Articles, tips, interesting links for teachers

1. August 2010
Volume 4, Issue 8 Inspiring Teachers
Driving educational change through excellence in teaching
Pic above:
Sevalaya’s MKB
High School, 2010
Awards – 2010
Articles this
month: Teacher’s Academy announces Inspiring Teacher Awards to be given on 5th September
2010. You can nominate teachers – retired or working, who have influenced you
Teachers’ Day profoundly through their academic excellence or their teaching methods or their personal
2009…2 qualities. Your mail with the teacher’s name, contact details, his/her inspiring qualities and
your own contact details must reach info@inspiring-teachers.com before 15th August 2010.
Graphic Or fill a form on our website www.inspiring-teachers.com
Organisers….3
Reflecting on July
Announcements and
Interesting links …4 1. 3rd July, Holy Cross College, BHEL, Hyderabad – one day workshop
2. 9th July, ACE Engineering College, Hyderabad – one day workshop
Reader’s views ….6
3. Weekly session for Adam’s High School, Hyderabad
4. 15th – 17th July, SWOT analysis at NMREC, Hyderabad
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August events
Training Needs Analysis and Impact Evaluation – ESCI
University of Hyderabad students
CIT Content review and launching – IIITH
New initiatives on talent induction in teaching
Inviting original article or tips from and for teachers
Please send write ups of up to 800 words to be published in this newsletter and/or
our website. These can be on theories of teaching and learning, any tips that you
have tried and found useful, or reviews of websites or books. Do not send just the
link, explore the site or the book and write a review in your own words.

2. Inspiring Teachers Page 2 of 6
Teachers’ Day – with a difference Thiagarajan Arunachalam
Teachers Academy As an invitee I had the that they had received so far
conducted a unique privilege to watch a function in their lives.
program of felicitating with a difference. Many Where do we see students
teachers. Dr. Garimella students came up on the voting for, speaking for openly
Uma the person behind stage and spoke about their and giving awards to their
this academy, had organized teachers. The students were teachers – this was a function
a very appealing function of all ages current students with a difference – not
with a difference. from primary classes to only did the teachers feel
They had initially sent out a college level and many happy and proud but the
call to all students to vote students who had left their others in the
Siddhartha Ghosh,
talking about his for inspiring teachers from educational institutions to audience also felt that this was
inspiring teacher Dr their point of view. As many make it big in their lives and a rare honour.
Sameen Fatima of OU
College of Engineering, as 35 teachers still would like to remember Teacher’s Academy is
5th Sep2009 at our were voted by students each and felicitate their teachers. definitely doing their services
awards function
one for a unique Many of the teachers with a difference.
A report of last year’s
function on the right skill/ability/talent they receiving these awards said From post in Karmayog.org
For more pictures see
possess and employ in their that this award was more
our site.
teaching. precious than all the awards
File pic: The awardees of 2009 with the guests of honor Mr Prasad, CMD of CfBT-ES and Prof PV Narasimham, Director, AMSSOI

3. Page 3 of 6 Inspiring Teachers
Graphic Organisers …………………………part I - Uma Garimella
Graphic Organizers (GOs), Bloom’s taxonomy and Graphic Organisers
some of which are also GOs can be used to reach different levels of learners in a
called concept maps, entity class. Making these can be a good group or individual
relationship charts (rings a activity, depending on the complexity of the concept and
bell, computer students?) the ability of the student. Let me illustrate this with an
and mind maps are a example of the most fundamental and generic type of a GO
pictorial way of - the concept map. Commercially this has also been
constructing knowledge successful as ‘Mindmap’. The concept map can be made as
and organizing colorful as possible with pictures or text or it can be a
information. They have simple black and white picture. Given below is a concept
been used in many good map.
books to convey complex A student who is the first level of Bloom’s taxonomy will be
information in a structured able to write only the ‘bubbles’ or the 'boxes’, the
way. You are all familiar comprehension level can be brought out by making only
with flow charts, schematic the simple connections between the bubbles like part of,
diagrams, Venn diagrams type of, has, consists of etc. The analytical and application
etc levels are illustrated by more connections with other
They help you convert and related concepts, examples etc
compress a lot of seemingly The beauty of this activity is that student’s ‘constructed
disjointed information into knowledge’ is demonstrated for validation and then it
pictures which are simple- can be corrected or enhanced, if necessary. This is the
to-read and understand. fundamental aspect of student centred learning and being
And they develop analytical able to observe the outcomes of learning.
and creative skills also.
When these are prepared
Watch this video where
either as group work or
mind mapping has been
individually, the learning successfully used by
the government schools
happens very fast. These
in Tamil Nadu under the
can also be used as tools for SSA project. The
students love this
exam preparation; instead
method as they need
of reading or reviewing not ‘by heart’ their texts
and are confident of
entire text, you can just
answering any
look at these pictures and questions.
http://www.youtube.com/
get a gist of the topic. watch?v=7gajJ9huCog
Apart from being used as a
teaching aid by the teacher,
they can be prepared by
students.

4. Inspiring Teachers Page 4 of 6
Reform Symposium Agastya – hands on science
The Reform Symposium Primary education is the scalable and sustainable
Call for papers is a free online conference foundation on which the model. Located in
for educators, intellectual capital of a Gudivanka on a 172 acre
administrators, parents country us built – with a ‘wasteland’, now it is
http://www.ietec.my/
International and students. This year firm belief in this principle, becoming an ecology park.
Engineering and the conference is focused Agastya runs one of world’s Yes' to 'Why'
Technology Education 'Looking' to 'Observing'
on innovative practices in largest hands-on science 'Passiveness' to 'Exploring'
Conference (16th to 19th 'Textbook-bound' to 'Hands-
education and what role teaching programs. From
jan 2011), Malaysia on'
Deadline 20th August these practices can play in mobile labs to teacher 'Fear' to 'Confidence'
Read more at
2010 educational reform. For training, art and model http://www.agastya.org/index
details visit making, Agastya has a .html
http://reformsymposium.com/
Interesting Links
• This blog is by Anurag Behar, who is the Chief Sustainability Officer of Wipro.
Topics
http://www.livemint.com/articles/keywords.aspx?kw=%20Anurag%20Behar
• Musical Notes for teaching
http://www.musicnotesonline.com/
Related to Engineering
and Technology education • Gateway to 21st century skills
Learning/teaching and http://www.thegateway.org/
assessing
• High tech cheating and how to stop it
Outcomes-based curriculum
design and implementation http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/06/education/06cheat.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=
Teaching-research nexus rss
Class-room teaching
• List of English learning sites
Distance, online and flexible
learning http://www.stroppycat.com/
Accreditation and quality • Portal where companies, universities, international agencies and student bodies can
Curriculum design, advertise their competitions, conferences, events, internships and jobs
development and
implementation http://www.letmeknow.in/
Design, development. • Stories of charity
implementation and http://yearofgiving.org/
assessment of e-Learning tools
Student-centered learning • Coaching syndrome
Staff professional http://www.hindu.com/op/2010/01/10/stories/2010011055711400.htm
development Must See Videos on Education
Academic retention and
Work-based • Videos of social change
Internationalisation of http://www.karmatube.org/
engineering and technology • Over 1400 videos for education
education
http://www.khanacademy.org/

5. Page 5 of 6 Inspiring Teachers
Graphic Organisers from p 3
Another powerful GO is the problem analysis. Most effective when used Did you know?
vocabulary chart. Though the in a group, when you use the ‘five why’s’
picture here gives an example of method. That is, for a specific symptom or
In 2004, the world’s
language, this can be used issue you ask ‘why?’. Then ask why again for largest Montessori School
virtually in any subject. An the answer you get and so on until you get to was in Lucknow, India,
with 27000 students.
effective means to give students a the root cause of the problem.
Jagdish Gandhi and his
handle on the essential definitions This allows us to solve the basic cause than wife Bharti Gandhi, M.Ed.,
founded the school in
and new words of a topic. apply remedies for the symptom. I
1959.
For example, the elements of the recommend it for the case studies in
periodic table in chemistry (fill up The word set has the most
management subjects and for scientific
meanings in the English
information like atomic weight, enquiry. language- 192
atomic number, symbol,
Though we use pedagogy
properties, where it is found etc), to mean teaching
the biographies of important methods, for adult
learners the correct word
persons (date and place of birth, is andragogy.
names of parents, great
achievements, his picture), the
mathematical symbols etc
I will conclude this month’s article
with the Fishbone diagram,
familiar to many who teach root
cause analysis or defect analysis.
This is useful in conducting
brainstorming sessions for

6. Reader’s Views – The reality of reality shows - Mrs Indira Narayan HM, St
Ann’s HS, Secunderabad
Teacher’s Academy Every parent, I feel, right of them to show her so. Every gush of emotion,
should be conversant with a world of glamour, be it in joy or in sadness,
Child Rights as stated by fanfare, (the euphoria she does have some impact on
Hyderabad the law. I was surprised would have experienced the mind and thereby on the
to see the manner some when the place body. Aren’t we pressing the
PHONE: parents of the children of reverberated with claps fast forward button in the
97011 41118
the ‘AATA’ show were and cheers after her song) lives of these youngsters,
defending the sponsors, and then suddenly snatch zooming it into adulthood?
E-MAIL:
info@inspiring-teachers.com not seeing anything it away? WHY expose the As it is, today the pressure
harmful in the show or in tender mind to such on school going children is
the manner their things? While I can so much that they hardly
daughters were gyrating understand the parents’ have time to enjoy
to the song which had concern my heart goes to themselves. They are not
adult themes ; the little Neha who was given time to savour the
meaning of which these shown that she could stages of growing step by
children were oblivious to. reach the moon and was step. And we like to talk
When and how will these suddenly made to land on about Child Rights! Is it
kids savour childhood? the hard earth. right? What will most
In this light it was The flip side of this is children of today remember
heartening to read in the equally troublesome. of their childhood when
newspapers that the High Young innocents eagerly they grow up ….will it be
Court has decided to ban made to participate in happy memories of school,
See us at: these kind of shows. Shows that showcase innocent pranks, the thrill
www.inspiring-teachers.com Winning brings joy to their talent, beg of the of short cuts to make
each participant at every viewers to vote for them projects in the last minute,
level that they get and with wide eyed hope the school canteen, the
selected. But to those who and aspiration wait with report cards, the games
don’t the repercussions bated breath (how tense field and such small and big
are bad, the breaking they are at this time need features or will it be the
down, the sad face, the not be spelt out) to know, intense preparations for
tears rolling down all initially, not whether they Reality Shows, no time to
become yardsticks of have won, but whether be in touch with friends and
their failure which they they qualify for the next hence oblivious of what they
find difficult to face. round. When they do are missing….remembering
The news of the death of qualify one can literally only one thing that has
11year old Neha Sawant of see them heave a sigh of brought them there ..
the ‘Boogie Woogie’ talent relief and heart of hearts winning winning and
has literally jolted me to thank God for it! If they winning, name fame
the reality of such shows. don’t qualify don’t we see name! Dear Parents of
In Neha’s case her parents the sudden wave of young children think about
wanted her to study and disappointment well in it…and about your little
hence withdrew her from their eyes? Are these ones
the Show. But I ask why mood and emotional
in the first place did they swings good for their
allow her to participate in health? No I don’t think
the reality show? Was it