inspiring teachers jan 2012
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January 2012
Volume 6, Issue 1 Inspiring Teachers
Articles this month:
Faculty of the Month
……………..….2
Paradigm Shift …..3
Caption Contest
……………….3
Must Watch Websites
……………….4
Classroom Humour
……………….4
Open Source Teacher’s
Handbook ……………… 5
Driving educational change through excellence in teaching
We have entered a new calendar year and
my greetings to you all! But years are just
numbers, aren’t they? And every year, it’s
the same story. Resolutions, hope, routine,
reviews and count down to another year,
and zero hour!!! We need to see what
impact we are having, how we like to be
remembered, how we live our life. In fact,
I have been reflecting a lot for the past few
weeks on what is the direction of the
Academy!
I will uncover these as the year goes, but
will be happy if my readers can send some
possible activities for the Academy this
year.
This month’s faculty is Dr Arundhati
Sardesai, called Maya Tai by everyone. I
met her at Sholapur and saw her energy
and enthusiasm. Was surprised to see her
age in the profile! Apart from formal
degrees, she has learnt a lot from her
hobbies and she shares with all her
students.
In this issue, we have our fare of useful
links, picture caption contest and
invitation to contribute to an open source
teacher’s handbook. And do get a new
view of the world and life in 2012!
Read page 3.
Happy reading ☺
Uma Garimella
Editor’s Comments Send in your ideas for our
projects
What would you like us to do this year?
Training? Seminars? Conferences on
teaching? Student awareness? Parent
Awareness? Teachers’ placements?
Showcasing great teachers? Publish books?
Anything else? Do write to us and find your
name in the project.
See article on these pictures on page 3
Inspiring Teachers Page 2 of 6
(Read full interview at
www.theprofessor.in)
How did you get initiated into teaching? It was the third quarter of
an academic year in one of
the very reputed Delhi
schools when I joined it as a
teacher of Mathematics, in
place of a young person who
was getting married. I had
typical regional accents in
those days. My students
were not very happy as the
image of their previous
teacher was not matching
me. I was trying my best to
please them. At the end of
that academic year I could
not promote two of my class
students which made me
extremely sad. Even in
those days, I was a believer
of a Spearman’s theory, that
95% students must
understand 95% of your
teaching, to be a teacher.
My truthful tears with those
students and their parents
changed the picture about
me amongst students and
fellow teachers. When
Indian Air Force posted us
out of Delhi after three
years, I could not erase the
picture of the previous
teacher from students’ mind
but I was successful in
carving a good teacher’s
impression on them. It was
carved on the tender minds
of my students, that their
achievements will be valued
along with the higher
achievers of the whole class.
I never encouraged an
excellence of a single person
better than the rest when
the class was showing
average performance.
According to me, it is a duty
of the highest achiever to
make others come on par
with him to fight a tough
competition with the rest.
My own sons were also
taught the same thing. That
gave wonderful results. All
my students realised the
value of sharing and
genuine competition in all
fields.
What are your other interests? I am having a good
collection of fossils
(Himalayan and other),
coins (right from Mughal-
Shivaji period to the latest
commemorative coins made
by RBI), I am having First
Day covers and Stamps
printed by Indian Post
Office, crystals and stones I
like to gather, I have
collected remains of Indus-
Chinese-Inca-Mayan and
many local civilizations. I
have the capsule issues of
Times of India (1838
onwards) and the issues of
journals of American
Freedom. Though I am a
total atheist I have
wonderful miniature idols
of gods and goddesses. I am
a regular trekker and do
cycling and walking to keep
me fit.
What kind of
innovations do you do
in teaching?
All my treasure is used
while teaching or giving
lectures on any academic
subject or on social issues. I
like to use maps while
teaching so that people get
exact idea about the places
they are taken to! The maps
can be used in languages,
History, Geography,
Sociology etc. My trekking
expeditions, photos and
videos provide them new
inspiration. When I take my
students/enthusiast, to
different forts in Sahyadri
and we clean water tanks,
roads and environment,
they feel proud to be
associated with the hard
work.
Faculty of the month Dr Arundhati Sardesai, Manavya, Pune
Dr Mrs Arundhati Sardesai is a well known educationist and writer. She is on board of several educational and research institutions and is currently actively engaged in Manavya - a residential care and rehabilitation center of HIV/AIDS affected destitute/orphaned children and women. The reason she is profiled here is that she has been a teacher all her life, in schools and colleges. And she led some teacher education institutes like Raja Shree Shivaraya Pratishthan and Meenatai Thakre D. Ed.College, Pune and worked for adult literacy too. She delivers many talks on AIR Pune, varied public functions and has written articles in Hindi, English and Marathi in journals & magazines. She has varied educational degrees in Maths to Philosophy and Law, of course always at the top of her class. She has received several awards for her work in education and social work.
Inspiring TeachersPage 3 of 6
Are you wondering what
the pictures on page 1 are?
Well, one is a ‘down under’
map made in Australia. And
the other a “Pacific centred”
map.
Ever wondered why we
should always have north
on top? Aren’t North,
South, East and West
purely arbitrary choices we
humans have made to have
a frame of reference? Yes,
and any other choice would
have been equally ‘right’.
But the downside (pun
intended) of any frame of
reference is that it puts us
in only one frame. After a
while (like a few decades)
we start to believe that the
frame is the reality.
The reason the second map
looks a little ‘distorted’ by
our standards is yet another
new perspective. All map
projections distort the
surface of earth in some
fashion because we are
moving from a 3-d sphere
(oblate spheroid for those
who want to be accurate) to
a 2-d map. The pacific
centred map given here is
an ‘equal area map’ which
Dr. Arno Peters created as a
new projection method that
dramatically improves the
accuracy of how we see the
Paradigm Shift - a new way of looking at the world Uma Garimella
Sharath Chandra: An
engineering student proving
it to the professor.
Ratna Manjari: Simple
question, mind boggling
solution.
Nalini Marthi: We are an
awesome twosome!
Original: In an increasingly
complex world, sometimes
old questions require new
answers
Shantaram: Stuck up with
2? Let me help you?
Earth. With the traditional
(Mercator) map Greenland
and China look to be the same
size but in reality China is
almost 4 times larger! So
much for geography!
I saw this map when I was in
France in 1995.
Perhaps most of you have
grown up with digital clocks
and actually wonder about the
origin of the word ‘clockwise’,
for us – well the clock has
always been ‘that way’. So it
was a pleasant surprise to see
an ‘anti-clockwise’ clock
which my friend made. It
takes a while to read the time
from this clock since we are
so used to ‘clockwise’ clock.
(see more left handed stuff at
http://www.anythingleft-
handed.co.uk/)
Stephen Covey in his Seven
Habits of Highly Effective
People talks about Paradigm
Shift that happens when
suddenly you get to know the
situation from another angle.
He gives an example of a
noisy family entering the
train much to everyone’s
annoyance until the father
reveals that the children had
just lost their mother. What
an astounding paradigm-
shift! To quote Covey: While
individuals may look at their
own lives and interactions in
terms of paradigms or maps
emerging out of their
experience and conditioning,
these maps are not the
territory. They are a ‘subjective
reality’ only an attempt to
describe the reality – he goes
on to write. What an apt
metaphor! We mistake the map
for the reality, whereas it is
only a representation of reality.
And does anyone know the
reality? Even science has
accepted that quantum physics
is not objective but changes
with the observer!
Dr Wayne Dyer also writes
about giving up black and
white thinking in his
“Erroneous Zones”. Thinking
that there is only your way of
thinking or doing something is
a sure way to unhappiness. We
need to cultivate this open
mind. For example,
try to do things with your non-
dominant hand, follow
different routes wherever
possible, read a different
newspaper etc
Another safe and sound way is
to become good listeners. Its
amazing how listening to
another person with your
100% attention opens up new
vistas for you, to look at the
world from the speaker’s point
of view. Contd on p 6
Caption describing
picture or graphic.
Inspiring Teachers Page 4 of 6
Classroom Humour
1. Academically adrift! A study finds that college grads don’t learn much because of low expectations of faculty!
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/01/18/study_finds_large_numbers_of_college_students_don_t_learn_much
2. Assessment of graduating students
http://www.collegiatelearningassessment.org/ 3. Earn a master’s degree in teaching
http://mat.usc.edu/ 4. IBM predicts future technologies
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/post/ibm-five-in-five-company-makes-tech-future-predictions/2011/12/19/gIQAvGKl4O_blog.html
5. Save the earth
http://www.youtube.com/embed/nGeXdv-uPaw
6. Hand Shadowgraphy by Amar Sen On Calcutta http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=H9LBHwlAeOU
7. MIT adds assessment to its OCW to offer certificates/degrees online
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/education/mit-expands-free-online-courses-offering-certificates.html?_r=2
8. Computer science is beyond just using IT – curriculum needs a reboot
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/computing-in-class-needs-reboot-6268889.html
9. Google and Pearson team up for free LMS http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/pearson-and-google-jump-into-learning-management-systems/33636?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+chronicle%2Fwiredcampus+%28The+Chronicle%3A+Wired+Campus%29
Son to father: My teacher pointed at me
with a ruler & said:
“At the End of this Ruler is an Idiot” I still
don’t get why I got rusticated.
I only asked him, “Which End Sir?”
Announcement in University:
"The students who have parked their cars
on the driveway, please move them"
Another announcement after 20 minutes
"The 200 students who went to move 9
cars please return to their respective
classes"
Master: How Old is ur father?
Pappu: As old as I am.
Master: How is it possible?
Pappu: He became father only after I was
born.
TEACHER: In this box, I have a 10-
foot snake.
SAMMY: You can't fool me, Teacher...
snakes don't have feet.
Physics Teacher: "Isaac Newton was
sitting under a tree when an apple fell
on his head and he discovered gravity.
Isn't that wonderful?"
Student: "Yes sir, if he had been sitting
in class looking at books like us, he
wouldn't have discovered anything."
Must watch websites available at http://www.theprofessor.in/blog/must-read-links/jan-2012/
Inspiring TeachersPage 5 of 6
Open Source Teachers’ Handbook Many people understand what is Open Source in software – a philosophy which gives access to the product’s source
material. It is also a philosophy where people contribute and cooperate to build a product. Bhagirathi Behera, a
teacher with more than 10 yrs experience and now working as a principal has initiated a book compilation project
with the help of the community of teachers. He has partnered with Teacher’s Academy to bring out this compilation
of experiences, opinions, ideas and expertise and make it available to all teachers. Your contributions will appear
with your name in the book.
What do you need to do? Please respond to the following questions and send to us along with your picture and brief profile (include information about high school, college, activities, honors, work experience, why you have chosen teaching as a career, what are your strengths as a teacher, your career goals in next 1, 3, 5 and 10 yrs ) QUESTIONS Your philosophy of teaching 1. Think of your best teachers.
What positive characteristics
do you believe these teachers
had? Which of these
characteristics do you believe
you have?
2. Think of your worst teachers.
What mistakes did they make
or qualities did they have?
How are you avoiding those
mistakes/qualities?
3. What three words would your
students use to describe you?
4. Define student and school
according to you.
5. How do you see the teacher’s
status and role in society
change in the recent past?
Beyond class 6. What is the purpose of
homework / projects? What is
your typical homework /
project?
Involving Parents 1. What role have parents played
(and are playing) in shaping
today’s education system?
2. What are some ways you
involve parents in your
student development
strategy?
3. How do you approach a
parent who is upset and
and/or angry?
Teaching 4. Explain how you structure the
40/45 minutes of a class
period?
5. How much effort do you put
in planning this lesson? (in
terms of subject, method,
aids)
6. How do you cater to the
different needs of students in
your class?
7. How do you incorporate
technology into your
instructions?
Classroom management 1. How do you handle disruptive
students in the classroom?
Any special strategies for the
occasional and for the
repetitive behavior?
2. How do you create an
atmosphere of tolerance and
friendship among students in
your class?
Deadlines 30 March 2012- Last date to receive responses for questionnaire. 30 April 2012- Announcing editorial team and title of the book 5 September 2012 -Inauguration of the book at Hyderabad If you want to be on the editorial team Any educator interested to be a part of the team can contact personally on 8084125247, or 9440607287 Mail us at bhagijune19@gmail.com/rediffmail.com info@inspiring-teachers.com Project Coordinator: BHAGIRATHI BEHERA PRINCIPAL GREEN VALLEY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL,MALINAGAR SAMASTIPUR ,BIHAR-848125
Inspiring Teachers Page 6 of 6
Paradigm Shift – cont’d from page 3
On a more serious note, I work with an NGO and have come across many differently
abled people. It is truly a humbling experience to see them perform routine tasks in a
completely different way from my thinking. Paraplegics getting into a chair
effortlessly, blind persons adept at computers and mobiles, deaf and dumb persons
having a lively chat using sign language, polio affected persons driving vehicles –
there is really no end to this list. I have realised that ‘differently abled’ is not just a
politically correct version for physically challenged but it is actually true. For
example, if I don’t know how to ride a bicycle or drive a car or stitch clothes – is
someone who can do that ‘more able’ than me? Am I not challenged as far as these
tasks are concerned? Come to think of it, there are millions of tasks and skills one can
have. But we probably have a hundred or thousand of them. So by all means, we are
challenged for the remaining skills.
While every living being has a tremendous potential for adaptation (to circumstances
and to disability), all of us need to always keep the ‘other view’ in mind and not have a
fixed map! Sometimes just looking at the world with a ‘shirshaasan’ may help.
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