April 9th, 2008 -- Posted in General |
‘I love to teach, I love to see minds opening up, to participate in the excitement of learning and to help people progress from frustration to accomplishment’…
Good teaching is as much about passion as it is about reason. It’s about not only motivating students to learn, but also teaching them how to learn, and doing so in a manner that is relevant, meaningful, and memorable. It’s about caring for your craft, having a passion for it, and conveying that passion to everyone, most importantly to your students. It’s about doing your best to keep on top of your field, reading sources, inside and outside of your areas of expertise, and being at the leading edge as often as possible. But knowledge is not confined to scholarly journals. It’s about leaving the ivory tower and immersing oneself in the field. Good teaching is about listening, questioning, being responsive, and remembering that each student and class is different. continue reading »
March 7th, 2008 -- Posted in General |
‘How can You do it , taking your child for a movie , when there is a science exam the next day?’ This was the question asked to me by a parent during my son’s board exams ..Well, I as a mother have always felt that the children need to relax and enjoy during exams. It’s not the number of hours put in that makes a difference in the scores but the quality of hours put in. Once again the board exams are around the corner and one can see the stress atmosphere all around.
I strongly feel the most essential thing needed is to teach Stress Management.
Right from the early age, a child falls prey to the pressures and expectations by the outside world. As he grows old, the expectations amplify and the level of pressure on a growing child increases. A stage comes where the stress becomes a crucial part of life and dealing with the mounting stress becomes almost impossible. This leads to several mental, physical and emotional problems.
Examination stress has become a favourite subject of everyday conversation. It is not unusual to hear friends, family members and even children talking about the difficulties faced in managing stress. Stress plays havoc with exam productivity and has become a concern for parents. But many of us need to realize that stress is a very natural and an important part of life. Without stress there would be no life at all! continue reading »
February 13th, 2008 -- Posted in General |
Sex education needs to be an integral part of the curriculum as it is about developing young people’s skills so that they make informed choices about their behavior, and feel confident and competent about acting on these choices.
Sex education that works starts early, before young people reach puberty, and before they have developed established patterns of behavior. The precise age at which information should be provided depends on the physical, emotional and intellectual development of the young people as well as their level of understanding.
It is important not to delay providing information to young people but to begin when they are young. Providing basic information provides the foundation on which more complex knowledge is built up over time. This also means that sex education has to be sustained. For example, when they are very young, children can be informed about how people grow and change over time, and how babies become children and then adults, and this provides the basis on which they understand more detailed information about puberty provided in the pre-teenage years. They can also when they are young, be provided with information about viruses and germs that attack the body. This provides the basis for talking to them later about infections that can be caught through sexual contact.
I fail to understand the latest upheaval in certain Indian States about sex education because as an educationist we should all understand that it is our prime duty to educate the child in all spheres of life not just Maths and Science. Sex Education has to be so well integrated in the curriculum that teaching is imparted without the child knowing that he is learning a specific subject related to sex. We all are aware of the fact that integrated studies provide more information and understanding to the child than a subject being taught in isolation. I don’t think so one needs parents consent in this as it is an important part of the curriculum, which we all tend to shy away from.
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