ASSETScope September 2014

The Monthly Newsletter

Issue 107 | September, 2014 | www.ei-india.com

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Cover Story: Why Teachers’ Day is ....

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Educators’ Zone

3 DukeTIP ASSET Talent Search

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DukeTIP ASSET Talent Search

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DukeTIP ASSET Talent Search

Mindspark World

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Misconception Series

8 Mindspark 7 Day Free Trial

COVER Story Why Teachers’ Day is Important Our teachers! Not many people realize the importance of a teacher today. As education has become a jumble of subjects, classes and extra-curricular activities, the role of a teacher has begun to go unappreciated. But their contribution to the development of a child is just as important as it was ages ago.

Teachers are substitute parents when children are in school. They teach the children, not because they get paid but because they wish to teach and instill knowledge.

And teachers hardly get any appreciation from young children who are not quite old enough to realize their value. But Teachers’ Day is a great opportunity for students to approach their teacher and tell them how important and significant they are. It goes a long way in raising the spirits of the teacher!

And if students learn to love their teacher, it improves their own performance in studies. A good relation with the teacher is important for any child who wishes to excel in his studies.

Here is a small story which shows the importance of a guru in one’s life: Over three centuries ago, there lived in

Southern India, a great musician by the name of Sonti Venkatramaniah.

Sonti Venkatramaniah taught music to several students and he was also the principle musician of King Sarbhoji's court. At this time, the great composer Saint Thyagaraja was just six years old. Young Thyagaraja walked by Venkatramaniah's home every day on the way to the temple.

Each time he passed by Venkatramaniah's home, Thyagaraja would stop and listen to the music coming from inside the house. One day, Venkatramaniah posed an intricate music question to his advanced music students and none of them could answer the question.

Thyagaraja who was yet to have formal training in music andwas standing outside and listening, shouted out the correct answer to the question. Guru Venkatramaniah was so impressed by the young Thyagaraja's knowledge, that he immediately took him as his disciple and started teaching him music.

After a few years of teaching, Guru Venkatramaniah took the still young Thyagaraja to the King's court and asked him to sing in the august presence of several great musicians. The great Thyagaraja, on the spot, composed the song, Doraguna Etuvanti

Seva (Raga: Bilahari). When translated, the song means: "Can anyone get this kind of a blessing? To sing in the presence of my guru even the Devas (the angels) are not so blessed as I (Thyagaraja)." In response, Guru Venkatramaniah exclaimed, DoragunaIduvamdi Sishyudu (Can anyone be more blessed than I to get a disciple such as Thyagaraja?). This simple episode illustrates the dedication of a disciple to a guru and the love and admiration of a guru to a disciple.

Learning anything requires discipline and dedication. A guru is an integral part of that learning. If you are sincere and dedicated about learning - whether it is the arts or about life - you will find a guru.

Let us all take this opportunity to thank the un-sung heroes that have shaped and moulded our lives in such an important manner.

Happy Teachers’ Day!

EDUCATORS’ Zone Mrs. Soma Debnath Principal, The Heritage School, Pune

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Who has most influenced you to become an educator, and how did they influence you?

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I feel the role of a teacher in shaping our future is of immense importance. With whatever success we have achieved today it all attributes to the role played by them in our academic lives.

Whatever I am today I give credit to the teachers from whom I learnt to live a worthy life. Realistically I am indebted to every person who teaches me, has taught me and will be teaching me academically or socially till my last breath.

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consistently. If one day we ignore misbehavioor and the next day we pound on someone for the smallest infraction. In this way our students quickly lose respect for us. Our students have the right to expect us to be basically be the same everyday. Once we lose our students’ respect, we also lose their attention and their desire to please us.

What is your approach to classroom management and student discipline?

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I believe that fairness is the key to what every teacher should work upon to instill discipline in class. Students have a distinct sense of what is and what is not fair. We must act fairly for all students if we expect to be respected. If we do not treat all students equitably, we will be labelled as unfair and students will not be keen to follow our rules. We must make sure that even if our best student does something wrong, they too must get due punishment for it. I also feel that one of the worst things we tend to do is not to enforce our rules

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What are your views regarding the ‘Importance of Teacher Training and Development’ in educating Students?

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– I feel teacher training and development is a process and not an event. We cannot expect students to change what they do if we are content with teachers continuing to do what they have always done. Professional development (1) deepens teachers’ knowledge of the subjects being taught; (2) sharpens teaching skills in the classroom; (3) keeps up with developments in the individual fields and in education generally; (4) generates and contributes new knowledge to the profession; and (5) increases the ability to monitor students’ work, in order to provide constructive feedback to students and appropriately redirect teaching.

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What is your view regarding the ASSET Test?

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ASSET is a diagnostic test which unlike regular tests, measures how well a student has understood concepts and gives detailed feedback on the same, to help him/her improve.

News Bite Encourage students to think critically: PM Modi to teachers On the eve of Teachers' Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India should regain the status of 'vishwaguru' (leader in education) by according high respect to teachers whom he asked to encourage students to think critically about issues concerning nation.

In an email message to teachers, he told them that their determination and sincerity will shape the destiny of the nation as they are laying the foundation and the building blocks of the society.

"Teaching is not just another profession. It is a divine responsibility to guide and enlighten," Modi said in his message of greetings.

Source: TOI

ASSET and Duke University TIP launch India Talent Search Press Conferences were held in multiple cities across India to officially launch the 'Duke TIP ASSET Talent Search' (www.ei-india.com/ talentsearch). 25+ Newspapers across India carried the News.

Every child is unique and can attain her full potential if her talent is discovered and properly nurtured. But do we have programmes to identify and nurture our BEST minds? Identifying and nurturing gifted minds – can be rewarding and beneficial for society as a whole. With this belief the talent search was launched to reach out to schools and families of gifted children across India, to help them reach their true potential.

'Duke TIP ASSET Talent Search' is a joint initiative between Duke University's Talent Identification Program (www.tip.duke.edu) and Educational Initiatives to identify the hidden and finest scholastic talents among 7th and 8th grade students of Mathematics, Science and English subjects and provide them holistic educational guidance and educational opportunities designed specifically to academically talented students.

The talent search test will be conducted on November 30, 2014.

Afternoon Dispatch

Setting Brilliant Minds On The Road To Success Over the past decade, ASSET has assessed 1.5 million students across India and the Middle East, aiding schools, teachers and parents in determining and assessing the level of conceptual understanding in students. ASSET provides detailed reports for students to help them gain insight into their academic strengths and weaknesses, indicating their academic progress and the areas that require attention, for the betterment of their learning process.

For 35 years, Duke TIP has been identifying academically talented students around the world and providing innovative programs to support the development of their optimal educational potential.

Together, ASSET and Duke TIP are proud to bring you and your academically talented students The Duke TIP ASSET Talent Search. This international talent search program is designed to identify academically talented students from grades VII and VIII and to provide them the recognition and learning opportunities to support they need to reach their true potential.

How does the Duke TIP ASSET Talent Search help gifted students and families?

The Duke TIP ASSET Talent Search offers educators, students and their families the opportunity to recognize and understand how advanced their students' academic abilities are, and to learn what kind of educational challenges will be appropriate for them. Academically talented VII and VIII graders who enrol in the Duke TIP ASSET Talent Search are invited to join other such talented peers across India and the UAE to take an above-level ASSET test. Participating students receive a comprehensive results summary of their performance on the above-level test, in addition to various educational resources and benefits that help them make the most of their academic talents.

Who can participate?

The Duke TIP ASSET Talent Search has been created for students demonstrating superior academic performance.

In ASSET schools: Students presently studying in VII and VIII grade and who have scored 95 percentile or more in English, Maths or Science, during the current or the previous year’s ASSET test, are eligible to participate.

In Non-ASSET schools: Schools can nominate up to the top 5% of students in VII and VIII grade in Maths, Science, and English (e.g., if 120 students are in class 7, then up to 6 students can be nominated in Maths, 6 students in Science, and 6 students in English). A minimum of 40% of nominated students should be girls (except if the school is boys only).

Talent Search Fee Rs. 1800 for India & AED 200 for UAE

Participation Benefits

and three-hour classes during weekends

Above-level testing Experience and Results Summary

• Enjoy creative residential experiences, designed to cultivate teamwork and leadership while giving students a chance to forge lifelong friendships with their gifted peers.

Academically gifted students already excel on tests devised for their grade, but the knowledge and experience gained from taking an above-level test is invaluable for them.

Taking an above-level test can help students gain a better understanding of their academic abilities and potential, and can assist families and educators in finding appropriate academic challenges for their children throughout secondary school.

Participating students receive a comprehensive results summary of their performance on the above-level ASSET test relative to other participants. The summary will also provide suggestions for academic development based on areas of strength and areas for improvement.

Sample courses: • Cryptography—Codebreaking and the Mathematics of Spying • Engineering Problem Solving • Forensic Science • International Relations

world in live classes taught by experts in various fields. Students interact with peers and instructors through online discussions, virtual lectures and real-time collaborations.

Live sessions are recorded and can be viewed later if a student is unable to attend.

Sample courses: • Abnormal Psychology • Neuroscience: Biology of the Brain • Genetics • Academic Writing

• Entrepreneurial Leadership Duke TIP eStudies Duke TIP’s distance learning program, eStudies, provides students with an online educational platform that let’s them attend courses with gifted students from around the

Recognition All students will receive participation certificates from the Duke TIP ASSET Talent Search.

ASSET Talent Search Scholars Students who perform exceptionally well on the above-level test will be recognized as ‘ASSET Talent Search Scholars’ and given special certificates.

Zone-wise recognition In addition to the ‘ASSET Talent Search Scholars’ certificates, these students will receive special zone-wise recognition.

Duke TIP Educational Programs Exceptional performance on the above-level test will qualify some students for Duke TIP’s educational programs designed specifically for academically talented students.

The Duke TIP Summer Studies Program (SSP): The Duke Summer Studies Program is an opportunity for academically talented students to spend three exciting weeks learning and exploring topics of interest alongside similarly gifted peers who share a thirst for knowledge.

Participants will: • Learn subjects that are not covered in the school syllabus from exceptionally talented instructors and mentors who are presently pursuing masters/doctoral programs • Experience a quick learning pace in all classes, e.g. students enrolled in the program attend seven-hour classes during weekdays

Contact Website: www.ei-india.com/talentsearch OR www.tip.duke.edu/india Email: talentsearch@ei-india.com Mobile: +91 955-877-7541 Land Line: +9179 6621-1627

THOUGHTFUL Story Post-it Notes The 3M Company encourages creativity from its employees. The company allows its researchers to spend 15 percent of their time on any project that interests them. This attitude has brought fantastic benefits not only to the employees but to the 3M Company itself. Many a times, a spark of an idea turned into a successful product has boosted 3M's profits tremendously.

Some years ago, a scientist in 3M's commercial office took advantage of this 15 percent creative time. This scientist, Art Fry, came up with an idea for one of 3M's best-selling products. It seems that Art Fry dealt with a small irritation every Sunday as he sang in the church choir. After marking his pages in the hymnal with small bits of paper, the small pieces would invariably fall out all over the floor.

Suddenly, an idea struck Fry. He remembered an adhesive developed by a colleague that everyone thought was a failure because it did not stick very well. "I coated the adhesive on a paper sample," Fry recalls, "and I found that it was not only a good bookmark, but it was great for writing notes. It will stay in place as long as you want it to, and then you can remove it without damage."

Yes, Art Fry hit the jackpot. The resulting product was called Post-it! and has become one of 3M's most successful office products.

Mindspark World Testimonials Because it helps us understand difficult topics and give chances to improve our weak points in mathematics.

I LIKE MINDSPARK BECAUSE I HATE MATHS AND MINDSPARK IS A FUN WAY OF DOING MATHS.

Its challenging- interestingconcept oriented and also enhances the understanding of principles.

Akshita Khanna 7A, Delhi Public SchoolSushant Lok, New Delhi

Anoushka Dasgupta 4C, Modern High School for Girls, Kolkata

Tushar S 5B, Manthan Vidyashram, Chennai

I Love Mindspark ....

FUN Zone Teacher: From where to where foreigner ruled us?

Papu: I am not sure but I think from page 50 to 55.

MISCONCEPTION Series Reading for Understanding – Grammar

Q

Class 6: English

Choose the sentence WITHOUT AN ERROR. A

I went for shopping and enjoyed.

B

I went for shopping and enjoyed myself.

D. 14.9%

No. of Students 7452

C I went shopping and enjoyed myself.

P D

A. 14.0%

C. 31.7%

P

I went for a shopping and enjoyed.

B. 34.3%

Only 31.7% answered correctly

with several examples by focusing on the common mistakes students make in sentence construction.

In the sentence, ‘I went shopping and enjoyed myself.’ students need to be told that ‘shopping’ is a present participle, a form of verb and is not a noun.

Although participles are commonly thought of as an adjectival, some participles clearly have an adverbial function, providing information of time, place, reason, and manner, as other adverbials do. In the sentences here, ‘shopping’ is an adverb of place, describing the verb ‘went’ (I went (where)? I went shopping.) Had students internalised this concept, many more would have got this answer correct.

1 Why was the question asked in ASSET test?

Although incorrect grammar is not noticed by some people, correct grammar is definitely noticed by most people for whom writing is their job. Grammatical errors will tend to reduce the credibility of the author in the eyes of the readers.

Therefore, writing with proper grammatical structures should be habit forming. Loose writing with the intention of editing and correcting the errors later will only lead to the errors becoming a habit. This question checks students’ ability to recognise the fine nuances of grammatical correctness in sentences.

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What did students answer?

32% of 7,452 students chose Option C, the correct answer; I went shopping and enjoyed myself. An almost equal percentage, 34% of them chose Option B I went for shopping and enjoyed myself. About 14% each chose Options A and D. Possible reason for A: Students choosing this option- ‘I went for shopping and enjoyed.’ were probably swayed by a literal translation from the vernacular.

Possible reason for B: In this option too students seem to have the same reasoning as for Option A - I went for shopping and enjoyed myself. The only difference between the two is the use of the word "myself" which completes the sentence with a "predicate" (an “object”). This indicates that the students know that “enjoy” is a transitive verb. A possible reason for the error is that Indian languages do not allow the use of “shopping” directly with the verb. Indian languages require the equivalent of a preposition in the sentence. This fact is reflected by the choice the students make of including a preposition “for” in the sentence.

Possible reason for D: In this case students seem to think that ‘the act of buying -shopping’ implies ‘a place like a market place full of shops’ and is likely to be a noun, which is why the article ‘a’ before ‘shopping’ appears to be most likely.

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Learnings Students seem to be unsure of why ‘for’ or ‘a’ are incorrect before the word ‘shopping’. They seem to interpret it as a noun and qualify it with an article or use a preposition before it. At the same time students seem undecided about whether ‘enjoyed’ is okay as a stand-alone or requires an object like “myself” to form a complete sentence.

Some of the errors in grammar, like ‘wrong inclusion of words, incorrect word order, missing articles etc.’, seem to be happening when students think in the vernacular and translate every word they use in the regional language into English.

It is important to teach students the usage of various concepts in Grammar

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How do we handle this?

First tell students that the present participles are the ‘–ING’ verbals that usually function as adjectives and occasionally function as adverbs. When participles function as adjectives, they are usually found preceding the nouns and pronouns in a sentence. When participles function as adverbs, they are typically found following the verb in a sentence.

For example: The running water provided a picturesque view. (adjectival) The clown was able to stop the raging bull from attacking the rider. (adjectival) The car stopping at the light was hit by the truck. (adjectival) The bull came running towards the rodeo clown. (adverbial) Also tell students that participles are used after verbs of movement/position in the pattern: verb + present participle, particularly with the verb ‘to go’ Example: • She went shopping • He went running to meet his mother.

• She wanted to go swimming in the sea.

Some other ideas to reinforce this topic: • Take a paragraph of approx. 150 words which has (time, place, verb) and make it a cloze passage (give fill in the blanks) before these.

• You can also give options (a/the) (for/to) for children to choose from.

Options help to know what alternative children are using, if not the correct one.

• A rule of thumb to provide could be to say that ‘–ING’ forms do not take articles (a, an, the).

• Take the answer from the 'Fill in the blank' exercise, which has the highest wrong answers and discuss it in class. Help students to arrive at the correct reasons for the correct answers on their own.

For example: In this sentence, you can ask children "What is shopping? Is it a noun? Is it a verb? Is it a place?" Ask children to give examples of other nouns, /verbs. Then ask them questions like –Where did you go? (I went shopping.)

And how did you feel there and why? (I felt happy because I enjoyed myself.)

• Give them several such exercises for practice.

For more information about ASSET, write to us at info@ei-india.com

7 Day FREE Trial Students can learn Maths anywhere and anytime with Mindspark www.mindspark.in mindspark@ei-india.com

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