Nov 2012 Volume 6, Issue 11

Inspiring Teachers
Driving educational change through excellence in teaching

Learning and Development

Professional learning or what is popularly called training is an essential part of career growth in any industry. In certain professions, such training is This month:
Samagrashala .2 Aniket Pathak Flipped Classroom ..3 Editor Aha Moments ...4

program under the umbrella of Teachers Academy. From technology to

have a write up on a social initiative Samagrashala started by a group of youngsters from my college

communication skills, from VNIT. leadership to on-boarding Contrary to the traditional

mandatory. But most often, it is an individuals choice. Regardless of the job you

of freshers, from classroom information imparting to outbound (adventure model of teaching in

based) we have a variety of colleges, flipped

classroom is where the are doing and of the number offerings. And as of years you have worked at, specialists in pedagogy, we students read material or training is always helpful. It make sure that these training sessions are very lets you become a student again and have fun, it connects you to new people interactive and make participants apply the watch a video prior to class and then use the class time to discuss. We have a few thoughts about this.

Interesting links 4

and best of all gives you new learning in their own areas Every workshop has some of work. experiences for the trainer perspective. Teachers Academy also conducts training in other industries. We have experts in different domains who come together to design and deliver a customized training We have just completed one such training for DRDO scientists at their institute (ITM) in Mussoorie. Coming to this issue, we as well as the learner. We have a light hearted look at the incidental learning and aha moments. And our regular must read links. --Uma Garimella

!! Contest!!
After consolidating our offering for the academic sector, we are now making inroads into corporate training. Another edition of the newsletter for the working professionals will be launched soon. Send your suggestions for an innovative name for the newsletter. Entries should reach by e-mail before 20th Nov 2012 to info@inspiringteachers.com

Inspiring Teachers Samagrashala

Many of us have come across myriad number of discussions about our education system in our cafeterias, canteens and all the varied virtual hangout places one could be in. Initially, Samagrashala was one such discussion and after three months of its conception, one can surely say that it is a little more than just a random Samagrashala is an initiative by a group of final year engineering students from VNIT, Nagpur, who are working on the products and delivery models to pace up the trickle down effect in Education. discussion. We believed that when it comes to deliver education in the age of ICT the society can be divided into the following 4 groups depending upon its various proficiency levels The illiterate The literate but uneducated The educated but digitally illiterate The digitally literate yet digitally uneducated We believed that if one would cater to the needs it digitally competent to contemorary standards that would end up opening up the gates to bring in the learning revolution into the entire effect. The 4th group would then act as a tool to trigger the numerous innovations in a discrete manner in the various regions of the country. Naturally, the school teachers of the various the ones who would be identified of comprising the 4th group for it is through them and only them that the delivery of education is made in the first draft. The Process So the first step was to get the municipal

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Aniket Pathak
corporation on board, so given authenticity and continuity. The NMC (Nagpur Muncipal Corporation) welcomed our idea dutifully which one could say was the 1st Samagrashala achieved ,for to have a higher body display faith in your idea is the best start any start-up could get. The NMC provided us a list of 28 higher secondary schools on which we would be working We took to one school every week in the starting month to help ourselves get familiar with the various aspects of the functioning of these schools and we laid following set of objectives to achieve through every workshop. (Contd on page 4)

of the 4th group and make that the entire program be

society by the trickle down milestone that

corporation schools where on for a set of 4 months.

present model. See box for down for ourselves the

Samagrashala is a social leadership project which comprises of workshops designed in three modules to equip teachers working in government schools and in remote areas with the knowledge of modern day technology and introduce them to the complete schooling as not only the delivery of academics but making of human. It aims at creating a network of teachers from government schools who have the responsibility of making tomorrow's citizens. It comprises three modules, ICT Education, Innovative learning and teaching practices and General awareness. Also, we are creating a network of organizations working in the field of education to promote the lateral approaches and simultaneously improve the accessibility and affordability.

Inspiring Teachers
Flipped Classroom
In a traditional class, the teacher uses the time to pass on information or material to the students in the form of a lecture or any other audio-visual form and then give them home assignments. . The teacher is the sage on the stage. Now many teachers are turning this model on its head, asking students to watch videos of classes before coming to class and then use the session to discuss and apply the knowledge or work on assignments. This is called flipped classroom. In a recent training session at ITM, Mussoorie, we had

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given participants a book on using Emotional Intelligence. There were also a couple of other papers for reading. What we did was have a 30-60 minute slot the next morning to discuss the application of that material to their workplace. I have been using this model for the last 20 years of my teaching at UC Berkeley. I give a 10% grade on this activity and students tend to learn better, retain longer, participate more in a flipped classroom. Of course, the teacher must also be equally knowledgeable and enthusiastic and can use some motivators like chocolates! Pratap Chillakanti, Founder, Lensoo Inc

Bhagirathi Behera works in Shantinikethan Vidyalaya in Shamirpet, near Hyderabad. You can get a copy of The Campus by e-mailing: bhagijune19@gmail.com

This turned out very productive and generated an animated discussion on the material which we had to cut short due to our tight schedule. A lot of learning took place which wouldnt have been possible in the traditional way. Technology Enabled This idea existed since several decades where teachers would give pre-reading material for their courses. Very often, it was difficult to enforce the reading especially if the class was large. Now that it is so easy to put videos and slides

on the internet, and also have discussion forums and networking, it has suddenly become very easy to use a flipped classroom. In fact, many students would actually want to come to class if there was something beyond what they could get freely by Googling. Many studies have indicated that student success rates are higher with flipped classrooms. Not a panacea for all problems Flipped classroom is one way to promote learning and interaction in students.

It is dependent on the access to technology, the size of the class and the competency of the teacher to engage in an active discussion. It may sometimes depend on the nature of the topic or subject. It needs an ability to guide individual students if necessary. Like all other ideas it should be customized to ones own situation and style. It cannot be used too often lest students get bored! You can have a few flips to begin with!

Inspiring Teachers Samagrashala

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(from page 2)

To introduce the various tools of ICT (Google, Gmail, YouTube, facebook, blogs) To create a database of all the parameters egg: the numbers of girls in every standard, the number of dropouts, the infrastructure. So as to create a reflective research base in the future as we complete the 4 months of the project To identify two Samagra-Shikshaks (teachers) in every school who could be an interface between the higher level educationists and the school. And so we coursed along. With every passing workshop we delved into to the various insights of schooling: of how administration plays an integral part in there; of how kids are divided on the basis of caste, creed, gender and economic section; how young girls face the various problems during menarche; how policy makers affect the lives of millions and most importantly how the parents and teachers react to the varied psyches of the children. Samagrashala moves along the following words said by Daphne Koller co-founder Coursera Amazing talent can be found anywhere in the world. Maybe the next Steve Jobs or Albert Einstein is living somewhere in a remote village in Africa and if we can make education available to him, he will be the one coming up with big ideas and make the world a better place to live in. At Samgrashala our drive is insignificance and our accomplishment is innovation.

Interesting Links
Products to enable the disabled http://www.sparshproducts.com/ Trainingand Development Resource Centre http://thetrainingworld.com/ Fun and games for children http://www.funandgames.org/index.htm http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/san-jose-state-u-says-replacing-livelectures-with-videos-increased-test-scores/40470 http://mruniversity.com/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2012/10/18/stanford-ovshinsky-thebattery-genius-behind-smartphones-and-hybrids-dies-at-89/ http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/internet-rolls-into-bangladesh-villages-ona-bike-287132?ndtv_rhs

Inspiring Teachers

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

During a recent training, in a thanking me for that quote. session on Emotional Intelligence, I casually mentioned that every emotion has an expiry date. it loses its potency and even becomes toxic after its expiry date. This thought participants and they kept Another moment in the same often, we look at the world (including ourselves) with a us only two choices situation either fits the should or does not. In the wrong and become unhappy.

If we could replace the should with a may be, the others a choice. Almost a day later, a participant walked upto me and said, madam, 90% of my problems are solved with that tip! Thank you all! Uma

training was when I said very we give both ourselves and

It serves a purpose and then filter of should . This gives

resonated very well with two latter case, we make others

About Teachers Academy

We started five years ago,
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www.theprofessor.in

Please do leave your feedback on workshops on the site About Us Clients say Share articles, useful links, teaching resources and tips for effective teaching with a growing community of our

If anyone is interested in putting efforts for professional and personal growth do contact us for training and mentoring. --Thanks Uma Garimella

And now we have 3000 teacher members on-line, most of whom have attended our classroom training sessions. Long term projects are being taken up for professional colleges. Continuous support and included for holistic and sustainable change.

multiple initiatives will be teacher mailing list.