Category: March 2020

WhatsApp: a tool for revision

P. Madhavi Latha No matter how well your physics classes have gone, come exam time and you still see worried students. So I came up with an idea that has really worked for me. I now successfully use WhatsApp for revision before the final exam. Children as well as parents have appreciated the way I have planned, designed and executed the revision pattern for class 10. We take 4 to 5 days to revise a chapter after which I give the students a test. They can have their doubts cleared before the test either in the WhatsApp group or when they are in school. On the day of the test, I post my question paper early in the morning at around 4.00 am. The students are to write the test at home under the supervision of their parents within one hour. In the beginning, I observed a kind of carefree attitude among the parents and students. But gradually they warmed up to the idea. On the same day at 9.00 pm I post the scoring key. Children, along with their parents, crosscheck the paper and rectify errors by rewriting the answers. After the chapter-wise tests, I give them two grand tests before their pre finals. This way we complete the entire revision within a month. My students also solve physics question papers that I source from other schools. This way, I find that parents are also involved in the process of teaching-learning. There has been no misuse of technology so far by the students as the parents are also actively involved. This approach has stimulated the minds of my students and I have been able to satisfy their queries on time. Like everything else, technology also has two faces. If used positively, we can achieve good results; we can incorporate interest in the subject among young minds. How successful we are in our use of technology depends on how we plan, design and execute our concepts of teaching. Now my students are confident enough to face the new challenges in physics in their future journey to success. Feedback from parents and students on this method of revision. Vinitha Suryadevara Dear maam, We started this year with a lot of fear as it was the year of the board exam. But you have made it so easy for us. I personally didn’t have to even peep into the textbook to explain anything to Shreya. Your dedication has to be appreciated. You took time off even during

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Calm the butterflies

Usha Raman
Anxiety is in the air. With exams round the corner one can see worried students, parents, teachers and schools. But anxiety brings with it stress and associated concerns. It is time that we started dealing with this anxiety differently and also showed our students and other stakeholders how they can be more positive and a little less stressed around this time every year.

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Handling the decimal dilemma

Krittika Hazra
Often, math is taught not so much to challenge and enhance a child’s thinking ability but to get them to score well in the exams. When exams are the goal, teaching takes on a different direction altogether—several concepts in mathematics become tricky and are learnt only by memory. It is, however, time to abort this practice and find ways to logically explain math concepts. Here is how you can unravel ‘decimals’.

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Swatting away the worry bugs

Lamia Bagasrawala
Students live tough lives. While grappling with psychological challenges and under constant scrutiny for their academic performance and behaviour, students are expected to “fit” into the standard norms we have set. We do not appreciate any kind of deviation. With pressure from parents, school and the society to be a certain way, what the students put at stake is their emotional wellbeing, which is extremely important to their ability to learn. So how can teachers help students cope?

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A treasure trove of teachers, untapped!

Anuradha C
Teacher shortage is a perennial concern in the Indian education system. There have been and continues to be a lot of debate and discussion around this. The solutions, however, have been few and far between. We are aware of the problem, we have discussed it enough. It is now time to think of innovative solutions and implement them.

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Combating drugs

Neerja Singh
Drug abuse is so rampant these days that it is no longer a secret; no longer something that only the “naughty” children do; and not something that we can ignore anymore. With dissatisfaction, emotional instability, stress and depression on the rise, more and more youngsters are falling prey to this vice. As their teachers and parents, let us arm ourselves with enough knowledge to help our children battle this problem.

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Museums that teach

Piyuli Ghosh and Bhagyashree Dokrimare
Apart from the classrooms, we have heard of teachers teaching under trees or in the garden, but have you ever heard of museums turning into classrooms? This unique school in Bhopal realized the learning opportunities that museums provide and has for the last 14 years very successfully engaged with museum based pedagogy.

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An artist’s boon; a pirate’s bane

CIPAM team
In an age where the internet is a common feature, it has become more necessary than ever to protect our ideas and work lest someone else calls it their own. Make your students aware of copyright infringements when they do their school projects and also tell them how they can protect their own work from being stolen.

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