This Month’sIssue

Exam Preparation ...........

School Events ....... .........

PISA Story ......................

Letter from Santa ...........

Google Science Fair ........

Chess in Schools .............

Teacher’s Bite .................

Duke TIP .........................

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

Exam Preparation Tips

The exam time is the most stressful formulae and figures and also other part of a school year. It is important to important points. be positive and physically fit for the Sleep well and Eat well: Sleeping exam. Think of it as a way to for 6 hours and not more than 8 demonstrate knowledge and not as hours, will greatly affect your some imposing challenge. Go to the performance in the exam. Our brain is exam focused and relaxed. said to be most active from 5 a.m. to 8 Don’t be afraid of the exams: Fear a.m. and in the evening from 7 p.m. to for the exams may make you lose 11 p.m. and can retain the most at that focus. Get into a regular study habit time. Fasting will affect your from the beginning rather than just performance adversely, so eat well before the exams. This will help you but keep to a normal diet. Heavy gain confidence. meals containing rice, fats, spices, be tempted to see your reflection often.

fried potatoes or non-vegetarian food are Create a good study plan: Prepare a Don’t try to study while the TV is on. It is best avoided as they rob the brain of time table before starting to study. Give believed that studying facing the east or oxygen and make you feel drowsy. Eat the tough subjects more time and easier more accurately, north east, gives you things which supply continuous energy to ones less. Decide clearly, what, when and great positive energy and better the brain for long spans of time. For e.g. how much you will study each day. concentration.sprouted food, high protein diet, green

Take regular breaks while studying: Sit straight: Never sit on the bed or lie vegetables, curd, milk, honey, chocolate Research has shown that the human brain down on it while studying. Remember to with cocoa etc. Don’t forget to have a cannot concentrate for more than 30 to sit straight with your feet slightly raised glass of water before you go to bed, to 50 minutes continuously. So take 10 and parallel to the ground. Placing the keep your brain cells charged!!!minute-breaks to recharge your brain, by feet on the ground causes ionization and

Practise your presentation skills: doing things you like to do, for example: induces sleep. If the legs are raised above Practise writing answers in points. In talking to a friend on phone; watching TV; the head while studying, it will affect the essay questions don't forget to underline listening to music; or going for jog. blood flow direction and causes the key words or important points. Try to sleepiness. Select a proper atmosphere for wr i te nea t l y and

studying: Choose a comfortable and Make notes while studying: While legibly.relaxing place to help you concentrate on studying make small notes in the form of

Believe in yourself: what you are studying. Study in the silent key words or phrases or diagrammatic Last but not the least, hours of the morning when you can representations, so that you can remain confident and concentrate more. A mirror in the room remember all points during your revision. believe that you can do may distract you considerably as you may An ideal note could include all important well.

T h e m o n t h l y n e w s l e t t e r

Issue 81 | February 2012 | www.ei-india.com

SCOPE

Source: http://ayurveda.hubpages.com/hub/Tricks-to-tackle-exams (modified)

The annual Maths exhibition of The High Range School took by them. It was one of the most innovative exhibits because it place on 17th December 2011. The exhibition aimed at allowed the students to completely unleash their creativity. showcasing an array of mathematical exhibits made by the They had to think outside the box to create certain students. This also aimed at making Maths more interesting components of their town. It was a wonderful effort by them! and exciting. It encouraged the students to enjoy learning The town was a creative result of the students’ imagination. Maths. They constructed geometrical apartments, a children’s park, a

shopping mall and a market place. The students also made a Students from classes 1 to 12 participated whole-heartedly on

geometrical railway station too! It was absolutely amazing. The the exhibition. Each of them had something unique and

amount of detail was superb! It was a result of the hard work of interesting to offer!

the students.A variety of puzzles, games and charts were on display. The

The exhibition also showcased “playful pi”, a stall completely students puzzled everyone with wonderful brainteasers and

devoted to pi. The stall contained information and facts about puzzles. They tested the intelligence of everyone including the

the mathematical constant. The stall also showcased a “cake” ( parents! All the exhibits were very interesting and appealed to

not edible!) with the digits of pi. The stall showcased tons of the parents and students alike.

amazing facts about pi. This stall gave the viewers a unique Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the Maths opportunity to learn more about the mathematical constant.exhibition was the geometrical town put up by the students of

On asking the parents about the exhibition they replied class VIII. They converted their whole classroom into a

"good"..."nice" and also "great"!geometrical town! The town was created using only geometric shapes. They created the town from scratch using cardboard On the whole, the exhibition was a thumping success! Kudos to boxes and chart paper. All the designing, painting etc was done all the students and the teachers behind the scenes!

Annual Maths Exhibition 2011-2012

By Tamanna Elizabeth Chacko, ASSET Ambassador, The High Range School, Munnar

In view of sharing the joy of Christmas with the less fortunate, Montfort School, Kattur conducted a rural sports meet on December 9th 2011. Rev. Bro. Dhanraj, the Principal of the school presided over the function. The Chief Guest of the sports meet was Mr. P. Elamurugan, President of Lions Club. Thiruverumbur, Trichy.

Students from various Government Elementary schools in and around Kattur-Thiruverumbur were invited for sports meet. More than 200 students participated enthusiastically in various sports events and prizes were awarded to the winners. All the participants were given lunch and a memento each. It was indeed a thrilling as well as a wonderful learning experience for all the children. Montfortians had the opportunity to mingle and interact with the children socially and economically.

Joy of Christmas at Montfort School

By Jaya Krupa G J, ASSET Ambassador, Montfort School, Trichy

Greeting card

From Rishabh Jain, ASSET Ambassador, Jain Public School, Ujjain

for ASSET

A global study of learning standards in 74 countries has ranked Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh India all but at the bottom, sounding a wake-up call for the traditionally rank high on human country’s education system. China came out on top. development parameters and are

considered to be among India’s more progressive states. The India Human Development Report 2011, prepared by the Institute of Applied Manpower Research (IAMR), put them significantly ahead of the national average. IAMR is an autonomous arm of the Planning Commission.

For literacy, Himachal Pradesh ranked 4 and Tamil Nadu 11 in the National Family Health Survey released in 2007. Yet, in the PISA study, Tamil Nadu ranked 72 and Himachal Pradesh 73, just ahead of Kyrgyzstan in Mathematics and overall reading skills. The eastern Chinese metropolis of Shanghai topped the PISA rankings in all three categories—overall reading skills, mathematical and scientific literacy.

PISA is an international study that began in 2000. It aims to assess education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students in participating economies.

In Tamil Nadu, only 17% of the students were estimated to It was the first time that India participated in the Programme possess proficiency in reading that is at or above the baseline for International Student Assessment (PISA), coordinated by needed to be effective and productive in life. In Himachal the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Pradesh, this level is 11%. This compares to 81% of students Development (OECD). India’s participation was in a pilot performing at or above the baseline level in reading in the other project, confined to schools from Tamil Nadu and Himachal countries, on an average.Pradesh.

In other words, only a little over one in six students in Tamil The findings are significant because they come at a time when Nadu and nearly one in 10 students in Himachal Pradesh are India is making a big push in education and improving the skills performing at the international average. A similar trend was of its workforce. If the results from the two states hold good observed in mathematical and scientific literacy, too.for the rest of the country, India’s long-term competitiveness

may be in question.

India Fares Poorly in Global Learning Study

Shanghai (China)

South Korea

Finland

Hong Kong (China)

Tamil Nadu (India)

Himachal Pradesh (India)

Kyrgyzstan

556

539

536

533

337

317

314

1

2

3

4

72

73

74

Languishing at the bottomMean performance on the overall reading scale.

Ranks Overall reading scale OECD (average)

493

Source:PISA

Imagine you were given your favourite brownie with your performance not by walking around but by just viewing the live favourite ice cream. What a combination. Children love detailed reports on the tablet.Mindspark and to use the latest technology – tablet to work Students love Mindspark on tablets and they wait eagerly for on Mindspark is a stupendous the next session.experience.

Detailed Assessment is a topic wise Educational Initiatives (EI) recently diagnostic test customized to the introduced two of its products school’s text books. Schools have M i n d s p a r k a n d D e t a i l e d started taking DA on tablets. In Assessment on tablet PC. When addition to the primary benefit of Mindspark was introduced on providing immediate diagnostic tablets in a school in Chennai, reports, this innovation will help children were awestruck. They your students be part of the latest could not believe that they will be technological revolution sweeping using a tablet PC to do Mindspark. the globe, better prepare them for These tablets are a more personal the future and contribute to the device – a student can be at his/her worthy cause of a green planet. own desk and enjoy the use of the Detailed Assessment tests are tablet in his/her own pace and conducted for Maths and Science comfort. tests on Tablets.Due to infrastructure constraints, a mobile lab works more For more information regarding Mindspark and efficiently where lab is brought to classroom, rather than Detailed Assessment, write to us at info@ei-india.comchildren going to lab. Also, the teacher can monitor the student

EI introduces two products on Tablet PC – Mindspark and

Detailed Assessment

Students doing DA test on tablet PCStudents doing DA test on tablet PC

The annual Maths exhibition of The High Range School took by them. It was one of the most innovative exhibits because it place on 17th December 2011. The exhibition aimed at allowed the students to completely unleash their creativity. showcasing an array of mathematical exhibits made by the They had to think outside the box to create certain students. This also aimed at making Maths more interesting components of their town. It was a wonderful effort by them! and exciting. It encouraged the students to enjoy learning The town was a creative result of the students’ imagination. Maths. They constructed geometrical apartments, a children’s park, a

shopping mall and a market place. The students also made a Students from classes 1 to 12 participated whole-heartedly on

geometrical railway station too! It was absolutely amazing. The the exhibition. Each of them had something unique and

amount of detail was superb! It was a result of the hard work of interesting to offer!

the students.A variety of puzzles, games and charts were on display. The

The exhibition also showcased “playful pi”, a stall completely students puzzled everyone with wonderful brainteasers and

devoted to pi. The stall contained information and facts about puzzles. They tested the intelligence of everyone including the

the mathematical constant. The stall also showcased a “cake” ( parents! All the exhibits were very interesting and appealed to

not edible!) with the digits of pi. The stall showcased tons of the parents and students alike.

amazing facts about pi. This stall gave the viewers a unique Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the Maths opportunity to learn more about the mathematical constant.exhibition was the geometrical town put up by the students of

On asking the parents about the exhibition they replied class VIII. They converted their whole classroom into a

"good"..."nice" and also "great"!geometrical town! The town was created using only geometric shapes. They created the town from scratch using cardboard On the whole, the exhibition was a thumping success! Kudos to boxes and chart paper. All the designing, painting etc was done all the students and the teachers behind the scenes!

Annual Maths Exhibition 2011-2012

By Tamanna Elizabeth Chacko, ASSET Ambassador, The High Range School, Munnar

In view of sharing the joy of Christmas with the less fortunate, Montfort School, Kattur conducted a rural sports meet on December 9th 2011. Rev. Bro. Dhanraj, the Principal of the school presided over the function. The Chief Guest of the sports meet was Mr. P. Elamurugan, President of Lions Club. Thiruverumbur, Trichy.

Students from various Government Elementary schools in and around Kattur-Thiruverumbur were invited for sports meet. More than 200 students participated enthusiastically in various sports events and prizes were awarded to the winners. All the participants were given lunch and a memento each. It was indeed a thrilling as well as a wonderful learning experience for all the children. Montfortians had the opportunity to mingle and interact with the children socially and economically.

Joy of Christmas at Montfort School

By Jaya Krupa G J, ASSET Ambassador, Montfort School, Trichy

Greeting card

From Rishabh Jain, ASSET Ambassador, Jain Public School, Ujjain

for ASSET

A global study of learning standards in 74 countries has ranked Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh India all but at the bottom, sounding a wake-up call for the traditionally rank high on human country’s education system. China came out on top. development parameters and are

considered to be among India’s more progressive states. The India Human Development Report 2011, prepared by the Institute of Applied Manpower Research (IAMR), put them significantly ahead of the national average. IAMR is an autonomous arm of the Planning Commission.

For literacy, Himachal Pradesh ranked 4 and Tamil Nadu 11 in the National Family Health Survey released in 2007. Yet, in the PISA study, Tamil Nadu ranked 72 and Himachal Pradesh 73, just ahead of Kyrgyzstan in Mathematics and overall reading skills. The eastern Chinese metropolis of Shanghai topped the PISA rankings in all three categories—overall reading skills, mathematical and scientific literacy.

PISA is an international study that began in 2000. It aims to assess education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students in participating economies.

In Tamil Nadu, only 17% of the students were estimated to It was the first time that India participated in the Programme possess proficiency in reading that is at or above the baseline for International Student Assessment (PISA), coordinated by needed to be effective and productive in life. In Himachal the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Pradesh, this level is 11%. This compares to 81% of students Development (OECD). India’s participation was in a pilot performing at or above the baseline level in reading in the other project, confined to schools from Tamil Nadu and Himachal countries, on an average.Pradesh.

In other words, only a little over one in six students in Tamil The findings are significant because they come at a time when Nadu and nearly one in 10 students in Himachal Pradesh are India is making a big push in education and improving the skills performing at the international average. A similar trend was of its workforce. If the results from the two states hold good observed in mathematical and scientific literacy, too.for the rest of the country, India’s long-term competitiveness

may be in question.

India Fares Poorly in Global Learning Study

Shanghai (China)

South Korea

Finland

Hong Kong (China)

Tamil Nadu (India)

Himachal Pradesh (India)

Kyrgyzstan

556

539

536

533

337

317

314

1

2

3

4

72

73

74

Languishing at the bottomMean performance on the overall reading scale.

Ranks Overall reading scale OECD (average)

493

Source:PISA

Imagine you were given your favourite brownie with your performance not by walking around but by just viewing the live favourite ice cream. What a combination. Children love detailed reports on the tablet.Mindspark and to use the latest technology – tablet to work Students love Mindspark on tablets and they wait eagerly for on Mindspark is a stupendous the next session.experience.

Detailed Assessment is a topic wise Educational Initiatives (EI) recently diagnostic test customized to the introduced two of its products school’s text books. Schools have M i n d s p a r k a n d D e t a i l e d started taking DA on tablets. In Assessment on tablet PC. When addition to the primary benefit of Mindspark was introduced on providing immediate diagnostic tablets in a school in Chennai, reports, this innovation will help children were awestruck. They your students be part of the latest could not believe that they will be technological revolution sweeping using a tablet PC to do Mindspark. the globe, better prepare them for These tablets are a more personal the future and contribute to the device – a student can be at his/her worthy cause of a green planet. own desk and enjoy the use of the Detailed Assessment tests are tablet in his/her own pace and conducted for Maths and Science comfort. tests on Tablets.Due to infrastructure constraints, a mobile lab works more For more information regarding Mindspark and efficiently where lab is brought to classroom, rather than Detailed Assessment, write to us at info@ei-india.comchildren going to lab. Also, the teacher can monitor the student

EI introduces two products on Tablet PC – Mindspark and

Detailed Assessment

Students doing DA test on tablet PCStudents doing DA test on tablet PC

In 2011, Google launched the first ever global online science competition for 13-18 year old students with the Google Science Fair. Over 10,000 students from 91 countries submitted amazing science experiments. With project topics ranging from “Can I program a robot in English?” to “Can I make a sailboat even faster with a winged keel,” to “How does marinade affect carcinogen levels in grilled chicken?,”

After narrowing this impressive group of young people down to 60 semi-finalists, whose projects were viewed by the public, 15 finalists were selected to come to Google headquarters for the final live Google Science Fair. The top 15 wowed the luminary judges—as well as more than 1,000 local attendees plus Googlers who stopped by to check out the action in our exhibit hall on the day of the finals.

When the results came in, girl power was the theme. The top three winners by age category were all young women: Lauren

simple solutions that can be implemented by the general Hodge was in the 13-14 age group. Lauren studied the effect of public—like changing your cooking habits or removing toxins different marinades on the level of potentially harmful from your home—as well as more complex solutions that can carcinogens in grilled chicken.be addressed in labs by doctors and researchers, such as

Naomi Shah was in the 15-16 age group. Naomi endeavoured Shree’s groundbreaking discovery, which could have wider to prove that making changes to indoor environments that implications for cancer research.improve indoor air quality can reduce people’s reliance on

The winners took home prizes furnished by Google and their asthma medications.partners CERN, LEGO, National Geographic and Scientific

Shree Bose was in the 17-18 age group. Shree discovered a American. Shree received a $50,000 scholarship, a trip to the way to improve ovarian cancer treatment for patients when Galápagos Islands with a National Geographic Explorer and an they have built up a resistance to certain chemotherapy drugs. internship at CERN. Naomi and Lauren each received $25,000

scholarships and internships at Google and LEGO. All three The judges said that the unifying elements of all three young were awarded lifetime digital subscriptions to Scientific women were their intellectual curiosity, their tenaciousness American. Beyond the grand prizes, everyone went home with and their ambition to use science to find solutions to big some pretty cool loot, along with plenty of photos and problems. They examined complex problems and found both memories that will last a lifetime.

The Google Science Fair 2011, got an overwhelming response. The winners were invited to the White House to meet with President Obama, and asked to speak at TED Women in Los Angeles. Shree Bose, the grand prize winner was also named one of Glamour Magazine's Amazing Young Women of 2011.

Link to the speech at TED Women:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmnAFj4Y3tc&feature=player_embedded

For more details visit:

http://www.google.com/intl/en/events/sciencefair/index.html

Google Science Fair 2011

Dear Teachers, presents in my own way. Teachers work with

I have been meaning to write this letter for a long time! It is a children when they are letter that I feel is long overdue and with the elves getting all awake and they have ready for my long ride, I finally found the time! I have been spent time learning how watching teachers for many years and I am amazed at the work to engage children using they do. I have come to the conclusion that the teaching Googles, blogs, phlogs, profession, like my own, must be filled with bits of magic! glogs, prezis, and all Please let me provide ten statements of evidence regarding my these other words I belief. really don’t know! Being

able to teach, transform, 1. I travel the world one night of the year visiting all the boys and accommodate for this new digital generation must and girls of the world. The teaching profession works with really be magic!every boy and girl all year long. This equates to each

teacher fulfilling educational needs for 30 – 200 children 6. I have made it a practice to leave coal behind for children each and every school day. Seems like magic to me! who do not make my good list! It seems every year the

same children always get the coal. Teachers refuse to leave 2. I deliver presents to all the boys and girls. From my Toy coal, in fact, they are working hard at leaving no child Repair Shop statistics I find many of these gifts are broken behind. To work towards a goal of leaving no child behind is or no longer garner a child’s interest within months! Yet a true act of magic!teachers find inner gifts in every child. Teachers nurture

these inner gifts until they develop into true presents that 7. I read the news and I am always so thankful to read all the will last a lifetime. These kinds of gifts sure seem like magic nice articles about my work. It really does provide me with to me! motivation to keep up my vocation. I read news articles

about the education profession and it seems that most articles are unsupportive. Yet, teachers keep working hard at providing success for their students! These teachers must be operating on a little bit of magic!

8. I have thousands of elves, of course the reindeer, and the community of the entire North Pole to assist me. Teachers work every day, many times by themselves, as they provide new opportunities for their students! Carrying that load alone must be much heavier than my bag of toys. It must really be magic!

9. I receive many a thank you and millions of pictures of happy faces as children open their presents each year. Teachers don’t always get the thankyou’s, or may never see the present getting eventually opened. When they do, appreciation may come in decades later! A thank you that appears after many years must be the result of pure magic!

3. I keep my naughty and nice list for every child. Some people 10. I discovered a light in Rudolph as he brightens up a dark, believe this job is pretty amazing! Yet when I look at the foggy, or snowy night so that I can deliver joy to all the teaching profession, teachers provide a constant evaluation children across the world. Teachers provide the light that of all their students! Their list covers all the aspects of brightens our world in both the darkest night and brightest developing and learning which they report to children’s day! It is the light of learning and knowledge! The ability to parents and to the children themselves! This evaluation is keep that light burning bright must take a quite a bit of based on a wide variety of observations, data, and student magic!performance. Teachers will then use this list to help

You see, I have found that magic does not come easily! It is improve each and every student! Wow, keeping track of made possible only by those who work hard and keep every student’s ability and prescribing ways to be believing, and seek what they know is possible! As you can see, successful must really be magic!there must be a great deal of magic in the education profession!

4. I leave presents to students who are on the nice list and Please continue to keep this magic alive and know that you are who believe in me. Teachers work with all children because all on my good list! After all, I had to learn all that I do from they believe in every student. Teachers continue to do so, somewhere! So from across the years I know I have many even when students stop believing in the educational teachers to thank! Last, to all teachers across the world… I system’s ability to help them achieve. That type of really do believe in you! persistence has got to be magic!

Thanks for all the magic,5. I have operated my workshop using the same technology

Santafor hundreds of years and it has worked for me. Then again, I work with children when they are asleep, delivering – Mike Gorman

A Letter From Santa

Source: http://21centuryedtech.wordpress.com/2011/12/10/a-special-letter-from-santa-ten-reasons-why-teachers-must-be-magic/

Winners (from left to right): Lauren Hodge, Shree Bose, Naomi Shah.Photo by Andrew Federman.

In 2011, Google launched the first ever global online science competition for 13-18 year old students with the Google Science Fair. Over 10,000 students from 91 countries submitted amazing science experiments. With project topics ranging from “Can I program a robot in English?” to “Can I make a sailboat even faster with a winged keel,” to “How does marinade affect carcinogen levels in grilled chicken?,”

After narrowing this impressive group of young people down to 60 semi-finalists, whose projects were viewed by the public, 15 finalists were selected to come to Google headquarters for the final live Google Science Fair. The top 15 wowed the luminary judges—as well as more than 1,000 local attendees plus Googlers who stopped by to check out the action in our exhibit hall on the day of the finals.

When the results came in, girl power was the theme. The top three winners by age category were all young women: Lauren

simple solutions that can be implemented by the general Hodge was in the 13-14 age group. Lauren studied the effect of public—like changing your cooking habits or removing toxins different marinades on the level of potentially harmful from your home—as well as more complex solutions that can carcinogens in grilled chicken.be addressed in labs by doctors and researchers, such as

Naomi Shah was in the 15-16 age group. Naomi endeavoured Shree’s groundbreaking discovery, which could have wider to prove that making changes to indoor environments that implications for cancer research.improve indoor air quality can reduce people’s reliance on

The winners took home prizes furnished by Google and their asthma medications.partners CERN, LEGO, National Geographic and Scientific

Shree Bose was in the 17-18 age group. Shree discovered a American. Shree received a $50,000 scholarship, a trip to the way to improve ovarian cancer treatment for patients when Galápagos Islands with a National Geographic Explorer and an they have built up a resistance to certain chemotherapy drugs. internship at CERN. Naomi and Lauren each received $25,000

scholarships and internships at Google and LEGO. All three The judges said that the unifying elements of all three young were awarded lifetime digital subscriptions to Scientific women were their intellectual curiosity, their tenaciousness American. Beyond the grand prizes, everyone went home with and their ambition to use science to find solutions to big some pretty cool loot, along with plenty of photos and problems. They examined complex problems and found both memories that will last a lifetime.

The Google Science Fair 2011, got an overwhelming response. The winners were invited to the White House to meet with President Obama, and asked to speak at TED Women in Los Angeles. Shree Bose, the grand prize winner was also named one of Glamour Magazine's Amazing Young Women of 2011.

Link to the speech at TED Women:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmnAFj4Y3tc&feature=player_embedded

For more details visit:

http://www.google.com/intl/en/events/sciencefair/index.html

Google Science Fair 2011

Dear Teachers, presents in my own way. Teachers work with

I have been meaning to write this letter for a long time! It is a children when they are letter that I feel is long overdue and with the elves getting all awake and they have ready for my long ride, I finally found the time! I have been spent time learning how watching teachers for many years and I am amazed at the work to engage children using they do. I have come to the conclusion that the teaching Googles, blogs, phlogs, profession, like my own, must be filled with bits of magic! glogs, prezis, and all Please let me provide ten statements of evidence regarding my these other words I belief. really don’t know! Being

able to teach, transform, 1. I travel the world one night of the year visiting all the boys and accommodate for this new digital generation must and girls of the world. The teaching profession works with really be magic!every boy and girl all year long. This equates to each

teacher fulfilling educational needs for 30 – 200 children 6. I have made it a practice to leave coal behind for children each and every school day. Seems like magic to me! who do not make my good list! It seems every year the

same children always get the coal. Teachers refuse to leave 2. I deliver presents to all the boys and girls. From my Toy coal, in fact, they are working hard at leaving no child Repair Shop statistics I find many of these gifts are broken behind. To work towards a goal of leaving no child behind is or no longer garner a child’s interest within months! Yet a true act of magic!teachers find inner gifts in every child. Teachers nurture

these inner gifts until they develop into true presents that 7. I read the news and I am always so thankful to read all the will last a lifetime. These kinds of gifts sure seem like magic nice articles about my work. It really does provide me with to me! motivation to keep up my vocation. I read news articles

about the education profession and it seems that most articles are unsupportive. Yet, teachers keep working hard at providing success for their students! These teachers must be operating on a little bit of magic!

8. I have thousands of elves, of course the reindeer, and the community of the entire North Pole to assist me. Teachers work every day, many times by themselves, as they provide new opportunities for their students! Carrying that load alone must be much heavier than my bag of toys. It must really be magic!

9. I receive many a thank you and millions of pictures of happy faces as children open their presents each year. Teachers don’t always get the thankyou’s, or may never see the present getting eventually opened. When they do, appreciation may come in decades later! A thank you that appears after many years must be the result of pure magic!

3. I keep my naughty and nice list for every child. Some people 10. I discovered a light in Rudolph as he brightens up a dark, believe this job is pretty amazing! Yet when I look at the foggy, or snowy night so that I can deliver joy to all the teaching profession, teachers provide a constant evaluation children across the world. Teachers provide the light that of all their students! Their list covers all the aspects of brightens our world in both the darkest night and brightest developing and learning which they report to children’s day! It is the light of learning and knowledge! The ability to parents and to the children themselves! This evaluation is keep that light burning bright must take a quite a bit of based on a wide variety of observations, data, and student magic!performance. Teachers will then use this list to help

You see, I have found that magic does not come easily! It is improve each and every student! Wow, keeping track of made possible only by those who work hard and keep every student’s ability and prescribing ways to be believing, and seek what they know is possible! As you can see, successful must really be magic!there must be a great deal of magic in the education profession!

4. I leave presents to students who are on the nice list and Please continue to keep this magic alive and know that you are who believe in me. Teachers work with all children because all on my good list! After all, I had to learn all that I do from they believe in every student. Teachers continue to do so, somewhere! So from across the years I know I have many even when students stop believing in the educational teachers to thank! Last, to all teachers across the world… I system’s ability to help them achieve. That type of really do believe in you! persistence has got to be magic!

Thanks for all the magic,5. I have operated my workshop using the same technology

Santafor hundreds of years and it has worked for me. Then again, I work with children when they are asleep, delivering – Mike Gorman

A Letter From Santa

Source: http://21centuryedtech.wordpress.com/2011/12/10/a-special-letter-from-santa-ten-reasons-why-teachers-must-be-magic/

Winners (from left to right): Lauren Hodge, Shree Bose, Naomi Shah.Photo by Andrew Federman.

Chess in schools

If you know the correct answer of the questions Send us a mail at with the correct answer along with your name, your school’s name, city

and contact number. The subjectline of the mail should be “SMSL Quiz Round 3 Answer”. Last date to send the entries is 20th February, 2012.

Answer this question and get a chance to win SMSL goodies from the ASSET Team.

assetscope@ei-india.com

We are here with the question for round 5.This month’s question from Math Subject.

Last month’s answer for the quiz question is D

The length of a pencil is 10 times the length of an eraser.

What is the ratio of the length of the eraser to the length of the pencil?

A. 1:1B. 1:10C. 10:1D. 10:10

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

COLUMN: Round 5

Teacher’s Bite

should not use discipline to only punish children physically. Any teacher with strong subject knowledge and a heart of a parent in the body will easily be able to manage a classroom.

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

A teacher must be most sympathetically and respectfully What has most influenced you to become an looked after by the school-management. He has chosen this educator, and how did they influence you?profession for his own sustenance also. So in order to do justice

It has been my dream to become an educator since to his job, a teacher must know the latest advancements going my childhood. In fact during my days of primary school on in the field of education for which he must be imparted with education, we had our teachers as our role models. Our most modern training. It is the training which updates a teacher parents, village-folk and everyone gave great respect to the in education. For his development, a teacher must be given a teachers and no doubt our teachers were really great teachers proper salary, allowances, free education to his children, then. They had knowledge of all subjects including practical medical casual leave etc.knowledge. That thing influenced me to become an educator.

What is your view regarding the ASSET Test?What is your approach to classroom

The exam and its concept, is wonderful. No doubt, management and student discipline?our children are getting benefitted with the regular

I strongly believe that self-discipline is the best supply of questions that we are getting from ASSET team discipline—and cannot be an imposed one. Any fool can beat unfailingly .The ASSET team is doing wonderful work.and scold any child to get work done but as educationists we

Q:

Dr. A. P. Gaur,Principal,DALIMSS, Sigra,Varanasi

Q:

Q:

Q:

most other games.

The reasoning ingredient in a chess combination is always of prime importance, even though a vivid imagination will make a chess player think of possibilities that will not occur to a less imaginative logician.

In the twentieth century, many educators, parents and chess experts maintain that chess education improves a host of mental abilities, including abstract reasoning and problem-solving. Children enjoy it and it’s good for them.” Chess, with its aesthetic appeal and inherent fascination for students of all ages, is catching the attention of educators, who are beginning to realize its academic and social benefits:

To the players, the game is like an unfolding drama... The players live through the emotions of an exciting story... Chess has a powerful aesthetic appeal. The best chess games are works of art. They are the products of original and creative thinking…. The beauty of chess is as compelling and pleasure Chess, a good game to increase the cognitive ability, this is the giving as any other art form. The endless opportunities for latest logic behind the schools bringing out chess as a creating new combinations in chess are perhaps comparable to compulsory and important subject in the school curriculum. It painting or music. is an ancient game which was once used to teach young knights

and princes about military strategy. Several benefits accrue from the teaching and promoting of chess in schools: After Gujarat‘s decision to involve chess in the school syllabus,

it is the turn of Tamil Nadu which is now planning to launch • Chess limits the element of luck; it teaches the importance chess as an important part of the school curriculum from the of planning. next academic year, especially in the “educationally backward

• Chess requires that reason to be coordinated with instinct districts”.

[intuition]; it is an effective decision teaching activity. Introducing this will help children to test their skills and for this,

• Chess is an endless source of satisfaction; the better one trained teachers will appointed or will be given training so as to

plays, the more rewarding it becomes. give children a better understanding about the game of chess.

• Chess is a highly organized recreation…. Learning to play chess is one of the most rewarding things a

• Chess is an international language…. It can be a lifelong child can discover. source of interest, amusement, and satisfaction. Chess

Encouraging kids to study the game of chess is a great move you provides more long-term benefits than most school sports.

can make as an educator. Mentally gifted children as well as Long-term goals students achieve through chess: those with less abilities and those who struggle in school will all

benefit from the challenging game. Chess is an exercise of • Chess increases strategic thinking skills, stimulates infinite possibilities for the mind, one which develops mental intellectual creativity, and improves problem-solving ability abilities used throughout life: concentration, critical thinking, while raising self-esteem; abstract reasoning, problem solving, pattern recognition,

• When youngsters play chess they must call upon higher-strategic planning, creativity, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation,

order thinking skills, analyse actions and consequences, and to name a few. Chess can be used very effectively as a tool to

visualise future possibilities. teach problem solving and abstract reasoning. Learning how to

• Chess dramatically improves a child's ability to think solve a problem is more important than learning the solution to rationally. any particular problem. Through chess, we learn how to

analyze a situation by focusing on important factors and by • Chess increases cognitive skills. eliminating distractions. We learn to devise creative solutions

• Chess improves children's communication skills and and put a plan into action. Chess works because it is self-

aptitude in recognizing patterns.motivating. The game has fascinated humans for almost 2000

• Chess makes a child realize that he or she is responsible for years, and the goals of attack and defence, culminating in his or her own actions and must accept the consequences. checkmate, inspire us to dig deep into our mental reserves.

• Chess teaches children to try their best to win, while Chess has been played and enjoyed by people around the accepting defeat with grace. world for two thousand years. If there were an award for the

game of the millennium, it would be long to chess. The game is • Chess provides an intellectual, competitive forum through said to have been invented in India around the fourth century B. which children can assert hostility, i.e. "let off steam," in an C., by a Brahman named Sissa at the court of the Indian Rajah acceptable way. Balhait, where it was called Chaturanga. Many notable people • Chess helps children make friends more easily because it in history made chess their favourite pastime. provides an easy, safe forum for gathering and discussion. Many parallels have been drawn between mathematics, music, Chess is found as required curricula in nearly 30 countries. In and chess. Mathematical thinking is generally held to be more Russia, it has been part of the curriculum for over 40 years, or less closely related to the type of thinking that happens in where “adolescents were encouraged to play chess at a very chess. Mathematicians are indeed drawn to chess more than early age to increase their problem-solving and reasoning skills.

pencil is 10 erasers long

NATRAJERASER

NATRAJERASER

NATRAJERASER

NATRAJERASER

NATRAJERASER

NATRAJERASER

NATRAJERASER

NATRAJERASER

NATRAJERASER

NATRAJERASER

Chess in schools

If you know the correct answer of the questions Send us a mail at with the correct answer along with your name, your school’s name, city

and contact number. The subjectline of the mail should be “SMSL Quiz Round 3 Answer”. Last date to send the entries is 20th February, 2012.

Answer this question and get a chance to win SMSL goodies from the ASSET Team.

assetscope@ei-india.com

We are here with the question for round 5.This month’s question from Math Subject.

Last month’s answer for the quiz question is D

The length of a pencil is 10 times the length of an eraser.

What is the ratio of the length of the eraser to the length of the pencil?

A. 1:1B. 1:10C. 10:1D. 10:10

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

COLUMN: Round 5

Teacher’s Bite

should not use discipline to only punish children physically. Any teacher with strong subject knowledge and a heart of a parent in the body will easily be able to manage a classroom.

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

A teacher must be most sympathetically and respectfully What has most influenced you to become an looked after by the school-management. He has chosen this educator, and how did they influence you?profession for his own sustenance also. So in order to do justice

It has been my dream to become an educator since to his job, a teacher must know the latest advancements going my childhood. In fact during my days of primary school on in the field of education for which he must be imparted with education, we had our teachers as our role models. Our most modern training. It is the training which updates a teacher parents, village-folk and everyone gave great respect to the in education. For his development, a teacher must be given a teachers and no doubt our teachers were really great teachers proper salary, allowances, free education to his children, then. They had knowledge of all subjects including practical medical casual leave etc.knowledge. That thing influenced me to become an educator.

What is your view regarding the ASSET Test?What is your approach to classroom

The exam and its concept, is wonderful. No doubt, management and student discipline?our children are getting benefitted with the regular

I strongly believe that self-discipline is the best supply of questions that we are getting from ASSET team discipline—and cannot be an imposed one. Any fool can beat unfailingly .The ASSET team is doing wonderful work.and scold any child to get work done but as educationists we

Q:

Dr. A. P. Gaur,Principal,DALIMSS, Sigra,Varanasi

Q:

Q:

Q:

most other games.

The reasoning ingredient in a chess combination is always of prime importance, even though a vivid imagination will make a chess player think of possibilities that will not occur to a less imaginative logician.

In the twentieth century, many educators, parents and chess experts maintain that chess education improves a host of mental abilities, including abstract reasoning and problem-solving. Children enjoy it and it’s good for them.” Chess, with its aesthetic appeal and inherent fascination for students of all ages, is catching the attention of educators, who are beginning to realize its academic and social benefits:

To the players, the game is like an unfolding drama... The players live through the emotions of an exciting story... Chess has a powerful aesthetic appeal. The best chess games are works of art. They are the products of original and creative thinking…. The beauty of chess is as compelling and pleasure Chess, a good game to increase the cognitive ability, this is the giving as any other art form. The endless opportunities for latest logic behind the schools bringing out chess as a creating new combinations in chess are perhaps comparable to compulsory and important subject in the school curriculum. It painting or music. is an ancient game which was once used to teach young knights

and princes about military strategy. Several benefits accrue from the teaching and promoting of chess in schools: After Gujarat‘s decision to involve chess in the school syllabus,

it is the turn of Tamil Nadu which is now planning to launch • Chess limits the element of luck; it teaches the importance chess as an important part of the school curriculum from the of planning. next academic year, especially in the “educationally backward

• Chess requires that reason to be coordinated with instinct districts”.

[intuition]; it is an effective decision teaching activity. Introducing this will help children to test their skills and for this,

• Chess is an endless source of satisfaction; the better one trained teachers will appointed or will be given training so as to

plays, the more rewarding it becomes. give children a better understanding about the game of chess.

• Chess is a highly organized recreation…. Learning to play chess is one of the most rewarding things a

• Chess is an international language…. It can be a lifelong child can discover. source of interest, amusement, and satisfaction. Chess

Encouraging kids to study the game of chess is a great move you provides more long-term benefits than most school sports.

can make as an educator. Mentally gifted children as well as Long-term goals students achieve through chess: those with less abilities and those who struggle in school will all

benefit from the challenging game. Chess is an exercise of • Chess increases strategic thinking skills, stimulates infinite possibilities for the mind, one which develops mental intellectual creativity, and improves problem-solving ability abilities used throughout life: concentration, critical thinking, while raising self-esteem; abstract reasoning, problem solving, pattern recognition,

• When youngsters play chess they must call upon higher-strategic planning, creativity, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation,

order thinking skills, analyse actions and consequences, and to name a few. Chess can be used very effectively as a tool to

visualise future possibilities. teach problem solving and abstract reasoning. Learning how to

• Chess dramatically improves a child's ability to think solve a problem is more important than learning the solution to rationally. any particular problem. Through chess, we learn how to

analyze a situation by focusing on important factors and by • Chess increases cognitive skills. eliminating distractions. We learn to devise creative solutions

• Chess improves children's communication skills and and put a plan into action. Chess works because it is self-

aptitude in recognizing patterns.motivating. The game has fascinated humans for almost 2000

• Chess makes a child realize that he or she is responsible for years, and the goals of attack and defence, culminating in his or her own actions and must accept the consequences. checkmate, inspire us to dig deep into our mental reserves.

• Chess teaches children to try their best to win, while Chess has been played and enjoyed by people around the accepting defeat with grace. world for two thousand years. If there were an award for the

game of the millennium, it would be long to chess. The game is • Chess provides an intellectual, competitive forum through said to have been invented in India around the fourth century B. which children can assert hostility, i.e. "let off steam," in an C., by a Brahman named Sissa at the court of the Indian Rajah acceptable way. Balhait, where it was called Chaturanga. Many notable people • Chess helps children make friends more easily because it in history made chess their favourite pastime. provides an easy, safe forum for gathering and discussion. Many parallels have been drawn between mathematics, music, Chess is found as required curricula in nearly 30 countries. In and chess. Mathematical thinking is generally held to be more Russia, it has been part of the curriculum for over 40 years, or less closely related to the type of thinking that happens in where “adolescents were encouraged to play chess at a very chess. Mathematicians are indeed drawn to chess more than early age to increase their problem-solving and reasoning skills.

pencil is 10 erasers long

NATRAJERASER

NATRAJERASER

NATRAJERASER

NATRAJERASER

NATRAJERASER

NATRAJERASER

NATRAJERASER

NATRAJERASER

NATRAJERASER

NATRAJERASER

Educational Initiatives Pvt. Ltd.302 & 613, J. B. Towers, Opp. Doordarshan Tower,Drive-In Road, Ahmedabad - 380054Phone : 91-079- 40269696Fax : 91-079-26841400 Email : info@ei-india.comWebsite : www.ei-india.com

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Duke TIP summer options ensure that students can continue to be challenged academically, even over the summer. Duke TIP Summer Studies Programs are superb academic opportunities and dynamic residential and social experiences for seventh graders in India.

Since 2008, almost 400 Indian students have participated in Summer Studies in India Program. Students explore topics ranging from environmental engineering to entrepreneurial at the university level, Duke TIP in India students experience a leadership, engage in inspiring residential programming, structured version of university life. Residential counsellors experience life on a university campus, and develop lasting provide social and recreational activities during evenings and friendships with academically-gifted peers from throughout on weekends. A staff of residential counsellors is chosen from a India. large group of outstanding undergraduate and graduate

students through a competitive application and interview Selection for the Duke TIP in India Summer Studies Program is process. These residential counsellors supervise the students based on a student's exceptional performance on an above-outside of the classroom. They live in residence halls with level ASSET test. The test is administered to 7th standard students, organize social and recreational activities, serve as students as part of our Duke TIP in India Talent Search, and the role models and enforce behavioural guidelines. Each process mirrors the objective selection process that Duke TIP residential counsellor supervises a group of 10-12 students.has successfully used for over thirty years to identify

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-2011 Duke TIP Summer Studies in India participantDuke TIP courses are dynamic, fast-paced, and intense. Students attend a single class for seven hours on most "Nowhere else can a student enjoy as much while learning weekdays and three hours each Saturday. Duke TIP Instructors so much”are selected for their expertise in their field of research and are

-2011 Duke TIP Summer Studies in India participantcommitted to providing rigorous and high-energy educational experiences at the college level. Instructors employ a variety of Duke TIP has committed significant resources to provide instructional strategies including Debates, Simulations of real- financial support to students who have qualified for the three-world activities, Peer teaching or presentations, Lab week Summer Studies Program in India and who demonstrate experiences, Individual or group research projects. financial need.

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