children should be seen and heard: Child-led learning is an emerging trend for choosing alternative education. This theory suggests that children learn best by exploring what’s interest to them at different stages of life. Lack of Pressure: Due to the flexible curricula and no-exam policy, there is no pressure on children and rigid timeline to finish syllabus. In the Lap of Nature: All the philosophers of alternative education emphasised on learning amidst nature. Healthy student-teacher ratio: In alternative schools the class size is small and the teachers know the family background and learning style and instruct accordingly.

Alternative Education The path unexplored When it comes to education, we always think about teacher-centred traditional schools and colleges but there is also ‘alternative education system’ which follows unconventional teaching styles, curriculum and evaluation methods. for competitive examinations. It is difficult to find experienced teachers for these schools. Parents who are vexed with the problems of present day schooling in India- student suicides, violence, and failure rate etc- are getting attracted towards alternate schooling.

According to some educationists, alternative schools restrict the child’s ability to develop social skills and will not fully equip them

Some alternative schools don’t follow textbooks except for mathematics and languages. They prepare their own textbooks and believe that adhering to textbooks could lead to rote learning. september 16

MENTORING

P. V. Seshubabu

PRINCIPAL AS LEADER

‘Principal as Leader’ will be a regular feature published every month. Principals may send their queries and Dr. Ashok Pandey will answer. The queries may be sent to editor@ brainfeedmagazine.com on or before 15th of every month.

BRAINFEED brings out the fourth in the series of responses of eminent educationist Dr. Ashok Kumar Pandey, Principal, Ahlcon International School, (Global Perspective, Indian Values) to the questions of Principals about effective qualities of ‘Principal as Leader.

Some principals feel that they cannot solve a problem because of some obstacle that limits their ability to act. Is that true?

Principals play a major role in developing a ‘professional community’ of teachers who guide one another in improving instruction. – Is this practicable?

For a Principal to say or feel that they are constrained to solve a problem is not acceptable. Who else will? However, one can see where these constraints come from; the regulatory bodies, the management or any other stakeholder. It is the principal who is called upon to seize the opportunity and exhibit leadership. A correct understanding of the problem, a sense of fairness, moderation in judgement and participative decision-making are the useful tools one can deploy in difficult situations. Principals may also look up to their mentors, counterparts, networks to seek their counsel in difficult situations.

Principal-leadership demands that it results in creating a cohort of teachers and professionals. Teachers need an inspiration and a rolemodel. The principal is in the best position to fit in this role. Another aspect of this issue relates to service-leadership model that demands that the principals bring resources, experts, research findings for the benefit of the teachers. This will create group cohesiveness, increase interdependence and strengthen professionalism. Incentivising the teachers by offering them platform to share their expertise and experience both within and outside the school environment will add to the existing efforts of professional development.

Ms. Meenakshi Principal Indus School, Kurnool

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Mr. Ramachandra Rao Director, Victory High School, Nizamabad

‘The Principal’s job is to really find the expertise and the skills and the abilities of the people he/she works with’. –please comment

Substitute classes or arrangement classes for absentee teachers has always been a sensitive issue as the other teachers are already overloaded with own work. How can this problem be tackled?

As an extension to what I said in response to the question above, I may say that it all begins with acknowledging the talent. A school leader should be adept at using both a microscope and a telescope so that they can spot talent, quality, goodness, innovation and creativity both at the micro and macro –levels. Timely appreciation even, in brief, is more important than formal acknowledgement after several days have elapsed. Appreciation and encouragement are force multipliers. It is very much ingrained in the responsibility of a leader to proactively reinforce all positive behaviours. For a school principal, teachers are the best resources.How can one afford not to leverage such precious resources?

Substitution classes are the topic of intense debate in the schools. While teachers take it as a necessary evil, the students treat it as an opportunity for breaking free. The teacher’s responses vary from utter indifference to a willy-nilly physical presence in the class with no significant contribution to the teacher-learning. The leadership must invest time in finding a meaningful solution to this in consultation with the teachers. I may offer here, same suggestions without getting into the administrative measures, that may be taken into account. As against the single teacher preparation of lesson plans for the regular classes, some ideal lessons could be planned for substitution classes as a collaborative work by the teachers. Issues around values, current affairs, social issues, and storytelling could be the topics for substitution classes. Screening of short videos and discussion around that could be very engaging both for the teachers and the students. Substitute teachers can do what any teacher in normal classes can never think of.

Ms. Anthony Mary Director, SAGHS & Oak Valley Intl School, Hyderabad

Mrs. Usha Principal, Balavikas EM School, Kadapa spectacular Principals?

What do you feel about the teachers who are excellent exemplars in the classroom and make

Yes, there are several thoughts around this. One may think that a great classroom teacher should remain one for the rest of her career. Others may not subscribe to that view. One may argue that in order to be a good principal one ought to have been a great teacher. I may add here that in our system there is no structured career progression plan for a teacher to rise to the level of a school head. My stand here is that for a principal to fulfil her responsibilities as an instructional leader, driving the teaching-learning process, her own experiences as a classroom teacher would come handy. However, the leadership role demands much more than that. Concurrently, a principal who has not excelled as a classroom teacher, will remain handicapped. Even in the corporate world one begins her career as a management trainee before reaching the top position. So is the case of in the armed forces. Paratrooping someone at the helm has its own problems.

Mrs. M. Sudeshna Little Angels Public School, Gudur, Nellore

Mrs. Parvathi Reddy Harvest High School, Khammam

How can the Principals help in setting up effective/ successful schools?

Oh several! But the meaning of effective schools must be understood well. Every organisation must have a vision. Effective schools thrive on not only a posh building and infrastructure but on the competence, moral and intellectual, of those in charge. The reason for a school to exist is the students and their aspirations. Schools are the cradles where characters and personalities are shaped. How effectively and transparently they function and how accountable they are will determine their success and reputation. If the dining table discussion in the homes is held around the great experiences children had in their schools, parents would be doubly assured of the future of their children. It is this trust that matters the most.

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With the motto, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Live Your Passionâ&#x20AC;?, Rio 2016, a major multi sport event from August 5 to 21, 2016, at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, delivered many remarkable and inspiring athlete achievements that were witnessed by millions of people. The spectacular opening ceremony and the tremendous closing ceremony left the audience spell bound. 30

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SPORTS

Sana Syed

INDIAN

LISTEN

SPORTS a Matter more of Personal Endeavour than Schematic Achievement

A piece of news passed before my eyes “Two Indian teens among global finalists at Google Science Fair” – a sense of pride and satisfaction settled over to realize that India is producing a fair number of talents in the field of science and technology.

The answer to this scenario lies in tapping the he country that adds potential of children and enabling them to grow thousands of information naturally. India’s growing population and limited technology experts each opportunities sometimes put undue pressure year and is globally recognized on children to follow the well designated as a force in reckoning has a path of educational expertise to ensure tremendous potential to dominate a secure future. On the other hand, the world map. The manpower sporting opportunities and sports as resource in the realm of science a career option is very limited. No and technology is growing at a wonder, sports is reduced to an rapid pace. It has a promising extra-curricular activity rather future. Yes, a promising, settled than a full fledged career and comfortable future for our option. growing generation! Following the piece of news was yet another one that talked about the dismal show of the Indian Olympic squad. The two news items were strikingly different: the one celebrated While countries and territories like emerging talents the other Vietnam, Fiji, Puerto Rico, Jordan denigrated the performances, and Kosovo managed to bag at least baring a few exceptions. 1 gold medal at Rio Olympics, India had to content with silver and bronze medals. The medal tally of 2 took India to the 67th position and worse if the medal table is adjusted in relation to its population and per capita income then the position would be further down.

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Money pours in only after an individual wins NATIONAL and INTERNATIONAL championships.

The curbing of sports takes place at all levels. At home, parents find it a futile exercise to invest time and money in developing the sports skills of their children. Even if children show keen interest in sports then too they meet resistance right at home, simply because parents consider Most of the time, it a waste of time the schools lack right and resources. infrastructure to Somehow, if provide quality they are able to sports facility and convince their oftentimes the parents, then yearly syllabus comes the role is so packed up of schools in supporting their with literary area of interest. activities that There is an urgent the game periods are need to know reduced to that pursuing a relaxing hours. particular sport as a profession requires thorough dedication from an early age. Behind every world champion is a story of rigorous and relentless training, a strict diet regime and plenty of positive and focused thinking. Excellence in sports requires synchronic balance of mind and body and grooming world class athletes is a planned and intensive task.

The chief factor that forces Indian parents to play safe in terms of their child’s future is the lack of career growth in the field of sports. Baring the exception of cricket, which has a wealthy Board, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), most of the sports associations are fund deficit. Over the years, there have been heartbreaking stories of sport champions selling their medals to suffice their daily needs. Sports do not offer a lifelong career safety. The best sports persons can serve actively for a limited number of years and if they are not adequately supported by related job options for later years then potential achievers can also give up their dreams. Though, organizations like Indian Railways, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, etc. are doing their bit but a lot needs to be done to make the future of sports safe.

It is heartening to see organisations, political parties and head of states rewarding individuals who have proved their worth in the international arena but there also lies a bigger reality to be acknowledged. As companies do not grow without infrastructure and focussed hard work so does sports. Amidst the celebration for P V Sindu’s silver and Sakhi Malik’s bronze medals, somewhere we are still ignoring the claims of athlete OP Jaisha that she was not provided any energy drink or water during the marathon run.

HOPE, WE PAUSE AND PONDER WHY WE ARE FAILING OUR SPORTSPERSONS. september 16

SPORTS

Sana Syed

A FLASHBACK The word Olympics, which owes its origin to Greek mythology, revives the dramatic images of olden days arenas where valour, sportsmanship and agility determined the highest laurels. This year Rio de Janeiro, the beach city of Brazil had the honour to host this mega sporting event. With it Brazil became the first South American country to host Olympics. The city of Rio is known for its beautiful beaches, splendid hills and an unfailing festive spirit inviting tourists round the year. Rio Olympics started with great fanfare on August 5 at Maracanã Stadium. It culminated on August 21, 2016 with everlasting impressions of ULTIMATE SPORTING ACTIONS. The mascot for this year’s Olympic was Vinicius, an animal born out of the ultimate joy of hosting the mega event. It imbibed the characteristics of many Brazilian animals but was closest to a cat-monkey. For the time in the history of Olympics,

The 16-day long event had many firsts to its credit.

a refugee team participated under the neutral banner of Olympics flag. The 10 refugee participants represented the 65 million people displaced from their original country, establishing the true spirit of Olympics, “to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promote a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.” Besides, Kosovo that declared independence from Serbia in 2008 competed at Rio as an independent nation for the first time. The medal tally settled the top three positions with United States of America,

topping the list with 121

medals, followed by Great Britain and

China bagging

67 and

70 medals respectively. The one EXTRA GOLD MEDAL of Great Britain (27) over China (26) ensured it the second spot. The fourth and fifth spots were claimed by Russia

(56) and Germany

(42) respectively. 34

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The two greatest favourites of 2016 Olympics, American swimmer Michael Phelps and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt ensured they did not disappoint their fans across the world. Phelps won 5 GOLD and 1 SILVER medals totalling his medal tally to 23 gold medals and overall 28 medals (throughout Olympic participations), which

is the highest ever bagged by any athlete ever in Olympic history.

Usain Bolt who breezes the finishing line with thunderous speed went home with A TRIPLE-TREBLE RECORD to reckon, for years to come.

For India, the favourite moments would rest with the two Indian sportswomen P.V. Sindhu, the astute badminton player, and Sakshi Malik, the determined wrestler. Sindhu and Sakshi bagged the silver and bronze medals in their respective games. The two athletes, breaking the medal jinx showed how self belief and determination are required to beat the odds. Another commendable performance was that of Dipa Karmakar, the gymnast who showed ultimate commitment for the sport but, unfortunately lost by a small margin and finished fourth. Other heroics in Olympics include the performance of Joseph Isaac Schooling, a 21-year-old Singapore swimmer who defeated his idol Michael Phelps to claim the gold in 100m butterfly race. Dmitry Balandin of Kazakhstan won the first ever gold medal in swimming for his country in the men’s 200-meter breaststroke category. American shooter Kim Rhode became the first Olympian to win medals in six straight summer Olympics by winning a bronze for skeet shooting at Rio. She started her illustrated career in 1996 by winning a gold medal.

Rio also brought together gymnasts Lee Eunju and Hong Un-Jong of South and North Korea close enough to pose for a selfie. Such warm gestures are a rarity between the people of the two warring nations. While the Rio event was predominated by inspiring individual performances, the event had its fair share of controversies too. The scare of Zika (virus) spread to the pools turning green from blue because of alleged contamination, were definitely the low points at Rio. American swimmer, Ryan Lochte’s allegation of a robbery at a gas station caused major security concern among the visitors and embarrassment to the host country. Later, the athlete admitted to false accusations and is likely to face legal action. Rio 2016, gives way to Tokyo 2020 Olympics where many sporting greats will be missed and many more will find their way to the podium creating new highs in the realm of sports history. Commendations to Brazil for pulling off the mega event with élan!

Rio Olympics 2016 highlights Sakshi Malik is the first Indian female wrestler to win a medal in wrestling. Fiji claimed its first ever medal by bagging a gold in Rugby seven. Golf was introduced for the first time in Olympics at Rio. september 16

PARENTING

Dr. Shayama Chona President, Tamana LISTEN

hese days more and more parents are working outside, leaving their children either to themselves or in the custody of other people. Hence it is imperative that parents (and I mean both father and mother) help their children in interpreting their experiences in school. From nursery onwards children get keenly interested in knowing about your childhood. They may often ask, ‘Tell me about your school days’. I am sure parents enjoy reminiscing about their childhood days.

…Conversations are the best way to hear about the high… of your child’s day – the school work, minor frustrations or how another child got into trouble. If you and your children are in the habit of talking, then they are more likely to open up without too much prompting. Let them Talk First It is a lot simpler if children tell you what is on their mind. But sometimes a minor trouble may suddenly feel unbearable to a child. Like your breaking into an argument with him, a sibling or telling one of them off for something that is really a fair cop. Your child shouts, ‘it’s not fair, I’ve had a hard day!’ and bursts into tears. Or else she starts to talk about a worry just before going to bed, or even gets up to talk about it, late in the night. You need to listen to the trouble and offer a sympathetic ear, with any practical help you can suggest. It is important to take your child’s feelings seriously and leave her confident that you do care about what happens to her. You can still

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REMEMBER, their Problems are Like Yours!

say that, in your opinion, it was not a good enough reason for hitting her brother round the head. Give them Time For different reasons children sometimes do not say anything at all. You know your child more than anyone else so let your experience be your guide. Some children go silent and some become distressed at events that wouldn’t normally upset them. Some children vent their emotions on siblings. If children are nursing a really weighty problem they may go off food or sleep fitfully. You may have to broach the subject in a private moment with your child. You can start by saying, ‘I’ m beginning to think that you’re worried about something. Are you?

REMEMBER.... • Listen carefully and patiently. Don’t assume too much. • Ask open-ended questions, like: ‘what happened when you told the teacher about it?’ • It often helps to summarise in your own words what your child has just told you to make sure you have understood correctly.

Listening Helps Parents at times feel bad that they cannot simply take away situations that are upsetting their children. A lot of the troubles that children encounter are childhood versions of the people problems that adults continue to face in the grown up world. You can help by offering a sympathetic ear. Sometimes children do not expect you to set things right. Sometimes having a talk can help your child cope with a situation or to see another perspective.

‘If your child is not forthcoming, don’t insist. Just say something like, ‘Well you know I’m here if you want to talk, ‘ but make sure that you are available. Small Could Be Big It is hard to say what bothers children. For instance all children dislike being bullied. But then they all have difference test limits. It is, therefore, important that you do not brush aside your child’s concern, even if it seems minor. If it matters to her then she deserves to be taken seriously. Giving your child your undivided attention as you talk over her concern does not mean that you spend ages and ages. Sometimes just a short conversation is appropriate.

What You Can Do? Quite often there will be a sure-fire solution to the frustrations or dilemmas of your children. You need to provide options. Sometimes, this means approaching the situation from another angle. Your child may need to focus on what he can do rather than on trying to change how another child behaves. Focus on the future; never mind how things have gone up until the present. For instance, the pencil that Rani broke is gone and perhaps she will never apologise. Your child may just need to let that go and stop trying to make Rani appear sorry. For the future you can strengthen her in the belief that nobody has to lend possessions to people who cannot be trusted. Your child can tell Rani. `No, you can’t borrow it. I don’t lend to people who break things.’

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TEACHING

Ms. Surekha Nayani Co-ordinator, Delhi Public School, Nacharam, Hyderabad

Subject knowledge and effective teaching

excellent subject knowledge paying attention to every student in the class

studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; interaction teaching

TEACHER: A MULTITASKED PROFESSIONAL

discipline of students

A teacher needs to perform multi-tasks in his or her profession. A teacher is multitasked unlike any other profession. Classroom management

for practical approach to concepts, ICT, for better understanding of The classroom management subjects. Students can correlate involves diversified tasks: with skills to manage home excellent subject knowledge, expenditure, budgeting, cooking teaching, studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; interaction, with available materials and to paying attention to every student A good teacher carry on housein the class, discipline of students, is not one who hold work. etc. The teacher must know asks many Discipline Issues all the students in the class to questions to his develop a good rapport with them. pupils but one Students with who inspires A teacher with good classroom varied thinking management can manage family, them to ask and behavior offer challenging live experiences to friends and relatives with ease! questions to tackle discipline Resource Utilization answer. issues. This helps A teacher makes optimum use a teacher understand the behavior of textbook, reference books, and thinking of such students and worksheets, science laboratories take precautionary measures.

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There are multiple teaching strategies or presentation of concepts in classroom but identifying the right method that gives utmost clarity and long term retention can only be achieved by appropriate illustrations along with supportive teaching aids. A teacher needs to update the teaching methodology to suit all kinds of students. . A teacher may be well qualified and has good subject knowledge but if subject cannot be delivered appropriately, he/she may not be suitable for teaching profession. Correction work Correction of notebooks, worksheets, assignments and test copies is an on-going process of a teacher who provides feedback of work readiness or performance of students .The performance of students in tests and analysis of the results is eye- opener for teacher. Assessment Testing and Evaluation involves planning. The teacher needs to test what is taught. Questions must be in accordance with the examination pattern pertaining to assessment of knowledge, understanding, application and

The composition of a TEST PAPER should be

40% 30% challenging questions

simple questions

30%

average questions

skills. There should be a foolproof marking scheme and answer key. The teacher needs to take care of the difficulty level of students while setting a test paper. Examinations Administering or conducting examinations requires enormous planning and execution. Invigilation work needs utmost attention and vigilance on the part of the teacher. The teacher has to maintain punctuality and strictly adhere to the code of conduct of the examinations. The students need to be instructed about the pattern and the duration of the examinations and the rules that they should adhere to. Teaching students to count is fine, but teaching them what counts is the best. A continuous learner A teacher has to be a continuous learner to update his or her subject knowledge. He or she needs to improve the subject knowledge by reading related books and think of innovative ideas to teach the lessons which can arouse interest and try to correlate to real life for long term retention. A teacher is required to plan before teaching - introducing the topic, teaching followed by an activity. A teacher who loves learning earns the right and ability to help others learn. Involvement in school cultural programmes All the activities - academic, co-curricular or extra-curricular– of a school cannot be carried out without the involvement of teachers. In order to organize and conduct the school activities, teachers must co-ordinate with one another, hold responsibility,

The motivation and guidance given by teacher plays a crucial role in carrying a child on a positive track of development. Children look at parents and teachers as role models and grow. manage efficiently and finally execute the event successfully. Teachers have the enviable task of tapping the latent talent in students, guiding them to showcase their outstanding performance. Moral support and values It is rightly said that “a teacher is second mother and the mother is the first teacher”. The motivation and guidance given by teacher plays a crucial role in carrying a child on a positive track of development. Children look at parents and teachers as role models and grow. A teacher comes across students, in teens, influenced by bad peer group, get dampened on account of poor grades, family issues, ill health, peer pressure etc. The teacher‘s guidance and counselling make

them overcome the problem. Teacher’s positive approach gives immense confidence and happiness to child and will mould him to be a successful person. The best teacher gives you something to take home to think about besides homework. Mediator between school and parents The interaction between teacher and parents helps to know the needs of the student at home and in the school. The feedback given by teachers with regard to academic performance or disciplinary issues will give scope for the parents to handle the situation carefully at home. At the same time the feedback of parents about student helps the teacher understand the student better. If a child is suffering from some ailment, the parent has to inform the teacher so that any precautions required can be taken. When students go on educational tours or excursions, they spend a lot of time with peers and teachers away from parents. It is here, the teacher’s responsibility multiplies to take care of the students. Under such circumstances, the student’s interpersonal skills improve. Students do not worry how much teacher knows until they know how much the teacher cares. september 16

SPECIAL FEATURE

Revathi Balakrishnan Talented and Gifted Specialist, Patsy Sommer Elementary, Austin, TX

GLOBAL Competences A good education should include global competencies. Global competency is the ability to understand international issues, and to be able to value diversity and multiple ethnicities. To that effect, my students’ learning deals with projects that allows them to discuss national and international issues while becoming competent in comprehension and analysis skills. The interest generated by bringing in relevance into the classroom is unbelievable and makes learning much easier.

When you have the world as your resource, you don’t need any other instructional materials. Here is a sample assignment.

Assignment: Watch the US President’s State of the Union Address (SOTU) that is given every February. Pre-viewing assignment given the day before: Possible topics that the President could talk about. Based on their background knowledge, they might say immigration, jobs, safety, freedom, etc. During the Address: Students are taking notes on what is being said while keeping pace with the talk. Post-viewing assignment: Students have a few days to answer some follow up questions that allow them to reflect on the speech. These questions

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range from the Knowledge and Comprehension level on the Bloom’s taxonomy (Who are the two people sitting behind the President during his speech? Who are the people who shook hands with the President as he walked to the podium?) to the Analysis level (Compare the speech given by the President and the speech given by Patrick Henry during the American Revolution.). Discussion: This is one of the most important phases of the assignment. Students come together to discuss the speech and this is my time to do an informal assessment by listening to their excited talk.

This assignment has been so successful that students who have graduated from my class remind me seven to eight years later that they still listen to the SOTU address. Many of them email me to discuss the speech and some remind me to assign it to my current students. Project-based-learning is a wonderful way to bring excitement to learning. Last year, when the refugee crisis in Europe was reaching a peak, I used that event as a background to teach my math unit on Ratio and Proportions. With our entry-level question of “Why do Syrian refugees travel far into the European continent into places like Germany and Norway when they could easily settle down in Greece? Given that I teach fifthgrade students, this was a normal curious question for them to ask. We brainstormed as a class as to what measures could be used to find how “healthy” a country would be? Many of them came up with the number of jobs,

In an effort to make the whole experience real for my students, we organized a Refugee Empathy Walk where students collected donations of water, clothes, old shoes and canned goods. Each of them filled a backpack with as many items as they could need for a long trek and walked around the school until they were exhausted. industries, how much money people make, etc. as possible measures. After teaching them about Gross National Product, and unemployment rate, they calculated population density (as a ratio) and distances between countries to find out how many days it would take them to walk to a particular country. Many interesting questions came out of this lesson. One student asked ,” I wonder why they don’t settle down in Greece. After all, that is the first country they come to.” Another student said,” Yesterday, in my research, I learned something about the Greek bailout. I wonder what that is.” That student was encouraged to do additional

research on this topic. He reported the next day that Greece was already in trouble because it had borrowed from the EU but could not pay back the debt. His conclusion: “If they cannot pay back the money they owe to other countries, how can they afford to pay people for jobs?” He provided evidence that the unemployment rate in Greece was 25%, (“which means that one if four people did not have a job”) and therefore people should not settle in Greece. Instead they should move to Germany where the unemployment rate was much better and the chances of finding a job was much higher. In an effort to make the whole experience real for my students, we organized a Refugee Empathy Walk where students collected donations of water, clothes, old shoes and canned goods. Each of them filled a backpack with as many items as they could need for a long trek and walked around the school until they were exhausted. Some of their friends acted as border guards, preventing them from entering their “country’. Tempers ran thin because it was a hot day and soon the students were sagging under the weight of their backpacks. They decided when to drop out of the march but almost all of them said that it was a very sobering experience. One of them even added, “ We can get out of this march whenever we wanted. Those refugees had no choice but to go on.” Relevance and teaching global competencies has never failed me. It adds excitement to the learning and it makes students aware of what is going on in the outside world, while teaching them to apply all the skills of analysis and critical thinking. september 16

PEDAGOGY

P. V. Seshubabu

How to Make Homework Relevant and Meaningful? Homework is an important topic of discussion among educationists, curriculum designers, teachers and students.

omework is the academic assignment given to students to do at home and it is essential to reinforce the concepts that the students have learned in the classroom. Homework given to the students should serve the purpose, .i.e. the assignments should be carefully planned by the teacher so that students can get acquainted with the topic by completing the given task. Homework should be able to generate interest to solve an issue and should be completed by students at a specific point of time. It should be thought-provoking, creative and aid in retention and comprehension of concepts. The homework to be assigned to students should be carefully planned and relevant to the lesson learnt by students. The assignments must tap creativity and inherent talent to the fore. In teaching English assignments are especially useful. The very young cannot be expected to do homework without the assistance of parents or tutor. However, the middle and higher grade students benefit immensely from regular home tasks.

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Homework can be a means whereby the use of English is extended beyond the classroom and the student given the opportunity to practice the language on his/her own. Homework should supplement the work in school and student to improve himself/herself without depending entirely on the teacher or parent. There are a few points to be remembered in setting homework: • Homework assignment/exercise must be short • Homework should not be a ‘burden’ to the student and the ‘heavy’ exercise tends to be done carelessly and hurriedly. This defeats the purpose.

• Homework assignment is to be of use to the pupil and it is done at leisure at student’s own pace. • Homework must be given regularly. Daily assignments are wearisome and short exercises set at regular intervals makes the student get into the habit of working on his/her own. • The marking of homework assignment/exercise is important. This sustains the interest in doing homework and the student enjoys doing it. •

There should be a variety of assignments given as homework in order to make it lively and interesting.

A ‘Homework Project’ A ‘Homework Project’ undertaken by Class X students, weak in English, entitled ‘Shops and Shopping’. The project selected was, therefore, simple and easy but in keeping with the interests of the class. It started with the collection of receipts issued by shops to the customers. The receipts were sorted out according to the type of the shop – bookshop, chemist/pharmacist, café, food store, co-operative store and clothing shops. The receipts were classified according to type of shop as follows:

a) Listing of types of shop. The names of the shops were under different headings:

3) The optician- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

4) The florist - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

II. Find the meaning of the following words in a dictionary and fill in the blanks

Café

Bookshop

Chemist/Pharmacist

b) Under the list of shops, the students wrote down the names of goods sold by the shops. The students discussed the materials thus collected and the final list was put up on the display board. This helped students check their spelling.

Waiter, menu card, tip, restaurant, snack

At . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the . . . . . . . . . . . served me well. He brought me the . . . . . . . . . . and I made my order. After my meal was over, I gave him a . . . . . . . . . . . . . Before I left I bought a . . . . . . . . . .at the counter as I am often hungry before dinner-time.

For example, the list under ‘Bookshop’ was: textbooks, story books, picture books, magazines, drawing books, exercise books, crayons, chalk, water colours, cardboard, brown paper, greeting cards, stationery, etc.

III. Wholesale, profit, cash, retail, customers

The test was given to determine the students’ level of ability and contained the following:

a) The . . . . . . . . . merchant sells goods in large amounts

1) Spelling: selective words

b) I paid in . . . . . . . . . because that shop did not accept my cheque

2) Grammar: knowledge of present continuous, present simple, past simple, future simple 3) Vocabulary: Selective ten words 4) Composition: writing a paragraph on ‘The market’ c) Abbreviations used: Lbs. Ozs. Cwts. Yds. ft. ins. Doz. Pkt. Bot. These abbreviations are connected with trade and hence useful to the students. d) Prices: A list was made of the prices of goods according to how they were sold. e) Vocabulary exercises: two exercises were given. In the first exercise, the students completed sentences on a given model and in the second, the students filled blanks. I. Write a sentence about the occupations of the following people: Example: The butcher seals meat

The tailor makes clothes

1) The baker - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - -

2) The confectioner- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Debates still continue whether homework is beneficial or not. Most of the parents agree that homework develops students’ initiative towards academic progress if it is designed and assigned in a relevant way. The Central Board of

c) We buy goods in small quantities at a . . . . . . . . . .store d) The peddler bought his goods at the wholesaler’s and resold them at a small. .. . . . . . . .to the people of the village. e) A good sales-assistant is always polite to his. . . . . . . . . Outcomes 1) The students learnt how to use a dictionary. The students relied more on the dictionary for spelling and meaning of words. 2) The students learnt a number of new words and expressions 3) The students have become accustomed to doing some English on their own and were looking forward to more homework assignments. 4) The class performance has improved. The project brought about a change in the students’ attitude to the study of English.

Secondary Education (CBSE) has recommended schools to replace the word ‘homework’ by ‘practice work’ or ‘self work’. Solving puzzles, writing letters, putting together household lists, cooking, reading newspapers and watching documentaries and natural history

programmes are some of the activities CBSE has recommended to students up to class VIII after school correlating these activities with concepts from lessons. -With Inputs from ‘Homework Exercises’ by Ovaiza Sally

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PEDAGOGY

Praveen Alugubelly

IDENTIFY MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES, SIMPLIFY LEARNING o two children are alike and so is their learning style and intelligence. They perceive things and learn a concept differently. If parents and teachers recognise multiple intelligences in children, they can simplify the learning process. The terms ‘brilliant’, ‘talented’ , ‘slow learner’, ‘average’ and ‘dull’ are used by the parents and teachers to categorise children on the basis of intelligence.

But intelligence is a complex trait and there is no standard definition that fully describes intelligence. According to Britannica Encyclopaedia Intelligence is a mental quality that consists of the abilities to learn from experience, adapt to new situations, understand and handle abstract concepts and use knowledge to manipulate one’s environment.

Intelligence affects personal wellbeing and it is directly related to academic achievement. There is no unanimity among the scientists whether intelligence is a single overall ability or is it several specific abilities. Traditionally it was believed that intelligence was single entity that was inherited. Now-a-days, many researchers are of the view that there exists a multitude of intelligences and we can improve them. There are two major schools of thought on the nature of intelligence. Psychologists like Eysenck, Galton, Jensen and Spearmen believe that all intelligence comes from one general factor, known as g.

Gardener described nine types of intelligences. Types of intelligences, their characteristics, relevant learning style and professions are presented in the table. Types of Intelligences Characteristics

Learning Style

Tea

Bodily-kinesthetic

Ability to control body movements and to handle objects skilfully.

Learns best through activities like games, touch, projects and doing practicals.

Role and

Interpersonal

The ability to communicative effectively with others and to be able to develop relationships and empathy.

Learns best through comparing, sharing, relating interviewing and cooperating.

Peer com and

Intrapersonal

The ability to know your own body and mind. Self-awareness.

Learns best through self-paced projects, working alone and reflection.

Secr proje

Linguistic

The ability to communicate orally and in writing in several languages.

Learns best through hearing and seeing words, debates, discussions, speaking, reading and writing.

Boo dialo

Learns by working with relationships and patterns, categorizing and thinking abstractly about patterns, relationships and numbers

Scie the p

The ability to think conceptually and abstractly, discern logical or numerical patterns, handle Logical-mathematical complex logical arguments, problem solving and reasoning. Musical

The ability to learn, perform and compose music.

Learns through singing, melody, rhythm, listening and music.

Atte mus mus

Naturalistic

The skill to understand different species, recognising patterns in environment and classifying natural flora and fauna.

Learns through working in nature, exploring living organisms, studying plants and natural events.

Orde real

Spatial

The ability to interpret maps, reading charts and imagining things. Drawing, mazes, puzzles and 3D visualization.

Learns through charts, graphs, maps, tables, illustrations, arts and puzzles.

Vide gam mus

Existential

The sensitivity and capacity to tackle questions Learns through reflective and deep of why we live and why we die. thinking and abstract theories.

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Disc

Gardener, Sternberg and Thurstone think that there is more than one general type of intelligence i.e different types of intelligences. The theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) proposed by Neuropsychologist Howard Gardener has gained popularity in many educational institutions across the world. Gardener terms intelligence as the skills that enable anyone to gain new knowledge and skills. According to the MI theory, most of us are completely sharp in some areas and dull in other areas. One form of intelligence is not better than other and they are equally valuable.

ACCORDING TO GARDENER Academic achievement can be increased by addressing the multiple intelligences of students. All the students possess all intelligences in varying amounts. Each student has a different intellectual composition.

• Verbal • Mathematical • Logical thinking • Vocabulary • General knowledge skills

Multiple intelligences are located in different areas of the brain and they can either work independently or together.

Intelligence tests provide Intelligence Quotient (IQ) score. The children will be categorised using IQ score.

Multiple intelligences can be nurtured and strengthened, or ignored and weakened.

Intelligence can be increased by use. Though there is a significant genetic contribution to intelligence, much of it depends on society, the environment a child grew up, quality of teaching, learner’s motivation and support.

Teaching Learning Strategies/Equipment

Suitable Professions

Role-play, drama, things to build, sports and physical games and hands-on learning.

Dancers, athletes, surgeons and craftsmen.

Peers, group activities, social gatherings, community programmes, clubs, mentors and apprenticeships.

Salespersons, teachers, counsellors, politicians and religious leaders.

Secret places, time alone, self-paced projects, choices, etc.

Philosophers, writers, psychologists, researchers and spiritual leaders

Books, newspapers, tapes, writing tools, dialogue, discussion, debate, stories, etc.

Poets, lawyers, journalists, orators, and communicators.

Science materials, manipulative, trips to the planetarium and science museum, etc.

Mathematicians, logicians, scientists, engineers and accountants.

Attending music concerts, performing music programmes at home and school, musical instruments, etc.

Musicians, composers and disco jockey.

Order, same or different, connections to real life, science issues and patterns

Biologists, naturalists and landscape artist.

Videos, slides, films, slides, art, imagination Sculptor, artist, mechanic, games, puzzles, illustrated book, trips to engineer and scientist. museums and maps. Discourses, scriptures and seminars.

Psychologists developed many intelligence tests to assess

Scientist, philosopher and spiritualist.

Neglect from parents and teachers leads children to develop a lack of personal control over the environment, and it adversely affects their intelligence. Increased schooling correlates with higher intelligence scores.

We can make the children more intelligent by exposing them to a variety of ways of learning. Teachers can facilitate meaningful learning experiences by using different teaching tools and strategies. Teachers should make every effort to individualize teaching and pluralize their presentation by conveying the same idea or concept in different ways to different types of students. It is also important to assess student in ways that allow them to show what they have learnt. september 16

TRAINING

Vanalatha

he word ‘profession’ brings lots of dreams in a person’s mind. A person thinks or dreams to become a doctor, lawyer, pilot or an engineer but how many of them really dream to become a teacher right from his/her childhood. Traditionally, teaching is understood to be a ‘unique isolated profession.’ Teachers are skilled learners and the torch-bearers in creating social cohesion, national integration and a learning society. They not only share knowledge but also create and generate new knowledge and are responsible for creating the role of education. In most of the professions, continuous professional development (CPD) ensures that professionals are up to date with the latest changes and updates in the profession through short-term courses which are often mandatory. However this is not a prevalent practice in the case of teachers.

for Teachers

In India, the National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education, (NCFTE) which was published in 2009-10 by the NCTE (National Council for Teacher Education) has described an approach for Teacher CPD. The SSA (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan) has even defined that each teacher is to receive 20 days of training every year. There are some activities happening in this field, but it is far from satisfactory and a lot of development needs to be done soon.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Assess needs

Reflect, review and revise

CPD cycle

Implement knowledge in practice

It is true that everyone wants quality education for their children and the key to unlocking this quality depends on teachers. To help students learn the most complex and analytical skills for the

CONTINUOUS

skills, knowledge and experience that a person gains both formally and informally as they work beyond any initial training. It is a record of what you experience, learn and then apply.

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Review learning outcomes and activities

Plan learning activities

Carry out learning

Teachers should use their classrooms as research sites. For example, teachers might teach a concept in different ways to

21st century, teachers must learn in ways that develop higher order thinking and performance. For this mission, they must be offered more and more professional learning. As professionals, they are required to improve their talents and skills and learn continuously.

Types of professional development

CPD is the process of tracking and documenting the

• Mentoring or peer observation and coaching, as part of a formal school arrangement.

• Courses/workshops (e.g. on subject matter or methods or other education-related topics) • Seminars or education conferences (at which teachers or researchers present their research results and discuss education problems) • Qualification programme (e.g. a degree programme) • Observation visits to other schools • Individual or collaborative research on a topic of professional interest

determine that has the best effect on student learning and also experiment to see what approach is the most effective in facilitating cooperative learning among students.

To view innovative teaching practices and expand and refine their own personal pedagogy, teachers need to visit the classrooms of colleagues and try to find better areas to implement the things learnt from their colleagues. According to recent research, many teachers felt that peer observation and sharing practices are the most popular professional development activities. CPD provides an overview of professional development to date

Here are some tips for teachers to stay relevant and enrich their career in the 21st century. • Go digital A teacher must learn to create digital content and immerse in technology and participate in the vast online knowledge society. • Teacher Development Groups A teacher can join in this group which is an ideal forum to present successes and learn from failures. • Professional Development in schools Seek out Professional Development opportunities through school programmes and actively participate in it. Many progressive schools have recognised that continuous teacher training is essential and they allot regular training hours for teachers in the calendar. Many teachers are empowered and benefited and in turn the teachers help students. • Learn relevant new skills – The 4 C’s Communication, Collaboration, Creativity and Critical Thinking are vital for teachers. Teachers must equip these skills and create a good learning environment for students. • Start a portfolio Besides having a record of all personal information such as educational qualification, employment details etc, also have records of CPD activities, plans for development and self evaluation. • CPD online The internet offers many structured CPD programmes and certification that can be done at one’s own time and pace, and most importantly without missing the school. These programmes are highly targeted and subject specific. and reminds you of your achievements and how far you have progressed and helps you with your career development. It can be about widening your range of transferable skills like leadership, managing

projects or organising information. Teachers can write down their career goals like where they would like to be in the next 2, 5 and 10 years time. Write down achievements, shorter term goal objectives with deadline. Make a note of what you need to do to achieve them like what you can do today or tomorrow or for the coming days. Review plays a vital role as the step to review the progress is very essential. Set a date in advance for review of the objectives you have set. Put it in your diary and the cycle of Continuous Professional Development has begun. Every teacher must make the effort to keep learning, stay relevant, review and try to improve continuously. The key to building our country’s future is in the hands of empowered teachers which in turn will surely empower the society. september 16

SPECIAL FEATURE

Ms. Anne Sivanathan Educationist, Malaysia

Setting Limits on Digital Devices Parents are feeling overwhelmed by the amount of time and energy it takes to manage the rapid usage of technology by their children. When I was growing up excessive television viewing was the biggest worry on parent’s mind.

hildren these days are technology wizards, they are very quick to adapt to ever changing uses of each new gadget that is new in the market, but are also very good at getting around the various parental blocks that are available. Children are spending a great deal of their time for entertainment, this includes listening to music, playing games and watching you tube. Excessive use of ubiquitous technology can have a negative impact on one’s health, eyesight and body posture. It also becomes addictive and it is difficult to stop it. They become obsessed with the gadget. Connecting with family will also suffer in the wake of over the top technology. Face to face interactions with family becomes lessened and also activities that are supportive and bonding.

september 16

There are many positive and convenient uses for various forms of technology as well as the possibility of misuse and obsessive use. It is a parent’s responsibility to establish guidelines and controls that keep their children safe, healthy and balanced. Children do not obtain computers, ipads, mobile

It is a parent’s responsibility to establish guidelines and controls that keep their children safe, healthy and balanced. Children do not obtain computers, ipads, mobile phones on their own, without their parents’ permission and help in purchasing them.

phones on their own, without their parents’ permission and help in purchasing them. When parents make the decision to provide these for their children, parents must also think about how, when and where they should be used appropriately. Guidelines need to be clearly stated and enforced. On the other hand technology can help learners represent what they know. To do so learners must express what they know, that is teaching the computer. Technology can support verbal expression. I observed a session by Dr. Rosemary Crossleys who is the Director of Anne Mc Donald Centre in Melbourne, Australia. She has worked with children and adults with severe communication impairments for more than thirty years. She consults and lectures in many counties mainly on strategies for facilitating and

augmenting communication. She was at Amir’s gym in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where she conducted Facilitated Communication Training. I observed her working with Amir who has spastic quadriplegic and he uses communication applications on the ipad to have great conversations. It was very interesting to see the navigation of the different applications and getting choice boards specific to the therapy session. It was fascinating to see Amir write that’ he got tired of using his brain and he wants to write everyday and do a brain pop

be deprived. Amir’s Gym is the realisation of a dream to set up a centre to help the lives of special needs children. Amir’s gym provides various services which include Radiant Child yoga, Yoga for the special childThe Sonia Sumar Method, Yoga Theraphy, CranicSacral Therapy and Aqua Therapy, Fezia is trained in all of these. Technology must be readily available and this will give the different learners a voice. We must not assume that just because a person does not speak, he or she does not have

Amir’s gym provides various services which include Radiant Child yoga Yoga for the special child The Sonia Sumar Method Yoga Theraphy CranicSacral Therapy and Aqua Therapy confident, excited, and eager to play, explore and learn as they interact with technology. The adult can view the pictures taken by the child and it can be a bonding session and a great way to understand a child. How many of us go into our child’s world? One will be surprised at photography skills, a great way for communication skills. ‘Why did you take that picture?’ The National Association of Early Childhood care and education Malaysia (NAECCEM) recently conducted a workshop by Dr. Chip Donohue entitled All about “Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age’ in the Early Years What We Know, What We Need To Know, and Why It Matters.

Technology is an asset when used in the proper manner. quiz, which he is really good at, I was embarassed as I did not know the answers to the questions that he was tackling. Amir may be different but certainly not less. His mother Fezia Tyebally the brain behind Amir’s gym has invested a lot of time in Amir’s development, she believed that Amir was capable of learning and thus must not

a voice, this application and method certainly can’t take away a person’s voice. Teachers and adults caring for children must be creative and take advantage of technology to enhance a child’s capabilities. It is beneficial for children to use a mobile phone and take pictures by doing this they feel

This workshop was about how technology and media have become integrated into the lives of children,parents,grandparents and educators in the digital age and identify concerns about children growing up digital, and how the adults can create a supportive media ecology that supports digital age wellness’ for children,parents,grandparents,fa milies and educators. september 16

EDUCATION & TECHNOLOGY

CAN TECHNOLOGY SUBSTITUTE THE TEACHER? We are living through a transition phase in the boundless span of human progress. Human society will probably experience many more transition phases in the centuries to come but the ongoing phase will remain the most fundamental of them all. Humanity today is having its first dialogue with its own creation, technology. n this dialogue, our inherent curiosity has walked us into the challenge of measuring the implications of our own creation for our own future. Among many potential implications, an immediate one is the impact of rapidly evolving technology on the way we educate our youngest generations.

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Education is the strongest pillar on which civilizations have always rested the weight of their future aspirations. Its role has never been more important than it is in the modern era, because in an extremely populated world, only knowledge can give a constructive direction to the collectiveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s thinking. In the absence of an educated thinking, our

species could scatter in random directions stalling progress and risking self-destruction. Hence, it is necessary to contemplate the best ways possible to educate youngsters who will be responsible for humanityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fate in the years to come. To begin with, it is necessary to try to carve out an informed

Mr. Peeyush Khare Yale University, USA

generation and here technology has most definitely emerged as a powerful informative tool. It is amazing how an individual today can sit on a computer in a remote corner of the world and acquire information about events occurring at any geographical coordinate of the planet. There is clear evidence that technology has made

each one of us more informed about anything that catches our individual interests and imaginations. A larger fraction of the global population than ever is engaging through the internet in formal or informal discussions on events of social, economic, military or scientific significance. This is letting us build opinions, rather more confident ones because we are basing them on information from credible sources brought to us by technology. However, the manner in which these opinions translate into real world actions depends on an individual’s or a community’s education.

The direction of who has the ability to movement of a welldifferentiate between informed community right and wrong even in would not merely be a such unclear situations function of information which cannot be fed they have but of how they into an algorithm. A process that information machine could engage using the reasoning with students within ability inculcated in them the realm of the subject by their education. From matter. my personal academic However, a teacher’s experiences in India, responsibility in my Europe and the US, I opinion goes beyond have come to realize just teaching the subject that raising educated matter. A individuals I have no doubt teacher is is far more that the state-of- responsible difficult the-art technology to chisel out than raising today can install a a thoughtful, informed lot of information enlightened individuals. in human mind being from It requires a and I strongly an initially committed believe that one anxious, human to must surely take unsure and human effort to its assistance in gullible erect a person learning. young student. This expands a teacher’s role way beyond explaining any textbook. The nature of problems and magnitude of uncertainties in life of a learner, increase exponentially outside formal subjects, the solutions to which are not always logical, but sentimental, moral and very abstract at times. When I was an engineering undergraduate student in India, my research guide worked very hard with me on all the topquality research that we did, but he made even harder efforts to teach me from his experiences the proper ways to lead a contented life. He gave me the inspiration to

always stand by truth in all adversities, explained the importance of doing scientific research aimed at public good, taught me the importance of both humility and selfrespect, and always encouraged me to have an unyielding love for my motherland India, its people and to believe in the promise of India. My research guide made me understand the privilege that it is to be born as part of thousands of years old civilization and what immense satisfaction he draws from working for improving the lives of his fellow countrymen. He continues to encourage me to return to India after finishing my PhD at Yale and serve the country. I have no doubt that the stateof-the-art technology today can install a lot of information in human mind and I strongly believe that one must surely take its assistance in learning. It probably can even replicate the way teachers teach by copying voice modulations etc. But it will always take a teacher with a human heart to nurture the spirit of a young learner and this is where technology will always lag behind a true teacher, a human soul that comprehends the immense significance of educating the youngest crop of its species. september 16

CAREER

Vanalatha

MAKEUP ARTIST DRESS UP WITH A SMILE

Mr. Sanjay Ingle,

Founder, Harshansanjay Salon and Academy, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, shares his experiences as a MAKEUP ARTIST. Read on….. What is a makeup artist all about? Please explain about the education requirement for this.

eauty has a way of capturing attention. Now-a-days more and more people have become conscious about their looks. Not all people around the world are born with perfect skin or looks, but, a makeup artist can transform everyone to look gorgeous.

With the boom in entertainment industry, and more competition in modeling as well as fashion field, the demand for good looks has come up like never before. Makeup is a competitive and entertainment industry that never seems to stop growing. Whether it is a wedding or a simple occasion, it is important to put our best faces forward.

Some of the Prominent Institutes • Indian school of makeup, Ashok Vihar, New Delhi • VLCC Institute of Beauty, Health and Management, Hyderabad, Telangana • Harshansanjay’s International School Of Design, Aurangabad, Maharashtra • Master Academy of Makeup Artist – New Delhi

This has resulted in a need for professionals to make people look good.

• Fat Mu Makeup Academy – Mumbai

How to enter the field?

• Marvie Ann Beck Makeup and Hair Academy, Mumbai, Maharashtra

After your 10 +2, enroll in a beauty school, develop your skills, practice, and build a portfolio.

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A makeup artist is someone who uses cosmetic techniques and processes to create beauty upon the human body. In its simplest form, it enhances a person’s appearance, bringing out colour and features and hiding or smoothing out flaws, using cosmetic products. Fortunately there is no education requirement for this field BUT if you are educated it is better and this is just an art which can be developed. As every career requires a skill, what skills are required for the student pursuing this Course? The qualities of a good artist include great customer service, creativity, self-motivation, good time management, understanding of art and design, great listener, comfortable making recommendations and offering

feedback to clients, arm-hand steadiness and manual dexterity and near vision. What are the opportunities as a makeup artist and how can a person become a successful makeup artist? There are two main categories of makeup artist. Cosmetic or fashion artists range from the clerk at the store makeup counter to the artist who prepares fashion models for photo shoots. The artist knows how to make the subject look her or his best, and understands the different effects required by lighting and digital photography. The fashion artist also works with designers to create a certain look for the model, such as emphasizing lip shape or cheekbones. The other main type is theatrical and film makeup artist. This person enhances an actorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s features to emphasize the character he or she plays in performance art. The artist learns to work with different lighting conditions, the distance between the stage and the audience, and the requirements determined by digital and high definition cameras. At its most creative, special effects artists create fantasy creatures, the illusion of blood and gore, imaginative sci-fi creatures, characters from eras gone by, and much more. This field is often regarded as one of the most creative and lucrative areas of makeup, but it can also be one of the most challenging to break

into. Thanks to digital cameras, makeup artists are increasingly in demand for weddings, fashion shoots, fashion shows, corporate headshot photography, and other special events. A deep love of cosmetics and passion is one of the first tell-tale signs of a budding makeup artist. Why is the makeup industry in a great demand in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s job market? The beauty and grooming industry in the country is booming, thanks to the growing desire among both men and women to look stylish and feel good.This industry is 1.5 lac years old and today it is huge. Thanks to social media which has increased the business in three folds Urbanization is one of the reasons for growth of this industry; growth in IT sector, high payments, and life styles changing has given a boost to this market.

happy doing this job for the last 8-9 years. When I started in this industry, I did looks on myself every day. I did looks on family members and friends to learn how to work with different complexions, face shapes and flaws. I found cheaper versions of expensive products. Lastly, I made sure to attend classes and conferences to get the insight from pro makeup artists and experts. Only worst part of my career was that you are noticed by people and media only after you make huge money. What advice would you like to give the students who choose makeup artist as a subject for their career? My first piece of advice is to never take anything personal and remember to have fun! Keep in mind it is art, and first know what kind of artist you want to be. This is the way you can find and develop your signature style. Some people get disillusioned with this industry because they go in expecting to work with celebrities and supermodels. There are a few makeup artists who do, but those are the exceptions.

You have a wonderful academic background and have also been a corporate trainer. What prompted you to choose this field? You have only one life to live and you need to decide what your priorities are. I decided to follow my passion and am really

Most of us earn our income through weddings, and most wedding looks are pretty similar. There is some creativity involved in this career, but ultimately you serve the vision of others: the director, the photographer, the bride, or the model. For the beginning artist, my advice might sound clichĂŠ, but practice, practice, practice!

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SKILLS

Karuna Raj LISTEN

o keep growing, learning and staying current with the changing world one has to develop divergent thinking in education, career and entrepreneurship. A spirit of divergent thinking is the secret ingredient for a successful happy life. The term divergent thinking and convergent thinking was first coined by psychologist J.P.Gulford in 1956. What is divergent thinking? It is a process to generate creative ideas by exploring many possibilities. Divergent thinking typically occurs in a spontaneous free flowing ideas generated in an emergent cognitive fashion. After the process of divergent thinking has been completed ideas and information are organized and structured using convergent thinking the cognitive colleague of divergent thinking which follows a

DIVERGENT THINKING

personality traits promotes divergent thinking. People with personality traits like nonconformity, curiosity, and willingness to take risks are divergent in thinking. Divergent thinking can be promoted by creating lists of questions, keeping aside time for thinking and meditation, brainstorming, subject mapping, keeping a journal, role playing games and free writing can promote divergent thinking, solving an abstract or new problem that has many possible answers, in simple words open ended thinking / lateral thinking, similar to be brainstorming many ideas to solve a single problem. It can be measured by creativity tests, alternative uses tests, incomplete figure tests etc. Lieberman examined the relationship between playfulness and divergent thinking by observing the children’s behavior at play and noted individual differences in spontaneity, overtones of joy, and sense of humor that imply a relationship between the foregoing qualities, some factors are found in intellectual structure of creative adults and adolescents, this highlighted the link between the behaviour of divergent thinking and creativity during childhood, adolescents and adults. This would help the parents and teachers identify this behavior at an age when it can be reinforced.

A study on the effects of positive and negative moods on particular Intellectual divergent thinking set of logical steps Intellectual INTEGRITY to arrive at one showed positive Intellectual HUMILITY solution. Developing moods prefer AUTONOMY one’s divergent satisfying strategies thinking skills proposing Intellectual helps to enhance higher number SENSE OF creativity, ability of solutions. Intellectual JUSTICE to retrieve And negative EMPATHY and connect optimizing disparate strategies more concepts Intellectual concerned with PERSEVERANCE stored in long quality of ideas. Intellectual term memory Divergent thinking COURAGE Intellectual systems. As per Intellectual is important for the FAIRCONFIDENCE IN psychologists concept facilitator to know the MINDEDNESS REASON are connected in direction in which the one’s brain in ‘Semantic group’s thoughts are flowing. networks’ and the individual Collaborative thinking flows in two differences in creativity are due to directions- diverge outwards in a broad differences in associative networks-‘steep’ multidirectional, expansive exploration of ideas or or ‘flat’. ‘Flat’ networks have numerous loose it converges inward narrowing focus in an effort to conceptual connections enabling them to be more judge, select and eliminate ideas. creative nodes whereas ‘steep network’ tend to have The goal is to simply achieve largest creative ideas linear association nodes. According to psychologists and possible new connections in a short time frame. high IQ alone does not guarantee creativity instead

Traits of the DISCIPLINED MIND

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TeachingEnglish Group work in large classes BRITISH COUNCIL

This series of articles from the British Council aims to help you think about your teaching and bring new ideas and activities into your classroom. The series covers topics including homework, working with large classes and finding resources. Today we look at group work in large classes. What is group work? Group work is when the students work together on an activity in groups, for example, in fours or as a class separated into two.? ‘To teach a class of 80 students to communicate effectively in English they need to work in groups.’

What do you think? Mirany from Madagascar writes: The positive thing about large classes is that you have more life and more dynamism. I give the students more responsibility when they work in groups but I still feel that I’m in charge. I signal to the class to stop by putting up my hand. One student from each group talks to the class after the activity to give the answers or sum up their discussion so we don’t have a problem with everyone shouting out at the same time and making too much noise. We can’t move the furniture in our classroom – so I just move the students!

Georgina, South Africa Do you agree? Why use group work? Several groups can work at the same time so instead of only one or two people practising the language and the others just listening, everyone is active. Group work is excellent for speaking and listening. Students can also work in groups for grammar and writing tasks, for reading and taking notes while listening - in fact for almost all areas of classroom practice! Organizing group work

A classroom activity - a debate A debate is a good way to get large classes talking in groups. Students can talk about topics that really interest them and they will really want to join in. Here’s one way to organize a debate:

Give the students a choice of 3 discussion topics, for example: • Speaking is the best way to learn a language. • Everyone should do a sport. • Health is more important than money.

Have a class vote on which topic to debate.

Write up key expressions on the board such as ‘I agree with you’, ‘I don’t agree with you because…’ and ‘I think…’. Ask higher level students for more ways to agree and disagree in English.

Organize the students into groups of 5 or 6. Each group chooses a secretary to make notes and a spokesperson to report back to the class. Set a time limit for the students to discuss the topic.

During the discussion phase, monitor and listen to the groups. Remind students to use the key expressions.

Stop the activity and ask each spokesperson/presenter to report back the important points from the group’s discussion to the class.

Before: Before we do group work we need to: Give the students a clear objective for the group work activity. For example, ‘to practise agreeing and disagreeing in English’; or ‘to read parts of a text then share information and answer comprehension questions.’ Arrange the groups. If you have 60 students you could make 12 groups of 5. Give each student a number between 1 and 12. Ask for a show of hands to check that everyone knows which number they are. All the number 1s make a group, all the number 2s, all the number 3s etc. If you have an odd number some groups will have one student more. Each group can select a spokesperson and secretary to make notes of the group’s ideas. During: While the students work in groups the teacher can leave the front of the class and move around, listening to the groups, helping if needed. After: The spokesperson from each group speaks to the class and summarizes the group activity. Then we can correct any language errors and praise the students’ good work. Group work motivates students in a large class because everyone can participate and practise.

Tip: Vary the groups each lesson to allow students to talk to different people in the class.

Glossary To communicate is to use language to exchange information and interact. Comprehension questions are questions about a text. The questions can help the students understand the text. Monitoring is watching and listening to learners while they are doing an activity but not leading them in the activity. We can find out what errors students make as they produce language by monitoring. Your objective is what you want your students to do. To report back is to give information about a completed activity.

Think about: Before you do group work with your class, try to imagine the activity in action. What do you want the students to do? How will you explain the activity? How will you organize the groups? Will you set a time limit? How will you end the activity? After the lesson, think about what you would do differently next time.

Want to find more teaching tips? Visit www.teachingenglish.org.uk

september 16

LANGUAGE STUDY

LISTEN

VOCABULARY in

DEUTSCH

for BEGINNERS Here is some everyday vocabulary in DEUTSCH (German) language. Listen to the Audio for correct pronunciation.

BOOK

Review

Author: Lilac Mohr Publication date June 1, 2016 Publisher: Kindle edition Pages: 169

ENGLISH

DEUTSCH

Good Morning!

Guten Morgen!

Gooten Morgen!

How are you?

Wie geht es Ihnen?

Wee gate es eenen

Who are you?

Wer sind Sie?

Were zind zee?

What did you say?

Was haben Sie gesagt?

Waz haben zee gesagt?

Where is the Hotel?

Wo ist das Hotel?

Why are we waiting?

Warum warten wir?

Warum warten wier?

Please speak slowly.

Bitte, sprechen Sie langsam.

Bitte spreshen zee lungzam.

I do not understand German very well.

Ich verstehe Deutsch nicht sehr gut.

Ish fershtehe Daaish nisht sehr goot

How do I say?

Wie sage ich?

Wee saage ish?

What time is it?

Wie spa’t ist es?

Wee spate ist es?

Math & Magic in Wonderland Math & Magic in Wonderland is spellbinding! It is not just a book – it is a journey you find yourself hoping doesn’t end. This is a wonderful and unusual book. The story follows the adventures of witty twin sisters – Lulu and Elizabeth – on their journey into an imaginary world. But there is a twist. In each step they need to solve some words, logic or math puzzles that will open the door into the next adventures. Throughout the journey, the twin sisters learn about Math, Science, Classic Poetry, History and Literature. It is rare to find a book that is not only educational tool to encourage youngsters to love math and science but at the same time a book that is simply a joy to read for all ages. The book is not only a modern version of “Alice in Wonderland” but it is also an activity book. The book is full of humour, pun and tongue twisters. Some parts make you laugh out loud. – From Tel Ezer, Reader’s Review.

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PRONUNCIATION

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CRISS CROSS PUZZLE 02 Q

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O B

E F L A T

V L U C K Y

C A R E F U L L I L A T E

H U N G R Y

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L O N G

T H I R S T Y

Name

: ........................................................................

Address

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Mobile No. : ........................................................................

PUZZLES 02

91 ÷ 13 = 7.

7 9

Ans: 55 Each number indicates its position in the grid. 55 indicates row 5, column 5.

22 34 41 53

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MIND CRISS CROSS PUZZLE 03

MINE

EMOTIONS

A criss cross is a fun puzzle in which you are presented with an empty grid and a list of words underneath. Each word must be placed into the grid in either an across or down direction in order to fill the grid.

3 letters Joy

7 letters Despair Ecstasy Elation Empathy Feeling Fervour Passion Remorse Sadness

4 letters Love Rage Zeal 5 letters Anger Grief Pride Shame

8 letters Sympathy

6 letters Ardour Desire Sorrow

PUZZLES 03

Which does not belong in this sequence?

SUDOKU 39 1 9 5

8 6 4

2 1 D

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6 4

1 8 6 8 5

1 8 7 4 8

6 3 3