Articles, tips, news, announcements for teachers

1. Jan 2011
Volume 5, Issue 1 Inspiring Teachers
Driving educational change through excellence in teaching
Editor’s Comments
It’s not just the beginning of Teacher’s Academy has professional colleges. This
a new year, but also a new formed an advisory month Behera writes about an
decade. The last two board with experienced initiative he has taken in his
decades have been eventful and passionate people school.
with the opening of our from academics and There’s also excerpt from a
economy and the industry. The year 2011 book by Malcolm Gladwell
This month: consumerism that has now is being named as ‘The that is related to teachers.
Article review - become all pervasive. So year for the Predictions for the next
what’s the
difference what’s the next decade professional decade and a picture contest
between a bad
and a good going to be like? I invite you colleges’ with focus on and more….
teacher? … …..2 to write your opinions on faculty development and Read on and share…
Uma
this topic to publish in 2011. differentiation for
Classroom
Journal…………3
Behera
Connect with Teacher’s Academy on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter
Double Meanings?
-email fwd………...3
KVJ http://www.facebook.com/people/Inspiring-Teachers/100000171661522?ref=search
http://twitter.com/TeachersAcademy#
Predictions for next
decade…………4 http://in.linkedin.com/in/umagarimella
Interesting links …4
!! Contests !!
Announcements…5
1. Please suggest a creative tagline for the academy along with a logo/symbol for ‘the
year of the professional colleges’. Entries should reach by e-mail before 15th Jan 2011
to info@inspiring-teachers.com
If your suggestion is used by Teacher’s Academy, you will get a SurPRIZE. If you don’t
feel creative enough, just answer the poll on our site
2. The website is due for another revamp. Please send your ideas to make the site more
useful and to drive traffic to the site on a daily basis. If your idea gets used, you get
credit on the site. Send to info@inspiring-teachers.com before 10th Jan 2011

2. Inspiring Teachers Page 2 of 5
What’s the difference between a good and a bad
teacher?
For those who haven’t read in this article was some teacher covers 1 ½ years
or heard of Malcolm Stanford survey about worth in one academic year
Gladwell, he has been a staff teaching that he has whereas a bad teacher
writer with The New Yorker referred to. covers ½ year’s worth. So a
magazine since 1996. In He starts with the student is better off in bad
2005 he was named one of statement that student school with a good teacher
Time Magazine's 100 Most performance is a crude than an excellent school
Influential People. He is the measure of a teacher’s with a bad teacher.
author of four books, "The ability, since a teacher is Similarly, you have to cut
Tipping Point: How Little not responsible for how down the class size to half to
Things Make a Big much is learnt and also all get the same boost as you
Difference," (2000) , "Blink: that a teacher has taught would get by switching from
The Power of Thinking cannot be captured in a an average teacher to a good
Without Thinking" (2005), standardized test. teacher. Given that salaries
and "Outliers: The Story of But well, this is the metric of both teachers are same,
Success" (2008) "What the chosen for this study. you can figure out the costs
Dog Saw" (2009). Eric Hanushek of Stanford of doubling number of
In this last book, he has an has conducted extensive classes to hiring good
article titled ‘Most likely to studies and concluded teachers. He calculates that
succeed’ with a tagline ‘how that teacher effects dwarf among reforms like class
Editorial Review of one
do we hire when we can’t class-size effects and size, curricula and funding,
article - ‘Most likely to
succeed’, from Malcolm tell who’s right for the job’. school standards. He says nothing matters more than
Gladwell’s ‘What the What I was quite impressed that on an average a good hiring and funding the right
dog saw and other kind of teachers.
adventures’
Gladwell talks at length of the process and the costs the financial industry incurs in hiring,
filtering and grooming investment advisors. Then he closes the paragraph with a thought
provoking line – ‘what does it say about a society that devotes more care and patience to
selection of those who handle its money than of those who handle its children?
Now comes the even more important facet of the study. It is very difficult to know who a good
teacher is before they start performing. Typically, we think higher quality of teachers is better
grades in academics and cognition. However, this study suggests that teaching is much more
complicated than just being ‘book smart’. The skills required are ability to engage the
students, to be in control without being aggressive, to quickly take rounds of class and give
individual attention to students.

3. Inspiring Teachers Page 3 of 5
The classroom journal, an experiment – Bhagirathi Behera
In my journey as a teacher, which is for the students
3. Features- Special Issue,
I recently had an and by the students. The
Student’s page, Teacher’s
experience of bringing out teachers will only help.
page, Campus page etc.
the school magazine. When This provides a platform
The frequency of the
the committee asked for for the students to show
journal can be quarterly
articles, poems, jokes etc, their creative skills.
or bimonthly. We have
no one was interested to With the help of the
named it “The Campus”
submit. Even those who students we came up with
and I am happy to say the
did, many had copied from 1. Creative team-Teacher
first issue has come this
the internet and had to be Editor. Student Editor, The classroom journal
month as a special New
rejected. Student Designer, Campus
Year issue.
This made me think. Are Reporter, Publisher etc.
Students were extremely Bhagirathi Behera works in
the children really 2. Sections- story, poem,
happy and excited by Shantinikethan Vidyalaya in
incapable of thinking and jokes, birthdays,
seeing their work and Shamirpet, near Hyderabad.
writing on their own? Is achievements, You can get a copy of The
craft on printed format. I
language their problem? Or celebrations, results, Campus by e-mailing:
feel that students will
thinking? To address this upcoming events, special bhagijune19@gmail.com
overcome their fear of
problem, I crafted the idea messages, announcements
writing by contributing to
called classroom journal etc.
this journal regularly.
Double meanings? – fwded by KV JayakumarThey will also get
• The bandage was wound around the wound. • They were too close to the door to close it.
• The farm was used to produce produce. • The buck does funny things when the does are
present.
• The dump was so full that it had to refuse more
refuse • A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a
sewer line.
• We must polish the Polish furniture.
• To help with planting, the farmer taught his
• He could lead if he would get the lead out.
sow to sow.
• The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the
• The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
desert.
• After a number of injections my jaw got
• Since there is no time like the present, he thought
number.
it was time to present the present.
• Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a
• A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
tear.
• When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
• I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
• I did not object to the object.
• How can I intimate this to my most intimate
• The insurance was invalid for the invalid. friend?
• There was a row among the oarsmen about how to
row.

4. Inspiring Teachers Page 4 of 5
Higher Education predictions for the next decade
com
• The value associated with post-graduate degrees in Computer Science/related
fields continues to decline, because you can always pick up “hot” skills in the
industry if you are motivated and thus increase your market value. Formal
education will matter less and less. The phenomena of bright programmer kids
dropping out of school to do jobs/startups will happen in India on a wider scale.
Picture Contest • However, for those interested in R&D, post-graduate education will continue to
serve as a great formal introduction to the method of research and the span of
their research area. Knowing how to do R&D may not be enough — how to
commercialize it will matter equally.
Write 50 words of what
the above picture • Early and rapid skills acquisition’ will become important for students and fresh
conveys to you. Send graduates if they want to survive in this industry. Downturns will be more
your entry before 5th pronounced and more people will lose jobs when that happens. So graduates
Jan 2011 to
will need to plan careers carefully and figure out the entire bouquet of skills (not
info@inspiring-
teachers.com . The just tech skills) for them to grow in a company. At the same time, due to more
most interesting answer R&D, product development, and entrepreneurship happening in India,
will get a surPRIZE. opportunities for graduates will increase. As always, entire new sectors will also
emerge and they will need IT
From PuneTech.com
Interesting Links
• Corporates allowed to start technical institutions
http://www.hindu.com/2010/12/31/stories/2010123169102400.htm
• MyDrona: An affordable portable personalized educational platform
http://mydrona.com/mydrona/index.html
• EazyNotes – a site put by a computer science teacher http://eazynotes.com/
This two-letter word in
• The future of presenting http://revoltpresenting.com/
English has more
meanings than any • A first hand account of ICT in education
other two-letter word http://www.livemint.com/2010/12/15201000/Limits-of-ict-in-education.html?h=D
• Discover the creative engineer in you http://tryengineering.org/
• Singapore teacher network http://www.1800-teacher.com/
•

5. Inspiring Teachers Page 5 of 5
For your students…
Teacher’s Academy
Hyderabad
PHONE:
97011 41118 2011 can apply. For more
We are looking for young, e-mail your resume with a 200
details contact
talented and enthusiastic word write up of why you want
E-MAIL: info@inspiring-teachers.com
info@inspiring-teachers.com interns for training, to do this internship.
Stipend for the period will
marketing, content writing,
range from 4,000/- to 7,000/-
website management and
based on the performance of
other activities. Those who
the candidate.
are studying or graduating in
About Teacher’s Academy…
Started three years ago, Please do leave your
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already 1600 teacher feedback on workshops on
about changing the
members on-line, 25 the site About Us
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Share articles, useful
resume and talk to me.
Long term projects are links, teaching resources
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--Thanks
professional colleges. teaching with a growing
Uma Garimella
Continuous support and community of our teacher
multiple initiatives will be mailing list.
included for holistic and
sustainable change.