Skip to main content

Once a teacher...

I am enjoying walking the streets of India. They  are vibrant; the smell and noise can be overpowering, but when in the right spirit, it can be an extremely enjoyable and adventurous experience. The best thing about the streets are the little surprises that one finds along the way. Blue Rajasthani ceramic pottery dot the dusty roads and add bright colour to the city. I picked up a special kind of pot that every household Indian has at home.It even has a little lamp attached to it. People grow basil in these pots as it is considered an auspicious plant. Well, no harm in inviting the deity to your home. So I got my pot. Each side has a different deity staring benevolently at you!
My friend and I strolled into an ethnic shop. Indian silk and cotton fabrics draped the walls and shelves. The colours were vibrant and the patterns on them were amazing. Deep rich blues and rustic terracotta colors teased the senses... Shades of whites will muted gold and silver filigree work. I bought a saree for my mum. A Gadwal saree...cream with a dirty orange and gold border. Stunning.
What I bought next was hilarious. Once a teacher, always a teacher.





I am thrilled with these little figurines. They might be dokras from Orissa, but I am not very sure. I love the expression on their faces. I wish all my students were like this during DEAR time :)


















Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 11, 2011 at 10:21 AM

    A wonderfully vivid description! And I love the statues too. Great to hear about your adventures.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousOctober 11, 2011 at 6:25 PM

    I love your site! Thanks for sharing it in your post for the class tonight! Great stuff:) You really seem to have a great start in technology education! ~Jodi

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.

Popular posts from this blog

Unravelling the inquiry cycle in a PYP class room

“ People can make choices to support the sustainability of the Earth’s energy resources .” Me to students : Does that make sense? Students to me : (after a while)...not really...  Their understanding of "energy" during the pre-assessment task also reflected a superficial knowledge of the term. And thus our unit of inquiry started. As I was browsing the net, I came across this picture prompt- a map, which I thought would serve as a great provocation. The annual energy consumption per person . Kids love guessing where countries are, so it was a great way to address some geography at this point.  I had also been reading Craig Dwyer's  post  which inspired me to change my inquiry cycle and use a simpler one. Wonder (while exploring)- Explore (while wondering)- Create (while reflecting)- Reflect (with subsequent wonderings). I was feeling more at ease now. The map allowed the students to make a lot of inferences based on patterns whi...
5 comments
Read more

Inquiry Skills and Learning progression

There is a particular kind of professional disorientation that comes with receiving a new IB document. Not panic, exactly. More like the feeling of returning to a city you know well and finding that someone has quietly rearranged the streets. The landmarks are familiar. The destination is the same. But you find yourself pausing on corners you once crossed without thinking. That was my experience reading the IB's Inquiry Learning Progressions the first time.  The skills listed — decision-making, questioning, role-playing, turn-taking, observation — felt at once familiar and slightly foreign. I had spent years working with ATLs, with the learner profile attributes, with the inquiry cycle. These things were not strangers. And yet here were a new set of skills, with different names that I now had to consider when planning my units of inquiry. The next time I opened the document, I was reassured to see some changes: it showed how these news skills gravitated towards certain ATLs. Th...
Post a Comment
Read more

A teacher's antidote to stress

Life can become hectic for us teachers. What does a Friday feel like to you sometimes? By the end of the day, I feel like having a hot bath, switching off my mobile phone, and ignoring everyone around me. For my Masters program, the first thing we were made aware of was the intense stress teachers go through and how important it is to make time for yourself. I always felt selfish when I took out a little 'me' time. My kids would be banging on the door while I was getting a massage done at home. When I would come out after one hour, feeling happy, I would get sarcastic looks from everyone in the house! But I always knew that if I did not take out some time for myself, I would get mad! I love Hatha Yoga. Every morning I feel and enjoy the stretches; I am conscious of how I breath. I silently communicate with my body and get to know it. With a little practice, this becomes a really good habit. I love smooth pebbles! I collect them whenever I see one that intrigues me...
4 comments
Read more