Learning Never Stops

Pardon the imperfections. The video was made in trying conditions to say the least! My email id: nainibasu@gmail.com

The time had come when I had to leave my guest house and go to a boarding school. Was it going to be a cold and uninviting place? Was my room going to be dark and dingy? The unrelenting Himalayan wind left not much room for positivism. However stunning Ladakh is, the cold can douse any sense of adventure if you are not suitably prepared. It was therefore a very pleasant surprise when my taxi veered towards a simple yet sprawling school overlooking the icy caps of the Stok Kangri. The sight was breathtaking.  Jamyang School was started by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. It opened in the year 2008 and has been running quite successfully for the past 5 years.  I was led to a corner room. Thick red carpets lined the floor while bright magenta and gold curtains added warmth to my cozy Tibetan-style room. Two single beds lined either side of the walls. The bathroom was tiny, clean and equipped with a geyser and a western-style toilet.  A newly fitted shower gli...

This post can be found on "Inquiry Within" Blog. The link is attached below: http://inquiryblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/the-8way-thinking-strategy/

Should we do away with summative assessments? A few months ago, I remember my twitter community engaged in a discussion about the need for summative tasks. Why was it so important to have one if the formative assessments were thorough? Why check again when we have been checking all along and have data to prove that students have met the learning objectives? Formative tasks assess little bits and pieces. A skill, knowledge on a certain topic, the learner profile, an attitude. A summative task on the other hand, is all about the big picture. Are students able to synthesize their learning? Are they able to unconsciously use the skills and attitudes  as  they demonstrate content knowledge? The summative task should provide an authentic scenario; a simulation of real life.  Sitting at a desk and regurgitating data denies students the experience of being able to "create" something with their newfound knowledge and skills. It undermines th...

T oday you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is you-er than you. --Dr. Seuss  My stomach hurts. I do not feel like getting up and going to school. My friends think I am dumb; my teachers think I am dumb. Even my parents have that look on their faces whenever they try to help me with my homework. I hate school! Why do I need to learn?! Do you know what it feels like to be in Mrs. C’s classroom? There is so much noise! I cannot work in my group table because everyone seems to be talking at the same time. They always seem to have the answers before I have even understood the question! I am dumb I guess. But Mrs. C says group work helps build collaboration skills. I wish she could come and join my group and experience what I feel. If I ask her for help, she strolls over and puts her arm around my shoulder. When I try to explain that I am finding it hard to work, she patiently explains what I have to do all over again. I see her lips moving. No sound s...

The other day I happened to come across my virtual Google friend Craig Dwyer's post  A vow of Silence  . I loved the idea! It would be great to be silent for the whole day. I had my doubts as my 8 year olds are absolutely, unequivocally irrepressible. What I did not realize is that my day's lesson plans had to be carved and moulded to suit this paradigm shift!  So if you want to try it out, keep that in mind, Comrades:) The children loved it! Something new is always greeted with widening eyes and a toothless grin. They actually did quite well apart from a few suffocated throttling noises from one of my students :) But this is not why I am writing the post. I write it for a totally different reason... A few day after our Vow of Silence episode, my students were trying to find out the perimeter and area of their silhouette using wool and post-its. They were busy and the voice level was more than the acceptable 5 on our noise-level continuum. I could hear them ar...

So much depends  on words  that you speak tempered by your tone embellished by the  curve  of your brow adorning your telling eyes. I love teaching poetry, and yes, you have rightly guessed...this is a sorry imitation of William Carlos Williams', The Red Wheelbarrow . But when days are dolesome, I ride on the wings of poesy and create my own.  So educators! How do you address your students when you are upset? http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/angry-owl-michael-rutkowski.jpg