1 2 3 4Cover Story:Keeping Kids of...

Educators’Zone

School ZoneASSET Toppers

Insight Story:IntroducingPace...

6 7 85For Students Misconception

Series EI Workshop

The Monthly Newsletter

Issue 103 | April 2014 | www.ei-india.com

COVER StoryKeeping Kids off the Summer Slide

The summer vacation is traditionally viewed as a time when students can engage in pleasurable pursuits with their families and friends and forget about school. However, this does not mean that young people should neglect opportunities for continuous, active learning throughout the summer vacation.

Summer learning loss is a well-recognized challenge we face each year as educators when we say “goodbye” to our students for their two-month hiatus. The very idea of a “summer vacation” has changed due to the plethora of well-documented learning loss studies that show academic skills and knowledge steadily decline among young people when formal learning “stops”. While there are many factors that affect the rate of academic decline when students are away from school, one fact remains certain: all students are impacted regardless of home resources. Educators know that areas of decline among students typically result in lower reading comprehension levels, declining mathematical computation abilities, weaker literacy skills, a lessened vocabulary and a pronounced decline in all forms of procedurally-based knowledge learning. The “summer slide” in learning can account for the loss of an entire month of educational

instruction for most students. It can literally wreak havoc on a student’s academic growth and development over the years. The challenge we face as a community of learners is “How do we help our students resist the regression of knowledge that inevitably results from a summer vacation?”

We can start by recognizing a simple fact: a summer vacation is a great opportunity to build-in active learning experiences that build on the momentum of progress students acquire in the classroom. Parents, students and caregivers alike, can outsmart the summer slide when we build-in academically stimulating pursuits to strengthen learning and keep skills steadily progressing forward. First and foremost, young people need resources, strategies and engaging activities to keep their knowledge base fine-tuned all summer long. Continuous reading remains one of the most important and affordable activities to keep reading comprehension levels and literacy skills honed. All students should commit to the idea of reading 5 or 6 complex books while vacationing. This is not an arbitrary number. Interestingly, not only does this precise number manage to keep a student’s comprehension levels from atrophying, but also, in many cases it can get

reinforced over the summer.

Teachers can recommend that parents review all suggestions below and consider these possibilities for active, continuous summer learning:

• summer camp and summer sports programs to promote fitness, athletic skills, and leadership experiences

• summer enrichment programs that target improvement in critical reading, mathematics and writing specifically

• summer leadership programs that engage students in matters of global issues, team-building, and independence

• purchase of a great book series with 5 or more books: making it a personal goal to read every book in the series

These summer suggestions can function as an effective intervention for the purposes of academic remediation or enrichment. The summer slide can be totally prevented with careful planning, initiative and parental support.

MindsparkWorld

Ms. Shobha Pavecha,Principal, Jin Mani Vidya Vihar,Ratlam

Who has most influenced you to become an educator, and how did they influence you?–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

It was through destiny (God’s Grace) that I became an educator, because God bestowed on me, qualities like willingness to learn forever, curiosity, sensitivity, compassion, accountability. And this instinct inspired me to become an educator.

What is your approach to classroom management and student discipline?–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

This is a little difficult to answer in a heterogeneous class. But as far as my observation goes, education has been a multisensory approach. It is quite obvious that a child needs to be disciplined i.e. self-controlled in order to grasp/absorb through his senses, precisely. The teacher needs to be friendly with students (to facilitate learning) but should not be too familiar in order to keep class managed and coordinated.

What are your views regarding the ‘Importance of Teacher Training and Development’ in educating Students?–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

1

2

I strongly advocate Teacher Training and Development as the destiny of India is being shaped in Indian classrooms. Any person who enters the teaching profession – must know the four pillars of education - learning to know, learning to live together, learning to do, learning to be. Keeping these in mind, a teacher must let attitude and aptitude both, be a part of a continuing education pace with current trends in teaching like multiple intelligence, problem based learning, brain storming, concept mapping to handle the heterogeneous class and also keep track of individual differences. These can be the contents of teacher development. An eminent educationist rightly said- Teacher is a Quality and not Qualification. Let every teacher who entered the teaching profession nurture those qualities and shape the future citizens of India in the required manner.

What is your view regarding the ASSET Test?–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

ASSET is like– “Prevention is better than cure”. It identifies the difficulties and dark areas at a primitive stage and diagnoses the problem of the child, which is very important in the formative period and even in Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation. It diagnoses the problem at the root level and enables the teacher to provide remedial solutions. It is really beneficial to the students, teachers and the school, at large.

Thanks to Education Initiatives for coming up with such programmes.3

4

EDUCATORS’ Zone

THOUGHTFUL StoryThe Whole World Came Together

The young mother was ready for a few minutes of relaxation after a long and demanding day. However, her young daughter had other plans for her mother's time.

"Read me a story, Mommy," the little girl requested. "Give Mommy a few minutes to relax and unwind. Then I'll be happy to read you a story," pleaded the mother.

The little girl was insistent that Mommy read to her now. With a stroke of genius, the mother tore off the back page of the magazine she was reading. It contained a full-page picture of the world. As she tore it into several pieces, Mommy asked her daughter to put the picture together and then she would read her a story. Surely this would buy her considerable

SCHOOL ZoneASSET Toppers 2013 - 14

relaxing moments.

A short time later, the little girl announced the completion of her puzzle project. To her astonishment, she found the world picture completely assembled. When she asked her daughter how she managed to do it so quickly, the little girl explained that on the reverse side of the page was the picture of a little girl. "You see, Mommy, when I got the little girl together, the whole world came together."

Each of us has the responsibility to put our world together. It starts by getting ourselves put together. We can become better parents, friends, spouses, employees, and employers. The first step is changing our attitude.

FUN Zone

Jamnabai Narsee School, Mumbai

Juhi D Kocha, Class 3 Jordan R Lobo, Class 4 Keya N Shah, Class 4 Samiksh S Jain, Class 4 Shiv Y Bhatia, Class 4 Devam K Shah, Class 5

Anushri R Shah, Class 6 Sannat M Bhasin, Class 7 Shubham A Atit, Class 7 Bhaskar A Gupta, Class 8Arush P Godha, Class 5

Sarojben Memorial International School, Jamnagar

Teacher: If 2 and 2 makes four, what does 4 and 4 make?

Shyam: This is not fair teacher, you always do the easy ones and leave the hard

ones for me.

Ms. Shobha Pavecha,Principal, Jin Mani Vidya Vihar,Ratlam

Who has most influenced you to become an educator, and how did they influence you?–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

It was through destiny (God’s Grace) that I became an educator, because God bestowed on me, qualities like willingness to learn forever, curiosity, sensitivity, compassion, accountability. And this instinct inspired me to become an educator.

What is your approach to classroom management and student discipline?–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

This is a little difficult to answer in a heterogeneous class. But as far as my observation goes, education has been a multisensory approach. It is quite obvious that a child needs to be disciplined i.e. self-controlled in order to grasp/absorb through his senses, precisely. The teacher needs to be friendly with students (to facilitate learning) but should not be too familiar in order to keep class managed and coordinated.

What are your views regarding the ‘Importance of Teacher Training and Development’ in educating Students?–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

1

2

I strongly advocate Teacher Training and Development as the destiny of India is being shaped in Indian classrooms. Any person who enters the teaching profession – must know the four pillars of education - learning to know, learning to live together, learning to do, learning to be. Keeping these in mind, a teacher must let attitude and aptitude both, be a part of a continuing education pace with current trends in teaching like multiple intelligence, problem based learning, brain storming, concept mapping to handle the heterogeneous class and also keep track of individual differences. These can be the contents of teacher development. An eminent educationist rightly said- Teacher is a Quality and not Qualification. Let every teacher who entered the teaching profession nurture those qualities and shape the future citizens of India in the required manner.

What is your view regarding the ASSET Test?–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

ASSET is like– “Prevention is better than cure”. It identifies the difficulties and dark areas at a primitive stage and diagnoses the problem of the child, which is very important in the formative period and even in Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation. It diagnoses the problem at the root level and enables the teacher to provide remedial solutions. It is really beneficial to the students, teachers and the school, at large.

Thanks to Education Initiatives for coming up with such programmes.3

4

EDUCATORS’ Zone

THOUGHTFUL StoryThe Whole World Came Together

The young mother was ready for a few minutes of relaxation after a long and demanding day. However, her young daughter had other plans for her mother's time.

"Read me a story, Mommy," the little girl requested. "Give Mommy a few minutes to relax and unwind. Then I'll be happy to read you a story," pleaded the mother.

The little girl was insistent that Mommy read to her now. With a stroke of genius, the mother tore off the back page of the magazine she was reading. It contained a full-page picture of the world. As she tore it into several pieces, Mommy asked her daughter to put the picture together and then she would read her a story. Surely this would buy her considerable

SCHOOL ZoneASSET Toppers 2013 - 14

relaxing moments.

A short time later, the little girl announced the completion of her puzzle project. To her astonishment, she found the world picture completely assembled. When she asked her daughter how she managed to do it so quickly, the little girl explained that on the reverse side of the page was the picture of a little girl. "You see, Mommy, when I got the little girl together, the whole world came together."

Each of us has the responsibility to put our world together. It starts by getting ourselves put together. We can become better parents, friends, spouses, employees, and employers. The first step is changing our attitude.

FUN Zone

Jamnabai Narsee School, Mumbai

Juhi D Kocha, Class 3 Jordan R Lobo, Class 4 Keya N Shah, Class 4 Samiksh S Jain, Class 4 Shiv Y Bhatia, Class 4 Devam K Shah, Class 5

Anushri R Shah, Class 6 Sannat M Bhasin, Class 7 Shubham A Atit, Class 7 Bhaskar A Gupta, Class 8Arush P Godha, Class 5

Sarojben Memorial International School, Jamnagar

Teacher: If 2 and 2 makes four, what does 4 and 4 make?

Shyam: This is not fair teacher, you always do the easy ones and leave the hard

ones for me.

INSIGHT StoryIntroducing Pace and Purpose into your Lessons

The most successful teachers are those who engender a real sense of pace and purpose into proceedings and provide students with thinking and reflection time. The sequence below will help inject appropriate pace and reflection time into lessons.

The Planning Stage

• To make thinking time focused, provide students with questions, conundrums, viewpoints, etc. to think about clarify at the outset that you seek their responses.

• Be ready with an ‘entry task’ for the students to do as they enter the classroom to make a crisp start to the lesson. For example: anagrams, word searches, crosswords, interpreting optical illusions, working out the answers to riddles, responding to pictures, etc.

• Plan a compulsory starter activity that doesn’t need a lengthy introduction but is a quick, focused activity. Encourage following instructions.

• Make an even brisker start to the lesson by word-processing your learning objectives and ask students to stick these at the top of the page. This will also prompt the slower writers to finish.

• Inform students that noting down homework tasks from the board will be checked at the end of the lesson. Those who fail to do so could be either given an extra task or a short detention.

The Initial Phases of the Lesson

• Welcome students into the classroom and remind them to pick up the resources, laid out in order of their chronological use on the desk as a matter of routine. This saves many ‘break in flow’ points in the lesson.

• Scan the classroom to check that students are on task with appropriate behaviour.

• Be ready to start the lesson with appropriate lesson documentation on your desk.

• Check if the IT equipment is ready to use.

• As a policy, do not deal with individual queries until the class is settled and on task.

• Briefly tell latecomers that reasons/excuses will be heard later, so as to save time.

• While students are working on the starter activity prepare for the next activity.

The Core Phase of the Lesson

Instruct students on the main activity with key learning points both verbally and visually. Get students to tick mark a task checklist on completion of each task, to develop responsibility, reduce interruptions, increase the pace of the lesson and reduce stress levels

Example of a Task Checklist

1. Write the title of the work into your book and copy down the learning objective.

2. In the ‘word search’ sheet, write down as many words you can find, connected with the topic ‘Rainfall’.

3. Then stick the sheet into the margin of your book.

4. Find the meanings of these words.

5. Discuss these with your partner and prepare to share your answers with the class in 20 minutes.

Some disciplinary measures:

• Instruct students to take the help of the clock in the class for time-bound activities. Be transparent in your expectations and do not deviate from your instructions.

• Introduce a competitive element to your lesson to create a sense of pace but be judicious in how it is being done.

• Using fast-paced/slow-paced classical and/or contemporary pop music can often set the pace of the lesson

• Set pair or group tasks so that students know they have to share their personal contributions with a partner/group, or the class.

• Move around the classroom, and if someone is not working, simply write the current time in the margin of their page, conveying that you will be returning to check how much work has been done since your last visit.

• If teaching an able group, regularly ascribe the roles of chairperson or lead-learner to students who will then take responsibility and help maintain momentum and focus during tasks.

The End Phase of the Lesson

Always run a plenary session. Keep the end-of-lesson plenary short, focused and pithy. Examples are:

• ‘In two minutes, write down two facts you have learnt in this lesson.’

• ‘Turn to your neighbour and tell them two reasons for ….’

• ‘What has the poem taught you about yourself?’

• ‘Draw a quick sketch that represents the learning you have done today.’

For receiving student feedback during the lesson, enlist a student to record ideas on the board while you lead the discussion. This allows you to scan the class to ensure that everyone is listening and engaged in learning.

Excerpted from Gererd Dixie's book: The Ultimate Teaching Manual.

Exponent laws are taught to students in detail but other operations like ‘addition’ and ‘subtraction’ are not taught in class. Students lack the understanding of various operations on ‘terms with exponents’ and fail to visualize the overall picture.

Expo-expert game in Mindspark will give an overall picture of what happens if a particular operation is done on ‘terms with exponents’ including all possible cases.

In this game, questions are asked after giving an illustration of a similar type. The students have to match the cards with equal values.

For more information, write to us at mindspark@ei-india.com

MINDSPARK World

www.mindspark.in

Expo-Expert Game

INSIGHT StoryIntroducing Pace and Purpose into your Lessons

The most successful teachers are those who engender a real sense of pace and purpose into proceedings and provide students with thinking and reflection time. The sequence below will help inject appropriate pace and reflection time into lessons.

The Planning Stage

• To make thinking time focused, provide students with questions, conundrums, viewpoints, etc. to think about clarify at the outset that you seek their responses.

• Be ready with an ‘entry task’ for the students to do as they enter the classroom to make a crisp start to the lesson. For example: anagrams, word searches, crosswords, interpreting optical illusions, working out the answers to riddles, responding to pictures, etc.

• Plan a compulsory starter activity that doesn’t need a lengthy introduction but is a quick, focused activity. Encourage following instructions.

• Make an even brisker start to the lesson by word-processing your learning objectives and ask students to stick these at the top of the page. This will also prompt the slower writers to finish.

• Inform students that noting down homework tasks from the board will be checked at the end of the lesson. Those who fail to do so could be either given an extra task or a short detention.

The Initial Phases of the Lesson

• Welcome students into the classroom and remind them to pick up the resources, laid out in order of their chronological use on the desk as a matter of routine. This saves many ‘break in flow’ points in the lesson.

• Scan the classroom to check that students are on task with appropriate behaviour.

• Be ready to start the lesson with appropriate lesson documentation on your desk.

• Check if the IT equipment is ready to use.

• As a policy, do not deal with individual queries until the class is settled and on task.

• Briefly tell latecomers that reasons/excuses will be heard later, so as to save time.

• While students are working on the starter activity prepare for the next activity.

The Core Phase of the Lesson

Instruct students on the main activity with key learning points both verbally and visually. Get students to tick mark a task checklist on completion of each task, to develop responsibility, reduce interruptions, increase the pace of the lesson and reduce stress levels

Example of a Task Checklist

1. Write the title of the work into your book and copy down the learning objective.

2. In the ‘word search’ sheet, write down as many words you can find, connected with the topic ‘Rainfall’.

3. Then stick the sheet into the margin of your book.

4. Find the meanings of these words.

5. Discuss these with your partner and prepare to share your answers with the class in 20 minutes.

Some disciplinary measures:

• Instruct students to take the help of the clock in the class for time-bound activities. Be transparent in your expectations and do not deviate from your instructions.

• Introduce a competitive element to your lesson to create a sense of pace but be judicious in how it is being done.

• Using fast-paced/slow-paced classical and/or contemporary pop music can often set the pace of the lesson

• Set pair or group tasks so that students know they have to share their personal contributions with a partner/group, or the class.

• Move around the classroom, and if someone is not working, simply write the current time in the margin of their page, conveying that you will be returning to check how much work has been done since your last visit.

• If teaching an able group, regularly ascribe the roles of chairperson or lead-learner to students who will then take responsibility and help maintain momentum and focus during tasks.

The End Phase of the Lesson

Always run a plenary session. Keep the end-of-lesson plenary short, focused and pithy. Examples are:

• ‘In two minutes, write down two facts you have learnt in this lesson.’

• ‘Turn to your neighbour and tell them two reasons for ….’

• ‘What has the poem taught you about yourself?’

• ‘Draw a quick sketch that represents the learning you have done today.’

For receiving student feedback during the lesson, enlist a student to record ideas on the board while you lead the discussion. This allows you to scan the class to ensure that everyone is listening and engaged in learning.

Excerpted from Gererd Dixie's book: The Ultimate Teaching Manual.

Exponent laws are taught to students in detail but other operations like ‘addition’ and ‘subtraction’ are not taught in class. Students lack the understanding of various operations on ‘terms with exponents’ and fail to visualize the overall picture.

Expo-expert game in Mindspark will give an overall picture of what happens if a particular operation is done on ‘terms with exponents’ including all possible cases.

In this game, questions are asked after giving an illustration of a similar type. The students have to match the cards with equal values.

For more information, write to us at mindspark@ei-india.com

MINDSPARK World

www.mindspark.in

Expo-Expert Game

For Teachers

While some children might be natural-born leaders, all kids can develop leadership skills with the right guidance. Teaching kids leadership skills can help boost self-esteem, improve communication skills, teach them to identify personal strengths and weaknesses and encourage them to learn how to work with others. Engage your children in activities that regularly emphasize and help them develop better leadership skills.

Studies show that early experiences in life impact adult leadership potential.

There are many qualities associated with leadership such as communication skills, problem solving skills, organization, flexibility, and creativity. Teachers, caregivers, parents and other family members can encourage the development of these qualities in early life.

All children have the potential to develop leadership skills. It is a lifelong process. As children grow, the school setting adds to the influence of family life. Teachers can give children opportunities to serve in leadership roles. As adults, we can teach the skills necessary for children to take on leadership roles now and in the future. The following are some ways that you can help children develop

MISCONCEPTION SeriesClass 4: Science

Why was the question asked in ASSET test?1Students learn about living things and observe them in their daily life. This question was designed to test if students appreciate the fact that living things die. And since a tree is also a living thing, it also dies.

What did students answer?234% of the students answered this question correctly. 46% of the students selected the wrong option C.

Possible reason for choosing B: Very few students have selected this option and they seem to have made a random guess. Possibly students might have seen some trees dying but seen some trees like neem, banyan etc. growing for a very long period of time and thus reached this conclusion.

Possible reason for choosing C: Most students have chosen this option. Probably they have seen people cutting down trees and some of them not growing again. Hence, they might be concluding that only cutting down trees leads to the death of a tree. Possibly, opportunities to see the natural dying process of trees are not so common.

Possible reason for choosing D: Very few students have selected this option and they seem to have made a random guess. Possibly, some students think that trees just grow to a certain size and are then like that forever without dying.

normally. They seem to be relying on prior notions and observations to answer this question. They might have seen huge trees growing for years. And they might have also seen some being cut down, leading to their death. It is possible that they think of something as living if it is growing and so since a tree stops growing after it is cut, they think that it dies. Though this may not be totally wrong, they need to appreciate the deeper idea that all living organisms die and there could be various reasons that cause death, like lack of food, age or disease.

One reason for students not being able to appreciate this fundamental idea seems to be the lack of its mention in the curriculum. Students do learn about the characteristics that distinguish a living thing from a non-living thing. But this property that all living things ultimately die is missed out.g

How do we handle this?4Students need to understand the entire life cycle, from birth to death, to appreciate the various stages a living organism goes through.

Let students discuss and come up with criteria, some or all of which might be observed in a living organism. Give them some objects and allow them to classify them into living and non-living. Once they are clear about this, they can then be asked to represent the life cycle of a living organism. Try and find such misconceptions in their representations and try and understand the reasons behind those misconceptions. Instead of giving away the answers, challenge their wrong ideas by asking them questions that would make them think. For example, if they say that some trees do not die, try and find out which trees are believed not to die.

Ask them to find out the age of the oldest trees found on earth. Ask them the reason why trees do not survive beyond that age and what happens to other trees. Ask them what would happen if trees never died. Ask them what would happen in certain situations like lack of food or disease. The idea should not be to confuse them, but to present them with situations that conflict with their wrong ideas and make them think.

QLiving Organisms - Form and Function

Do trees die?

Yes, all trees die after getting sick or old.

Only some types of trees die, others do not.

Trees die only when they are cut by men.

Trees never die, though they stop growing bigger.

A

B

C

D

P

Learnings3

Students learn about living things and see them growing, moving, reproducing and exhibiting other characteristics in their daily life. Based on these observable characteristics, they build their own ideas of living and non-living things. They even see some organisms dying.

However, as the data indicate, they don’t seem to appreciate that like other organisms which die some day or the other, even trees die

For more information about ASSET, write to us at info@ei-india.com

Teaching Leadership Skills to Kids

leadership skills:

Children learn from seeing what others do. It is important to model leadership behaviour to children. Tell the child what you are doing and why you are doing it. They learn that you do things with a purpose which in turn has outcomes.

Teach children how to see things from another’s point of view. Good communication is a key component to being an effective leader. Teach children how to listen carefully and how to respond to others in a calm and respectful way.

Help children build their leadership self-confidence by giving them opportunities to do a good job and offer praise when appropriate. You might say, “I am so proud of you that you volunteered to be the leader of the group. It is a big job to make sure everyone is doing their part.”

Find ways to create problem solving situations. Allow children to start making small decisions such as picking which activity they want to participate in. Give children more opportunities to make decisions as they learn the concepts of responsibility and

consequences of making a decision.

Teach children how to work with others in a team situation such as: group projects or sports activities. Negotiation and compromising teaches children to stay focused on a larger picture rather than sticking to only their own personal view.

Often, children as well as adults shy away from leadership tasks because they feel overwhelmed. Show children how to break tasks into workable ways to get the job done or address a problem situation.

Encourage children to pursue things that interest them. They may develop a passion for it, feel comfortable and later take on a leadership role. While every child may not end up in a formal leadership position, it is a good bet that she or he will be doing some sort of leadership in the future. Remember that today’s children will be needed as volunteer leaders in your local community organizations. It is never too early to start building their leadership potential.

.Teaching is a wonderful profession for those who feel the call to it. One of the benefits of teaching is that the summertime is a break for the teacher, along with the students. Although most teachers are still typically on the payroll, and may be required to fulfill certain tasks, there is also finally time to do the things that they never seem to have the time for throughout the school year. The following are the top 10 ‘to do’s’ for teachers during the summer vacation.

1-Catch up on some reading that you’ve been wanting to do. Most teachers enjoy reading, both for learning and for pleasure. It’s that stack of relaxing books that has sat gathering dust through the school year, so take some time this summer to delve into a few of them and just relax while you’re at it.

2-Attend a teaching seminar plus teacher training programme that is pertinent to the subject(s) or grade level you teach. There are always new things that teachers can learn to make their job more intriguing, successful, and rewarding. If you take one out of town, you can even turn it into a well-deserved vacation!

3-Catch up with friends and family whom you

Vacation activities for Teachers

haven’t been able to keep in close contact with, during the busy school year. Write letters, send emails, make phone calls, and arrange some time to get together during the summer vacation.

4-Create a scrapbook of the year that has just passed. Teachers meet new children every year and often, these children are loved and cared for by the teacher. Having a lasting memory like a scrapbook will allow you to cherish these memories for years to come.

5-Summer is the perfect time for teachers to do some work around their own homes. Yard work, gardening, interior decorating, and remodeling can be completed in the summertime and enjoyed the rest of the year.

6-Assess your methods of teaching and their effectiveness that is showing through in your students’ grades and other accomplishments. If you pinpoint certain areas that are working well, you will know to keep those, and if there are areas where there are struggles, you can gather information about teaching methods that may be more effective.

Teachers are indeed called to their profession. While there are wonderful moments as a

teacher, it is not an easy career choice. Teaching is full of rewards, but can also be full of challenges and heartbreaks. During the summer vacation, teachers need to do some things for themselves, as well as for their careers, keeping everything in a healthy and happy balance. This will help them to be the most effective instructors possible, enhancing the lives of students, year after year.

Only 34.4% answered correctly

PA. 34.4%

B.8.5%

No. of students

3365

C. 46.5%

D. 9.5%

Source:www.schoolofeducators.com

For Teachers

While some children might be natural-born leaders, all kids can develop leadership skills with the right guidance. Teaching kids leadership skills can help boost self-esteem, improve communication skills, teach them to identify personal strengths and weaknesses and encourage them to learn how to work with others. Engage your children in activities that regularly emphasize and help them develop better leadership skills.

Studies show that early experiences in life impact adult leadership potential.

There are many qualities associated with leadership such as communication skills, problem solving skills, organization, flexibility, and creativity. Teachers, caregivers, parents and other family members can encourage the development of these qualities in early life.

All children have the potential to develop leadership skills. It is a lifelong process. As children grow, the school setting adds to the influence of family life. Teachers can give children opportunities to serve in leadership roles. As adults, we can teach the skills necessary for children to take on leadership roles now and in the future. The following are some ways that you can help children develop

MISCONCEPTION SeriesClass 4: Science

Why was the question asked in ASSET test?1Students learn about living things and observe them in their daily life. This question was designed to test if students appreciate the fact that living things die. And since a tree is also a living thing, it also dies.

What did students answer?234% of the students answered this question correctly. 46% of the students selected the wrong option C.

Possible reason for choosing B: Very few students have selected this option and they seem to have made a random guess. Possibly students might have seen some trees dying but seen some trees like neem, banyan etc. growing for a very long period of time and thus reached this conclusion.

Possible reason for choosing C: Most students have chosen this option. Probably they have seen people cutting down trees and some of them not growing again. Hence, they might be concluding that only cutting down trees leads to the death of a tree. Possibly, opportunities to see the natural dying process of trees are not so common.

Possible reason for choosing D: Very few students have selected this option and they seem to have made a random guess. Possibly, some students think that trees just grow to a certain size and are then like that forever without dying.

normally. They seem to be relying on prior notions and observations to answer this question. They might have seen huge trees growing for years. And they might have also seen some being cut down, leading to their death. It is possible that they think of something as living if it is growing and so since a tree stops growing after it is cut, they think that it dies. Though this may not be totally wrong, they need to appreciate the deeper idea that all living organisms die and there could be various reasons that cause death, like lack of food, age or disease.

One reason for students not being able to appreciate this fundamental idea seems to be the lack of its mention in the curriculum. Students do learn about the characteristics that distinguish a living thing from a non-living thing. But this property that all living things ultimately die is missed out.g

How do we handle this?4Students need to understand the entire life cycle, from birth to death, to appreciate the various stages a living organism goes through.

Let students discuss and come up with criteria, some or all of which might be observed in a living organism. Give them some objects and allow them to classify them into living and non-living. Once they are clear about this, they can then be asked to represent the life cycle of a living organism. Try and find such misconceptions in their representations and try and understand the reasons behind those misconceptions. Instead of giving away the answers, challenge their wrong ideas by asking them questions that would make them think. For example, if they say that some trees do not die, try and find out which trees are believed not to die.

Ask them to find out the age of the oldest trees found on earth. Ask them the reason why trees do not survive beyond that age and what happens to other trees. Ask them what would happen if trees never died. Ask them what would happen in certain situations like lack of food or disease. The idea should not be to confuse them, but to present them with situations that conflict with their wrong ideas and make them think.

QLiving Organisms - Form and Function

Do trees die?

Yes, all trees die after getting sick or old.

Only some types of trees die, others do not.

Trees die only when they are cut by men.

Trees never die, though they stop growing bigger.

A

B

C

D

P

Learnings3

Students learn about living things and see them growing, moving, reproducing and exhibiting other characteristics in their daily life. Based on these observable characteristics, they build their own ideas of living and non-living things. They even see some organisms dying.

However, as the data indicate, they don’t seem to appreciate that like other organisms which die some day or the other, even trees die

For more information about ASSET, write to us at info@ei-india.com

Teaching Leadership Skills to Kids

leadership skills:

Children learn from seeing what others do. It is important to model leadership behaviour to children. Tell the child what you are doing and why you are doing it. They learn that you do things with a purpose which in turn has outcomes.

Teach children how to see things from another’s point of view. Good communication is a key component to being an effective leader. Teach children how to listen carefully and how to respond to others in a calm and respectful way.

Help children build their leadership self-confidence by giving them opportunities to do a good job and offer praise when appropriate. You might say, “I am so proud of you that you volunteered to be the leader of the group. It is a big job to make sure everyone is doing their part.”

Find ways to create problem solving situations. Allow children to start making small decisions such as picking which activity they want to participate in. Give children more opportunities to make decisions as they learn the concepts of responsibility and

consequences of making a decision.

Teach children how to work with others in a team situation such as: group projects or sports activities. Negotiation and compromising teaches children to stay focused on a larger picture rather than sticking to only their own personal view.

Often, children as well as adults shy away from leadership tasks because they feel overwhelmed. Show children how to break tasks into workable ways to get the job done or address a problem situation.

Encourage children to pursue things that interest them. They may develop a passion for it, feel comfortable and later take on a leadership role. While every child may not end up in a formal leadership position, it is a good bet that she or he will be doing some sort of leadership in the future. Remember that today’s children will be needed as volunteer leaders in your local community organizations. It is never too early to start building their leadership potential.

.Teaching is a wonderful profession for those who feel the call to it. One of the benefits of teaching is that the summertime is a break for the teacher, along with the students. Although most teachers are still typically on the payroll, and may be required to fulfill certain tasks, there is also finally time to do the things that they never seem to have the time for throughout the school year. The following are the top 10 ‘to do’s’ for teachers during the summer vacation.

1-Catch up on some reading that you’ve been wanting to do. Most teachers enjoy reading, both for learning and for pleasure. It’s that stack of relaxing books that has sat gathering dust through the school year, so take some time this summer to delve into a few of them and just relax while you’re at it.

2-Attend a teaching seminar plus teacher training programme that is pertinent to the subject(s) or grade level you teach. There are always new things that teachers can learn to make their job more intriguing, successful, and rewarding. If you take one out of town, you can even turn it into a well-deserved vacation!

3-Catch up with friends and family whom you

Vacation activities for Teachers

haven’t been able to keep in close contact with, during the busy school year. Write letters, send emails, make phone calls, and arrange some time to get together during the summer vacation.

4-Create a scrapbook of the year that has just passed. Teachers meet new children every year and often, these children are loved and cared for by the teacher. Having a lasting memory like a scrapbook will allow you to cherish these memories for years to come.

5-Summer is the perfect time for teachers to do some work around their own homes. Yard work, gardening, interior decorating, and remodeling can be completed in the summertime and enjoyed the rest of the year.

6-Assess your methods of teaching and their effectiveness that is showing through in your students’ grades and other accomplishments. If you pinpoint certain areas that are working well, you will know to keep those, and if there are areas where there are struggles, you can gather information about teaching methods that may be more effective.

Teachers are indeed called to their profession. While there are wonderful moments as a

teacher, it is not an easy career choice. Teaching is full of rewards, but can also be full of challenges and heartbreaks. During the summer vacation, teachers need to do some things for themselves, as well as for their careers, keeping everything in a healthy and happy balance. This will help them to be the most effective instructors possible, enhancing the lives of students, year after year.

Only 34.4% answered correctly

PA. 34.4%

B.8.5%

No. of students

3365

C. 46.5%

D. 9.5%

Source:www.schoolofeducators.com

EI Workshop

In our workshop series ‘Our Roots Our Future’ a day long workshop was conducted at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi on 5th of April 2014. This was the second of the series (the first one was conducted at Bengaluru in February 2014).

The workshop focussed on four important skills that are part of ASSET Social Studies.

1. Historical Ideas and Interpretation

2. Sources of History and Chronology

3. Cultural and Natural Diversity of India

4. Art and Heritage Appreciation

It was centred on two themes, sources in history and cultural diversity, in the participative method. There was both demonstration of audio-visual aids and group activities.

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We would like to receive your feedback on the contents of ASSETScope and the activities of EI. Please send your comments / opinions / suggestions to bindu@ei-india.com, assetscope@ei-india.com or to the postal address mentioned on the left. This is a platform meant for you and it would be great to exchange ideas with you.

Bookpost

Our Roots Our Future A One Day Workshop for Teachers on History and Culture

“Very interesting, especially the movie on Mahabalipuram. Activities for teachers were very interesting and a good learning experience”.

Jyohee Verma,Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan,KG Road

Rajashree Sen,The Shri Ram School,Aravali

“It helped me to connect with teachers from different schools. It enabled me to learn innovative teaching methods. It changed my views about introducing certain topics”.

By Jitu Mishra, Education Specialist, EI