ALL SMILES

It was  fun learning all the way!

No elaborate words are required - again just like being with them and being there for them when they want my help. What gives me satisfaction at the end of the day are those smiles and kind words of appreciation said with gratitude.ALL SMILES - This is one photograph I cherish always.

A beautiful smile is the biggest 'Trophy"

It is nice to have complied and calculated the number of students that I have taught in my entire career and the number touches close to 28000. An Amazing WOW that I could turn in so much during my career. Children wherever you are- Its nice to feel that I have made a difference for you, left a mark or have been some kind of nice influence in your lives that you will be using them today. God Bless and its my sincere wish that you may excel more.!

Santa and Me!
 
There have been times when I have not really needed to find a reason to make my students smile.The greatest joy comes from seeing them happy and smiling. The Annual Day rhehersals were on. It had been a tiring day. It was 24rth Decemeber and we were all exhausted, but there seemed no respite from the  rigorously practise. It was then, that I got the costume and secretly dressed up as Santa, carried lots of chocolates in my bag and gave everyone a surprise!! Wow! What a surprise it turned out to be!!! Hell broke loose! Everyone was happy and SMILING.How could anyone get angry at SANTA?

"Chocolates for everyone- all I want is a smile please "

 

 

Teachers and students remember that day till date. Making people smile was the biggest gift I could give on that day and  hope the Santa in me keeps it going always.

 

 

The fact tht I  can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return are to  me  continual happiness- personified! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beyond the Classroom



In a learning enivironment of their choice

The four walls of the classroom are no longer the only 'temples of learning'. Students are more keen on studying in a non informal environment and I make sure that in order to keep their interest  and  improve their learning process I also ''learn" to teach them the way they want to learn

For a student to prove their potential, it is important to liberate them  and feel emancipated.One of the Emancipatory Techniques I have been using over years in harmonising the behavior of students and bringing in a transformation is to encourage learning outside the classroom to promote quality learning. Students expressed a better and experienced  sense of freedom which in turn resulted in improved interest in learning.

'Playing with colors,sitting out  and creating something with them  is learning too'

I have seen many teachers switch themselves off/on to a very formal mode when in class. To believe students would be 'serious' about their subject if they 'looked serious' is not true. Its the way you are inside out that they like and building a rapport with them is being an effective teacher.

 

Working Together as a TEAM

Talent wins games but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.


Team work fosters a deeper understanding and leads to increased ability to apply new knowledge to real life situations.
T-together
E-everyone
A-achieves
M-more

For students, working in groups, is  emancipated learning. They take turns to teach each other, share knowledge, jokes, and there is reinforcement in this method of learning. Coming together is a beginning and then keeping together will lead them to progress, but it is working together that will show them the way to succeed.

 

A teaching strategy which I use predominantly in my classes to increase student centred team based learning pedagogy is Teamwork. I believe this helps in promoting a deeper learning of the subject/topic in question and this occurs through interaction, dialogue, lots of cooperation and collaborations.

The process of team work enables them to develop their researching skills together and so there is interdependence and they also improve their reasoning and  decision making skills, speaking skills and in the whole process build their confidence and most importantly make learning a more enjoyable experience!

Being Responsible for Your Surroundings

 There are so many students and staff in a school and so much of paper is being used with probably little attention being paid to the amount of waste paper that is generated. A single sheet of paper may seem like an insignificant thing. But handling thousands of sheets each day can have a huge impact on the environment. That's especially true in schools, where students and teachers and other staff use lots of paper.

Everyone one of us is responsible for this waste. Let us remember that we are not the only ones living on this planet. There are plants, trees, birds, animals and many other living things - all of whom have an equal right on the resources of this planet.

Saving paper in a school or any institution is a nice way to help save our environment. Protecting the environment has to be part of our everyday life outside our homes as well. Our work may be blatantly polluting the environment and we could cut down the use of paper products. We need to examine every element of our working life and make sure it is a safe working environment for us and the planet.

Extra paper exists in the institution in terms of unused exam answer papers. I launched a massive paper collection “Secret Mission" - students on their secret mission collected all the extra unused exam papers from the whole school. It was a big mission as we have a large student strength. My students collected the paper, classified them and made useful articles out of them which could be put to use again in the form of scrap books, small note pads and writing material.

The class was so happy to be a part of this initiative. All contributed willingly.
Students learned to recycle material in their own small ways and learnt to be socially responsible for the school and classroom environment and yet learn valuable virtues which would go beyond their learning objectives at school.

'lets do our bit for saving the environment''



'Here is our contribution mam!

When the Principal learnt of this ‘secret mission ’one fine day, she invited the students and greatly appreciated their endeavor.My 'Green Agents" who would come on holidays to finish this awesome work. Our small contribution to our planet and community.

 In this project, I would like to appreciate the passion of students, the support of teachers, staff and one and all in the school. I named the students on the mission our “Green Agents”. Kudos to you all for your fervor in this initiative to help make our school and community more eco-savvy!!

Dramatizing Poetry

The group with maximum applause and points

Dramatizing Poetry is all about the teacher using innovative ethodologies to make language learning exciting.The Rime of the Ancient Mariner- Coleridge, and The Frog and the Nightingale- Vikram Seth, are two poems in the curriculum which I have been teaching them to dramatize.

The soft spoken megha...the extra effects being provided and the 'croaker' pooja

 Students break into small groups to prepare a dramatic rendition of the poem.  I only give an introduction to the poem, its background and then do a model reading of the poem. Then I let them use their imagination to make a presentation before the class. They are permitted to use props, music, costumes, sets, posters, models - anything at all, in a given space and time.

Imagination of the students knows no  bounds!

This informal assessment promotes creativity and oral language.This enables the students to explore their linguistic and conceptual aspects.

 

Amazing performance by the team!

Masked to make a mark!

“Dramatizing the poem”  will result in a great outcome in being able to drive home the idea and bring out meanings from what is taught. As a teacher, I facilitated comprehension of plot, idioms, cultural aspects. During this learning process, I  as a teacher, succeeded in stimulating their interest and conversation and in the process  triggered a student participatory language learning experience. This methodology attracted and affected by a new way of presenting the lesson, got them engaged in learning  they will never forget the various skills learnt in the process.. This would make learning very effective and interesting. Certain poems and lessons perfectly fit for dramatization, so why not use it?  

 
                                 

Spin-a-Yarn

 

 

Four headline clips of the newspaper were given on the spot and the learners were required to spin-a-yarn ensuring connectivity with the clips. Based on this they were given exercises to build a story for at least 2-3 minutes.

 

 

 

This activity essentially covered all aspects of writing skills. This activity helped develop coordination between individuals and groups, present imaginative thoughts/ideas in proper language, learn to build up the story from the previous clue, develop confidence, deal with sentence structure, and encourage imaginative ideas and thought development.

This particular team was speaking in public for the very first time. They also learnt to get over ‘panic’. This activity helped them improve their articulation, pronunciation and putting together their thoughts at the right pace depending on the audience and the content. In addition, they learnt to speak impromptu with logical ordering of points. What's more, they gathered confidence to make eye contact and perk up their body language.

Visualising things and making analogies and learning to spin-a-yarn proved to be a fruitful experience!! This team secured the second position in the competition.

                                                        

Role Play

 

Using role play in teaching helps develop social skills, and helps understand interpersonal relationships and respond to others. Such activities give opportunities to students for peer interaction which in turn enhances their communication skills and social development which are a predictor of future academic and social adjustment. The role play that the students enjoyed playing went on to teach not just social skills but also problem solving and coping skills which only enhances their resilience.

 

 

 

 

This activity that I tried with this team had no girls in their team but that didn’t deter their spirits. It instead provided a strong motivation for learning to excel under the given circumstances. It helped decrease their inhibitions, increased motivation and their self-esteem. This helped build confidence and showed them that they can be successful in communicating in real life situations.

 

 

 

Here I just used the occasion to be creative. You can align the day or month to a current event, or a festival to a learning situation. Language can be connected to any of these activities. One just needs to unleash all creativity to it, link and create one’s own teaching style.

 Its CHRISTMAS and students are engaged in a role play for a lesson in December. It also links learning to culture and traditions - a social tone to learning.

Role playing activities are a curative for the lagging interest which can often occur during language learning.

Most importantly, this provides a memorable learning experience!

 

 

Reaching out - the fun learning way

 In my profile of learners are not just school students, but also college students, budding teachers from mixed social groups with different subjects-are trained with different teaching skills. Again towards a just cause for education. Training the trainers would make the REACH wider. If my abilities are transferred to all of them and they go ahead and implement them in their lives...nothing could make me happier!





 Teaching, training, sharing joining in with them to solve problems, helping them gain confidence in their own selves, placing a lot of faith in their potential are just a few things I do to inspire them to stand out!

 

The best way to learn the language is to be immersed in it. Involving them in problem solving activities helps them to also improve their self image, confidence and well being. They were given activities to team up with strangers, have meaningful interactions which will all help increase their chances for success in life. The interactions were positive, validating and encouraging. It helped them to identify and broaden their strengths and resources.

These are students of Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Delhi University, where in I got an opportunity conduct a workshop and in the process be on a learning mode myself. All initial inhibitions set aside, we enjoyed the interaction and activities and games which was a fun learning way of going about our learning process. 

My English Lab

It is important to have a changed work environment. I request the management of the school to provide me an English Lab where I could extend my teaching activities for students. The change in environment is what promotes extra learning here.

In their Company

  

I am happy in the company of children. No matter what age group, geography or culture they hail from. I strongly believe that its your approach method, the first words you speak to them and the manner in which you radiate emotions towards them is what brings them closer to you. I simply stopped by a group of school children not known to me and interacted with them. The teacher in me instantly taught them how to make alphabetical signs using their fingers. Its all about communication and matching frequencies with little minds.

Using ICT tools in Group Activities during language learning

 Students engaged in activities using simple ICT tools in group activities. This promotes interaction and makes learning easy. Due to peer involvement students are motivated during their involvement and this helped in better memory/retention of subject matter taught.

Creative Activities in Language Teaching

Teaching how to make a "Wanted Poster".

This was a beautiful and creative approach to teaching. I introduced  the apt vocabulary for this kind of poster making. Then gave them a few ideas as to how to make it stand out and and some more tips ... thats it. They were directed to make it on the  covers of their english  class note books.! That  would give them an opportunity to admire their own creative output all through the year!!

The results were amazing! More importantly, they all enjoyed the whole activity and inadvertently they were being led through a great learning process. Language teaching becomes easy, engaging and interesting through this method. Students engage themselves with a variety of language skills involving content development, writing, vocabulary, creativity and presentation skills.