CASW 2

On the 19th of Jan Koshy presented his case which was facilitated by Suchi.

His main contention was , taking into account the fact that he could spend the same amount of time on both students,how could he equalise the learning of writing skills to minimise the negative effects of student variability.

I thought it was a very interesting question and very familiar to most of us since we also share the same teaching space.

One possible suggestion which I thought of was to render constant and immediate feedback to the students in question after they posted their blog entry.This close and frequent monitering of student work will help both parties in question.The students get to improve their writing and the teacher gets an idea if his/her instructions is being interpreted correctly by the student.

CASW 1

We began are very first CASW meeting on the 18th of Jan with Hema as the Presenter and Koshy playing the role of facilitator.
Hema showed us , the participants a PPT done by her standard nine students on the dry cell battery.Her key questions were as follows:

• How to assess if enough research has been done by all the participants
• How to assess if learning has happened
• What are the different ways in which student can face an audience without fear

Personally I felt that Hema could have tried to quiz the student after the presentation and positive feedback.Another suggestion was to make each student explain a bit of the presentation and tell them that marks will be alloted for team work as well as individual effort.

In the course of the presenter reflection ,Hema realised that she could have asked for a bibliography for the project .She also realised that she could have monitored student work at regular intervals.

All in all , the discussion gave all of us a clear picture about how to handle and monitor student work esp.when they work in teams and how to ensure that each student has benefitted from the exercise.

New year New job!!!!!!!

Hi people,
Kindly forgive me for this rather last minute post!!!!!......
When G.N was explaining her transition phases in the teaching it put me in mind of someone I know very well ..........MYSELF!!!!!
As soon as I finished my M.Sc in Clinical psychology, the thought of not getting a job plagued my mind. Being in this state of fear, I grabbed the first job that came my way!!I worked at Eduquity-an HR assessment services company as a HR consultant. Initially I was enjoying every moment of my job and the perk's that go along with it but so the pressure and expectation of my seniors got the better of me!!!!........one day I thought that I am losing sleep, losing social contact with the outside world and most importantly my peace of mind slogging in a job which expects me to meet up to somebody else's expectation of what they want me to be!!!!........so on Dec 25th (the day the saviour was born) I put in my papers and declared myself free from bondage!!!!

Then came my dream job(atleast I thought it was ) ------ I got anopportunity to work in NIMHANS as a junior research fellow with the top neuropsychologists in the country!!!!....Man , was my life made or what!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......with great sense of enthusiasm and excitement I got onto the job at the word go!!!!!!!................................slowly I saw that even here I was expected to do things against what I believed in!!!!.........so at the end of the second year i tended in my resignation and heaved a sigh of relief that I will not be subjected to torture any longer!!

By now I was very clear that I will not hastily jump inot any job but sagaciously make my choice!!!!..........also questions like what is my purpose to life!!?......what is my true calling in this lifetime!!?....ensued me in deep thought and contemplation!!....then I decided that I would like to try my hand at the social sector.esp work in the area of womens mental and physical health matters.

It was like the universe just dropped a jib in my lap that would help me fulfill this need !!....I landed a job with Prof Gita sen at the IIM(B).It was a tremendously rewarding experience working with her.She has inspired me in so many ways and changed my perspective of reality .My stint in IIM was indeed a growth -filled one.I thank the universe for giving this experience!!

Now I am a teacher at Aditi.When I was asked if i would liked to teach I laughted loudly and even loudler when the person said she was serious!!!!!!!!.......but I guess in life we often do things that we would never have thought of ourselves capable of doing!!!!!!!!!........I am making my discoveries and assessing myself in this profession.I think it is a bit too early to comment on this job !!!....

Pearls of Wisdom!!

Dear All,
Found this quote in one of the books I am reading currently.It really sparked off something in me.Therefore thought I would share it with you all.

" Be patient toward all that is unsloved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves.Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given because you would not be able to live them.AND THE POINT IS TO LIVE EVERYTHING.Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually , without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answers."
-Rainer Maria Rilke,LETTER TO A YOUNG POET

Cheers,
Anu

My fears and apprehensions about teaching kind of assuaged!!

Here I was .....an inexperienced ,a mere amateur or novice at TEACHING which is hailed as one of the most noble professions of the world!!!!......my first class , I thought will be an absolute disaster of sorts!!!.........
Strung out, spooked, hacked, jumpy,choked and highly vulnerable ...these were some of the feelings I went through when I faced my students for the very first time!!!!!!..

Inspite of being in such dire straits I believed in only one thing!!.......I told myself that if I am not honest about myself , if I am not candid about my abilities(for examples my strenghts and weaknesses) my students are going to call the bluff!!!!!!!!!..........

Therefore only with this in mind I faced my class and more importantly survive the experience and have not regreted a moment of it!!!!!!!!!....Of course I do thank my students for accepting me for the person I am!!!!.....

I will be looking forward to a very insightful, growth-oriented experience in my class rooms!!..

A day in the life of Anu

Hi !!!! My name is Anu, 28 years old, only child to my parents(but not pampered!!).Today is a saturday.Normally I look forward to a saturday becasue it involves doing a lot of fun and relaxing stuff.But this saturday is a bit different .I have to go to school to attend a workshop in professional development!!!.The most exciting thing I did today was create my own Blog!!!!!!!!....I always knew what blogging meant but now since I have my own it has a totally different meaning!!!!!!!!!!!...........
I am publishing my first content to test fire it.