Sept 2012 Volume 6, Issue 9

Inspiring Teachers
Driving educational change through excellence in teaching

Time for celebration, time for reflection

Dr S Radhakrishnas birthday, on 5th Sept is celebrated in schools and colleges as teachers day. In some schools, students take up teaching and give the teachers an off. Entertainment programs are also done by students. In colleges, the students may probably give a card to their So it is time to reflect on our own work, ethics and goals. Before we comment upon how the society and students are not respecting the teachers enough, lets take a minute to think of how to make ourselves worthy of their respect. Or better still, even before we become worthy of someone elses respect, set an internal benchmark for ourselves. Very often, we get away with mediocrity because the system lets us. We compare ourselves with others who are not working but getting the same salary. Or we say that the system is so bad, one person is not going to make a difference! Or when our students are not interested, why should we work hard? Whatever be the reasoning, we must accept that our productivity or ability. Even the best of us cant keep up for more than a few days when we are forced to work hard or smart because there is a deadline to be met. We fret and fume and complete our job, definitely amazed at our own speed if we

This month:
A teachers teacher Dr PN Prasad, CfBTES ....2 Tips from a young teacher Kalyani, SRI.3 Interesting links 4 Cartoon caption 5

teachers, though some of the fun and frolic is missing. A brief look at the honors of this great man Philosophy Prof Mysore University (1918-1921); Calcutta University (1921-1931) and again (19371944); VC of the Andhra University (1931); Spaulding Professor of Eastern Religion and Ethics, Oxford University (1932-1953) - first Hindu University (1942). Among the cultural posts held by him may be mentioned: Leader of the Indian Delegation to UNESCO many times (1946-1950); Chairman of the University Education Commission (1948); Chairman of the

Indian to be so appointed; and VC of the Banaras many of us are not working according to 100% of

Executive Board of UNESCO (1948); President of could just be this efficient more often, mountains UNESCO (1952); Delegate to the P.E.N. Congress can be moved. (1959); Vice President of International P.E.N.; Hon Fellow of the British Academy (1962); Representative of the Calcutta University at the Congress of Philosophy, Harvard University, U.S.A. (May 1962). Upton Lecturer, Manchester College, Oxford; Harwell Lecturer in Comparative Religion, University of Chicago; Hibbert Lecturer, University College, London and Manchester (1929). He earned more than hundred honorary degrees from all over the world! For most of us, the biodata also reads like this but due to the jobs frequently changed! The most significant difference between time and money is that time is given equally to everyone. The beggar and the king, the laborer and the idlerevery single soul on this planet has the same 24 hrs. And yet, some people achieve much more than others. Just think about it. Reflect! Not for someone else but oneself. Dr Prasad is the man behind the teacher training and certifications at CfBT-ES and we are proud to feature him this month. This issue has a contribution by Kalyani G sent for the teachers handbook. Do send your contributions too. We will publish a book! - Uma

Inspiring Teachers
A teachers teacher Dr P N Prasad, CfBT-ES
Dr Prasad is the Director, School Development Services and Training at CfBT, India. He has been a researcher, teacher and teacher educator for last 25 years. He has a doctoral degree in biology and masters in science education from the University of Glasgow, United Kingdom. He is also a master trainer accredited by Cambridge University for organizing CIE programs for Teachers and Trainers. He himself has a Cambridge International Diploma for Teachers and Trainers (CIDTT) qualification having passed the course with distinction. He was recipient of many research awards including young scientist award from Department of Science & Technology. several modules on child psychology, instructional and assessment methods, classroom management etc. in various schools and colleges and universities.

Page 2 of 5

1.How did your journey into

teaching begin - why did you choose to teach?

Initially, it was extremely difficult to cope up with school children, as I never had experience dealing them since my teaching experience was primarily with university students. Teaching qualification was helpful to some extent to gain knowledge and understanding of educational theories to apply in classroom teaching. In fact, my head teacher Mr Shareef was great help in guiding me to gain skills in dealing secondary children. He made me realize that doctoral degrees were of little use when it comes to teaching. What is a sustainable model for getting and retaining good teachers? There is a wrong thinking in many people who head schools, that if the teachers are trained

I started my teaching career from 1982 onwards in Karnataka

University during my doctoral program, as it was mandatory for research students to engage in teaching. This continued for almost 8 years and later I got into shrimp farming industry and got back to school teaching during 2000 on an overseas assignment

Most important challenge is to convince teachers that activity based education works even in a large size classroom. We have really progressed and made roads to some extent on this though. Most importantly especially the state board curriculum is outdated and too vast. This gives scope for teachers to make an excuse that learner centric classes are difficult. There needs to be a radical change in the way school management and teachers think. Schools with individual management only can work on a long run. Corporate culture does not sustain for longer period, as they believe on centralized monitoring system.

He was a master trainer for Intel teach to Maldives as a fisheries science to the future programme worked in an teacher for handling GSCE Intel and Microsoft sponsored project. curriculum. And since then I have been into teaching and training in He was awarded with star trainer status and was felicitated for his exemplary trainings, which were carried out across the country. He has taught in Maldives, Ethiopia, India and Scotland in various capacities. He has rich experience of working and training teachers coming India, Ethiopia and UK. 2. Did you use any innovative methods as a teacher? What were the outcomes? Yes! I had started thinking and using different methods in Maldives as the curriculum

they will leave. It does not mean demanded and this helped me to from different curriculum background that we should stop empowering adapt learner centric practices and them. In the process children viz., SSC, CBSE, ICSE IGSCE. He has shift to totally activity based travelled extensively in Africa and are denied opportunities for Europe. He was a lead member of Principals training team to conduct a series of workshops on Instructional leadership for school heads attached to Ministry of Education, Bhutan during May June 2011. He has developed and delivered curriculum while I was dealing Scottish secondary curriculum. They work very well once the teacher is prepared well enough to do them in class. quality learning. Continuing professional development should be made available on consistent basis. Read the full text on http://www.theprofessor.in For info on CIE courses visit

What were your challenges? How did you overcome them?

http://www.cfbtes.com/

Page 3 of 5
Kalyani, Srinidhi International School

Inspiring Teachers
Full text at http://www.theprofessor.in/blog/teachers/my-teaching-kalyani/ upset. I make them understand if something needs to be clarified, so they are not angry. How much effort do you put in planning this lesson? I read the lesson once and prepare activity sheet, worksheet using various resources available. I carefully plan teaching aids depending on the age of the students. How do you cater to the different needs of students in your class? I include wide range of methods which cater to the needs of audio, visual and kinaesthetic learners along with other MI. Students are paired to help each other in an activity. I respond to each learner based on their expressions. How do you incorporate technology into your instructions? The recap of the entire lesson for complicated topic is by PPT. The concepts are mainly introduced through the videos, where students visually see the 3 D images About Kalyani: Our Ladys and St. Ursulas AIHS School in Chennai. B.Sc Advanced Zoology and Biotechnology in Womens Christian College(WCC) and M.Sc Zoology in Loyola College. Always involved in NSS and was a Senate member in WCC which made me a more responsible and organized person. I cherish time spent there. SRI School is my first job and in 2 yrs I got to learn more about teaching and child psychology. CIDTT in CfBT was an enriching learning experience. Teaching has always been my passion from childhood, then Biology. After MSc I became a teacher. My research now includes science, education and understanding the students.

I am trying my best to avoid these things, as this will greatly affect the students learning. Todays children expect the teachers to say everything with a smile on her face. Smile costs nothing but it means a lot to the children, lets Smile. Most importantly, a teacher should avoid is being partial in class or in assessment. I do accept, we may like a student more than others in class may be In Jan 2012, we have announced the open source handbook for teachers tips from teachers for teachers. We got a few responses. This month, we are including a few responses from Kalyani G, Biology Teacher at SRI. This is to motivate all the other teachers to write! Think of your best teachers. What because of the good behavior etc but this should not affect learning process and the way of our assessment. I take extra care while I correct to avoid this; I prepare the marking scheme and I correct the papers when my mind is fresh. What is the purpose of homework/ projects? What are your typical

positive characteristics do you believe homework/ project? The important purpose of homework is to these teachers had? Which of these teachers had? Which of these characteristics do you believe you have? When I recollect all my teachers from my childhood, most of the teachers were kind, energetic, organized, encouraging, revise the concepts taught and the purpose of a project is to give interesting work to the students where they research and express their learnings. My homework will be mostly in the form of worksheet which consists of different types and levels of questions. Every

motivating, and patient. I remember still, my month one project will be given to the students in the starting of the month. The ninth and tenth grade science teacher who took both Physics and Chemistry made a inspired me a lot. I studied those subjects project differs from topic to topic and grade levels. The project can be a making of a chart,

more while my teacher taught in class. When model, booklet or power point presentation after researching the topic and the same will I was in grade 8th, I started liking History subject only because of my teacher who related well with us and continuously tested us on our learning. I believe I am energetic, motivating and relate well with students. Think of your worst teachers. What mistakes did they make or qualities did they have? How are you avoiding those mistakes/ qualities? Fortunately, I liked all my teachers, but observed what a teacher should not do. be presented in the class. The project can also be Preparing a herbarium, Preparing a balanced diet, Case-study, Report of the field trip ...etc. How do you approach a parent who is upset and/ or angry? The most important thing is to identify that parent is angry. I first let the parents talk about the issues and try to understand from their point of view. I explain the possible

Losing patience when stressed out, not being action plan for the problem and give them the friendly and not accepting mistakes in class. confidence about the same when they are

Inspiring Teachers
Ph D Humour

Page 4 of 5

Interesting Links - by Sundeep, Ramakrishna Reddy, Raman

General
https://www.coursera.org/courses Technical http://thenewboston.org/tutorials.php http://mytechnologyworld9.blogspot.in/2010/08/complicated-mechanismsexplained-in.html Android Bootcamp

In a forest a fox bumps into a little rabbit, and says, "Hi, junior, whatare you up to?" "I'm writing a dissertation on how rabbits eat foxes," said the rabbit. "Come now, friend rabbit, you know that's impossible!" "Well, follow me and I'll show you." They both go into the rabbit's dwelling and after a while the rabbit emerges with a satisfied expression on his face. Along comes a wolf. "Hello, what are we doing these days?" "I'm writing the second chapter of my thesis, on how rabbits devour wolves." "Are you crazy? Where is your academic honesty?" "Come with me and I'll show you." ...... As before, the rabbit comes out with a satisfied look on his faceand this time he has a diploma in his paw. The camera pans back and into the rabbit's cave and, as everybody should have guessed by now, we see an enourmous mean-looking lion sitting next to the bloody and furry remains of the wolf and the fox. The moral of this story is: It's not the contents of your thesis that are important -it's your PhD advisor that counts.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE08A97D36D5A255F&feature=plcp Volunteering Opportunities

http://www.karmayog.org/ http://www.giveindia.org/ http://www.unv.org/ http://theuglyindian.com/ Apps for autism

http://hstrial-edenautismser.intuitwebsites.com/untitled1.html Redefining Education with digital learning in the cloud http://searchcio.techtarget.com/video/Redefining-education-with-digitallearning-in-the-cloud?asrc=EM_NLN_18538427&track=NL964&ad=881121 Sports coaching links http://www.runnersworld.com/ http://www.intosport.com/ http://www.sportplan.net/ http://pefindia.org/ http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/athletics-physical-education-and-recreation/

Page 5 of 5
Teachers Academy
Hyderabad PHONE: 97011 41118 E-MAIL: info@inspiring-teachers.com

Inspiring Teachers

Captions:
See us at:
www.theprofessor.in www.teachersacademy.co

Arnab Sen "Height" of IGNORANCE !! Ratna Manjari Make full use of the library hours to reach greater heights! Please send your feedback, articles and tips to info@theprofessor.in You can also submit comments and interact on our blog
http://www.theprofessor.in/blog

Do like our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/TheProfessor/203174356365130?sk=app_4949752878