Section I: Lesson Plans

a. Lessons conducted by me in Schoolb. Lesson plan based on what is learnt (for India)

Section II: Strategies

a. Strategies observed in Schoolb. Shared Strategies

Section III: Technology

a. Description of the technology used by my mentor, Millie Solomon, during her classroom teaching.

b. Some photographs of the classroom

Section IV: General Observations worth sharing

a. Description with some snaps

Section V: Opportunities Received in the School

Section VI: Discussions during the Sessions at GMU

Section VII: Submissions (main assignments) at GMUa. Action Research Proposalb. Action Plan

Section VIII: Appendices

RASHMI MAKHIJA, INDIAPORTFOLIO

Intern: RASHMI MAKHIJA Grade Level: XII

Title: TO HIS COY MISTRESS BY ANDREW MARVELL Date: July 25, 2007

Prior knowledge:

Students have read poems in medieval period and Renaissance period. Students

are also aware of figures of speech and other literary devices like rhyme scheme,

meter, tone etc

I. Objectives

1) To enable the students to understand and appreciate the poem

2) To enable the students to understand the literary concepts like Carpe Deim,

imagery etc

3) To introduce the concept of stylistic analysis

4) To enable the students to understand the characteristics of metaphysical

poetry.

II. Materials for Learning Activities1) Textbook 2) Information about metaphysical poetry, etc downloaded from the

internet

III. Procedures for Learning Activities

2

SECTION 1: LESSON PLANS

Introduction about the concept of stylistic analysis. Teacher introduces the

notion of interpreting the poem on the basis of the language used.

(3 Mins)

Teacher asks a student to read the poem loudly and asks a general

question about the main theme of the poem. (2mins)

Teacher explains the poem line by line by asking appropriate questions

and explaining wherever required.( Through interaction) (8 mins)

Teacher writes crucial points on the board to build up the argument of the

poem to be taken as notes in the notebook and to facilitate understanding.

Teacher explains the concept of Carpe Diem during explanation.

Teacher asks questions about rhyme scheme and figures of speech in

the poem.(5mins)

Teacher discusses the impact of using these devices in the poem.(2mins)

Teacher makes the students discuss the striking features of the poem.

(2mins)

Teacher revises the concept of stylistic analysis .(2mins)

Teacher discusses the characteristics of metaphysical poetry with the help

of a sheet, a copy of which is to be distributed to students.(5mins)

Some characteristics of metaphysical poetry (appendix 1-Page 53)

BLACKBOARD WORKTeacher ensures that important words are written on the board so that students understand the logical argument depicted by the poet.

3 stanzas

1st IF .. ideal/imagination

2nd But….. Reality

3rd Now….. Solution

Logical argument for persuasion

Carpe Diem- seize the hour

Stylistic analysis

IV. Assessment1. Discussion of the textbook questions

3

2. Teacher asks some questions to assess the understanding

of the students

1. Pick 2 instances of comparison from the poem? Name the

literary device used.

2. Explain the last two lines of the poem in your own words

3. Why has the poet used exaggeration in the poem?

4. What is the effect of using these literary devices in the poem?

3. WRITTEN WORK - Write a paragraph in about 75 to 100

words:

Which aspects of the poem do you find appealing( i.e. opinion about the

poem)-?

V. Differentiation

Teacher asks the students questions of different levels.

Reading opportunity is given to maximum students in the class.

VI. Reflection

The lesson went well.

The argument was depicted on the board.

Teacher could have made a power point presentation or an OHP

transparency for the characteristics of metaphysical poetry.

Teacher had planned to do so but at the last minute since it was not

available a separate sheet was made available to each student.

Teacher can definitely plan better and keep the transparency

available beforehand.

4

Intern: RASHMI MAKHIJA Grade Level: XII

Title: RIGHT MIND AND WRONG MIND(PANCHTANTRA) Date: July 18, 2007

Prior knowledge:

Students have read Prologue to Canterbury Tales and some of its tales.

Students are also familiar with the concept of a frame story and a moral story.

II. Objectives

1) To enable the students to understand the concept of a fable.

2) To enable the students to appreciate India fables with a moral.

3) To inculcate the moral of being practically intelligent in the fable.

4) To enable the students to understand the use of epigrams in the story

and the notion of story within a story.

II. Materials for Learning Activities1) Textbook 2) Information about Panchatantra Tales downloaded from the

internet 3) Additional story from the Panchatantra

III. Procedures for Learning Activities

Teacher discusses the concept of a fable

Teacher gives the background information about the Panchatantra Tales.

(2mins)

BACKGROUND INFORMATION-panchatantra (appendix2-pg 54)

Teacher asks the students to read the story loudly in the class and

discusses it simultaneously.( Through interaction)

5

Teacher writes crucial points on the board to be taken as notes in the

notebook and to facilitate understanding.

Teacher ensures that every student gets a chance to read and asks

questions about the text.

( Explanation and questioning blended) Teacher explains the meaning of

a difficult word.

Teacher helps the students to understand the story within a story and

helps them to understand the relation.

Teacher also explains the epigrams and helps students to understand the

lessons taught through them.

Teacher discusses the moral of the story.

BLACKBOARD WORKTeacher ensures that important words are written on the board

Pancha / tantra

Panch-5

5 Volumes of the book

Brahman-Vishnusharman

Story told to the king’s sons

Caste system in India

Gurukul system

IV. Assessment4. Discussion of the textbook questions

5. WRITTEN WORK - Write a paragraph on comparison

(similarities and differences) between ‘The Canterbury Tales

and Panchtantra Tales’ on the basis of three points-

characters, Frame story and morals.

V. Differentiation Teacher asks the students questions of different levels.

Reading opportunity is given to all students in the class.

Teacher tells additional story from the Panchtantra to understand the

moral.

6

The Foolish Lion and the clever rabbit (appendix 3-pg 55)

Teacher discusses the points for comparison between The caterbury

Tales and Panchtantra Tales’ on the basis of three points- characters,

Frame story and morals to help students to organize their written work

well.

VII. Reflection

The lesson went well.

The students appreciated the concept of moral story and

Panchatantra Tales.

They were curious to know about the Gurukul system and the

caste system.

Teacher assessed the written work of the students and felt that the

students got confused between the specific story and Panchtantra

Tales.

Teacher can ensure that this confusion does not arise the next time

when this lesson is taught.

Teacher can prepare a transparency for the OHP with the key

points written to save time.

Teacher should give specific points to elaborate for written work.

7

Intern: RASHMI MAKHIJA Grade Level: XII

Title: MEDITATION 17 BY JOHN DONNE Date: July 25, 2007

Prior knowledge:

Students have read some metaphysical poems and are aware of some features

of metaphysical poetry.

III. Objectives

1) To enable the students appreciate the beauty of the poem.

2) To enable the students to understand the notion of a conceit.

3) To enable the students to identify the characteristics of metaphysical

poems in this poem.

II. Materials for Learning Activities1) Textbook 2) Information about Meditation XVII and John Donne downloaded

from the internet

III. Procedures for Learning Activities

Teacher revises the features of metaphysical poetry earlier.

Teacher gives the background information about John Donne. (some

important details)

Teacher gives some idea of the theme of Meditation 17

Teacher asks the students to read the poem loudly in the class(in

parts) and discusses it simultaneously.( Through interaction)

Teacher writes crucial points on the board to be taken as notes in the

notebook and to facilitate understanding.

8

Teacher asks appropriate questions and discusses various aspects of

the poem in an interactive way.

Teacher ensures that maximum students gets a chance to read and

asks questions about the text.

( Explanation and questioning blended) Teacher explains the meaning

of difficult words.

Teacher draws the attention of the students to the main metaphors and

important ideas.

Teacher discusses the tone of the poem, and with a stylistic approach

discusses the rhyme scheme, layout etc of the poem and its relation to

the theme of the poem.

BLACKBOARD WORKTeacher ensures that important words are written on the board

Conceit

Book- Humanity

Author- God

No man is an island

IV. Assessment6. Discussion of the textbook questions

7. Quick Quiz:

State whether the following statements are true or false-1. We remain unaffected when somebody dies2. The speaker finds it difficult to accept the fact that he is on his death

bed.3. The poet compares humanity to a book4. One should feel one’s neighbour’s suffering5. Suffering brings us closer to God.

9

Task- teacher asks students to find out some additional information

about John Donne’s life and download the audio of this poem from

the given website.

V. Differentiation Teacher asks the students questions of different levels.

Reading opportunity is given to all students in the class.

Teacher asks students to download the audio of this poem from the

internet.

Teacher gives the website for the students who are not very comfortable

using the internet.( www.global-language.com/devotion.htm)

VIII. Reflection

The lesson went well.

Teacher can get the audio to the class and make the class more

interesting.

Teacher can prepare a PowerPoint presentation to revise the

crucial aspects of the poem; especially the conceit, form of the

poem etc.

10

This lesson plan is based on the Column Response Strategy observed during the field work. I plan to apply the interesting aspects of this method while teaching Newspaper Report to my students in India.

Intern: RASHMI MAKHIJA Grade Level: XI and XII

Title: NEWSPAPER REPORT Date:

Prior knowledge:

Students read newspapers and hence are aware of the concept called

newspaper report

IV. Objectives

1) To enhance the students’ reading skills.

2) To enable the students to understand the features of a newspaper report.

3) To enable the students to write a short newspaper report

II. Materials for Learning Activities1) Newspapers 2) OHP Transparency or PowerPoint presentation

III. Procedures for Learning Activities

1. Teacher asks the students to get previous day’s newspaper.

2. Teacher explains the points to be noted while reading the report.

11

3. Teacher asks the students to select the report of their choice.

4. Teacher discusses if the students have any queries.

5. Teacher asks the students to read the selected newspaper report

carefully and identify the following features.

Striking features about the headline

Date, city, newspaper reporter, news agency

Comparison between the headline and the first paragraph of the

report.

Characteristics of the main body of the report( tense, details, facts

etc)

6. Teacher discusses the features observed by the students and adds to it if

any point is missing.

IV. Assessment Teacher shows another report on the slide and asks the students to

point out the features.

Written work-Teacher gives a headline and asks the students to

write a report.

V. Differentiation Teacher asks the students to get newspaper of their choice and select a

report of their choice to cater to different language abilities and interests.

Teacher individually helps weak students to identify the features with the

help of appropriate cues.

Teacher asks the bright students to compare the newspaper report with an

article in the newspaper.

IX. Reflection

Teacher can make the required changes depending upon the

availability of the required resources.

12

This lesson is based on Proofreading Warm up Strategy observed during the fieldwork. I will use this strategy to revise the use of tenses.

Intern: RASHMI MAKHIJA Grade Level: XI

Title: TENSES Date: Prior knowledge:

Students use different tenses in various sentences as per the situation

I. Objectives

1) To enable the students to use the appropriate tense (verb form) in the

sentence.

2) To enable the students to communicate effectively by using tenses correctly.

3) To revise information about tenses acquired by the students.

4) To enable the students to clarify their doubts about the use of tenses.

II. Material for Learning Activities1) Grammar Books 2) Transparency for OHP with 5 items for proofreading warm

ups.

III. Procedures for Learning Activities

Teacher places the transparency with 5 items for proofreading

warm up on the OHP.

13

Teacher gives 15 minutes to students to proofread the items and

write correct answers in their notebook.

After 15 Minutes teacher shows the correct answers on the

transparency and asks the students to exchange their sheets and

correct their partner’s answers.

Students correct the answers and ask for clarification if they have

not understood any aspect.

Reacher discusses the answers and explains correct use of tenses

with reference to the given items.

IV. Assessment Teacher gives practice to the students by giving additional

proofreading items and discusses them.

Teacher gives a worksheet of similar items as home

assignment.

V. Differentiation Teacher includes proofreading items of various levels to cater to weak as

well as bright students’ abilities.

Teacher asks students to write a paragraph: How did you spend your weekend?

VI. Reflection

Teacher can prepare a PowerPoint presentation instead of an OHP

transparency.

Teacher should give ready worksheets to save student’s time spent

in copying the items so that more time can spent on discussions.

14

1. Name of method or strategy:The strategy of Assessment

2. When is this method or strategy useful?This strategy is useful to assess the application skills of students. The student

has to read a novel not read earlier, identify and analyze the character or plot,

analyze the author’s writing style etc. and later even prepare a presentation on it.

This involves lot of self study. Hence it helps to assess student’s understanding

without taxing his memory.

3. Why or how is this method or strategy useful?It is very useful to make the learner independent. This will help to do away with

rote memorization. This will enable the student to go beyond the textbook. And

read more. Besides the presentation gives an opportunity to speak in front of the

class and tests the extent of comprehension of the student.

4. What are the steps involved in using this strategy or method?Students are given the areas to select the text to work on and final choice is that

of the student.. Step by step instructions about reading the book, details of the

15

SECTION 2: STRATEGIES observed during fieldwork

character to be analyzed are given. Tips about presentation including points

allotted and the time frame are to be specified...

5. When would this method or strategy be useful in your setting?Since the examination instructions are specific, the only place where such

assessment can be incorporated where the teacher is free to conduct an

internal exam for Year work for 20 marks in Grade XI

6. What would you like other teachers in your school to know about this method or strategy?

This strategy can be used by any subject teacher by making required

modifications as per the nature of the subject. It involves lot of research work

on the part of the student. It will enable to improve the student’s confidence

level and make him/her independent.

16

1. Name of method or strategy:

2. When is this method or strategy useful?This strategy is useful to assess student’s understanding of the studied text. It is

useful when the teacher wants the learner to reads the text carefully , analyse it

and think deep about issues and form his/ her own opinion about different

aspects of the text.

3. Why or how is this method or strategy useful?It is very useful to make the learner independent. This will enable the student to

go beyond the textbook. Just as Socrates, the great philosopher made people

go to the core of the issue and analyze what they actually meant by what they

said, this method will be be useful to a student to think about what he says and

why he thinks so. It involves lot of prior preparation and interaction during the

seminar which makes classroom student centered.

4. What are the steps involved in using this strategy or method? Students are given the instructions about the seminar and an evaluation

rubric before hand.

Teacher explains the concept to them and students prepare questions on

the text.

( Introductory question, 3 to5 core questions, closing question and any remark in

the text is to be picked out if it appeals to them)

At the scheduled time teacher makes students sit in a circular fashion and

assigns the job of the leader to a student who is supposed to be the

moderator.

Each student reads the core question which is general and extrapolatory

in nature.

One issue is picked out and discussed in detail. Students can relate the

text to present situations,i.e go beyond the text.

17

Then the core questions are raised and discussed. The student have to

support their stand by picking out quotes from the text. Thus it ensures

thorough reading of the text.

The moderator controls the discussion and keeps check of the time.

Finally the closing question is discussed.

All students note down points and submit a written draft to the teacher.

They are evaluated for their prior work, effective participation and written

submission.

5. When would this method or strategy be useful in your setting?In India the no. of students is more in the class room. However teacher can make

groups and involve students in such seminars to make them more thoughtful.

6. What would you like other teachers in your school to know about this method or strategy?This is a new concept which I have learnt. I would like other teachers to know

how a classroom can become student centered with such an activity and how

language teachers can focus on all skills by using this novel strategy.

I will make sure that the teachers in country learn this concept and try out atleast

with one group.

1. Name of method or strategy:

2. When is this method or strategy useful?This strategy is useful to assess student’s understanding of the usage of any

language and even help the students to improve their u basics of a language.

This helps to see sentence as a whole and not learn grammar formally.

3. Why or how is this method or strategy useful?

18

This will help a student to apply his knowledge about English or any language.

Even if grammar is taught in a formal way in some cases, this method can help a

teacher to assess the extent of comprehension of what is taught in an indirect

way.

4. What are the steps involved in using this strategy or method? Teacher prepares a sheet of statements w with mistakes of various sorts

with the answers given just below the wrong sentence.

Teacher hides the wrong answers and displays the transparency on an

OHP.

Teacher allots some time to complete the task makes the students correct

the given sentence.

After the specified time teacher shows the correct answers and students

compare their answers to the correct ones.

Students then question the teacher about the areas where they went

wrong or if required get some rule clarified.

5. When would this method or strategy be useful in your setting? Teacher can prepare such transparencies before hand and use it 1 or 2

times in a week to give application based practice for grammar topics in

the syllabus.

Teacher can make question paper for an internal test in such a way.

6. What would you like other teachers in your school to know about this method or strategy?

I would like other language teachers also to know this method and how it

enables the students to look at language as a whole rather than thinking in

a fragmented manner.

It can help to save time in the classroom since the sheets are prepared

beforehand.

For practice a PowerPoint presentation can also be made.

19

Other subject teaches can use a warm up strategy to revise what has

been done in the earlier class.

It can also be used to create the right mood for learning that particular

subject.

1 Name of method or strategy:

2. When is this method or strategy useful?This strategy is useful when the teacher wants to develop reading skills in the

students. This is also useful to teach students to read an article or a report

careful and give their opinion about it.

3. Why or how is this method or strategy useful? This method is extremely useful as it makes students think about what

they read and express their own views about it.

It is also beneficial for a language teacher to teach them writing skills

since students have to organize their ideas in a proper way.

Thus it is useful to enhance reading as well as writing skills and also to

make them aware of what is happening around them.

4. What are the steps involved in using this strategy or method?

Teacher distributes the newspapers to the students.

Teacher gives them some time to skim through the paper and select a

new item of their choice.

Teacher clarifies the doubts and students discuss some topics among

themselves.

Teacher allots approximately 40 minutes for this task.

20

Students read the selected article carefully and write their opinion about it

as explained by the teacher( Details of the news item and thesis

statement, 2 examples as supporting evidence and conclusion)

Teacher collects the sheets with articles stapled to it and gives them

points out of 50.

5. When would this method or strategy be useful in your setting? Teachers can conduct such activities as some schools have the

Newspaper in Education Scheme.

Teachers can ask students to get newspaper from home and conduct

such activity as practice or even as test.

6. What would you like other teachers in your school to know about this method or strategy?

This method encourages the students to read newspapers and thus

become aware of the happenings around them.

It can also help a teacher to relate one subject to the other.

It makes students think independently.

This is a student centered activity.

Other subject teaches can use a warm up strategy to revise what

has been done in the earlier class.

It can also be used to create the right mood for learning that

particular subject.

21

1. Name of method or strategy:

2. When is this method or strategy useful?This strategy is useful when the teacher wants to develop creative writing skills in

students.

3. Why or how is this method or strategy useful? This method is extremely useful as it makes students come up with

original work (Piece of literature) independently.

This helps the teacher to assess various aspects like command

over English, flow of writing, accuracy, organization of ideas.

It helps the teacher to assess understanding of various literary

devices.

4. What are the steps involved in using this strategy or method?

Teacher prepares a creative writing task related to the text studied

by students in the class.

Teacher gives specific time to complete this assignment at home

Teacher asks students to submit the written work after the

presentation in the class.(i.e. Student is supposed to read out the

story or poem written by him/her)

5. When would this method or strategy be useful in your setting?

22

I can ask my students to write an essay, speech, story etc in the similar way

and later use it for publishing in the college magazine and display it as a part

of Wallpaper Display.

6. What would you like other teachers in your school to know about this method or strategy?

This method encourages the students to express themselves in a

highly creative way.

It also enables a teacher to understand the students, their mind

set, ideas etc in a better way.

It helps to teach students to communicate effectively.

Story written by the student

1.USE OF COMPUTERS

i. PowerPoint Presentations: My school mentor used PowerPoint presentations to revise the main points of a poem, story etc.Eg. She revised important aspects of the ballad taught in the class, highlighted the striking features of a ballad so that students could make notes. They could use these features to do their assignments and even write their original ballads.

ii. Internet: The students were asked to download ballads from the net ( different version of the ballad taught or 3 other ballads) and write a paragraph about these ballads.

iii. Typing: Students were asked to type their stories and ballads and submit printouts.

23

SECTION 3: TECHNOLOGY

iv. Reference: Students were given self study and research based assignments. So students referred to various websites to collect the required information about the poet, poem etc.

2. USE OF OVER HEAD PROJECTOR

The teacher used OHP transparencies to give proofreading warm ups to give practice for usage of English. Students were not taught grammar in a formal way. These items were prepared beforehand.

OHP Transparencies were also used to highlight the key characters, event, divide characters as evil or good etc while t discussing Macbeth by William Shakespeare. Here the teacher wrote simultaneously while discussing with students.

PROOFREADING WARMUPS: GRADE XII-ENGLISH

3. USE OF TAPE RECORDER(CDs) The audio of various poems was played by the teacher while

discussing various texts. Eg. The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer,

24

Paradise Lost by John Milton etc. These CDs are made available to the teacher by the company which has compiled the text.

The audio of poems was also played by the students when they were asked to present a paraphrase and their opinion of the specified poem as a self study task.

4. USE OF TELEVISION (CDs) The movies based on the play studied were shown by the teacher.

Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Othello were the two movies show. It certainly helped students to understand the situations, themes, emotions in a much better way. Students were in a position to express their views about the characters.

Summer School: The concept of summer school itself is new for us. Summer schools help students to get their grades revised. It helps them to learn a portion if they have not understood it well. It is close to the notion of remedial teaching.

This is required in the US mainly to cater to students coming from different backgrounds( Vietnam, China, India, Ethiopia etc)

1. Infrastructure of Yorktown High School: This school is a fifty year old public school. It is extremely well equipped with a new building that has come up. There are enough rooms for all teachers. The school has an amazing Lawn Tennis court and facilities for another sports, there is a Gym called the THE PATRIOT. The library is called the Media Center. It provides access to various books, magazines, journals etc. The students have an access to computer to do their assignments in the library. There are facilities like Photography room, Driving school etc.

The corridors display art work done by the students. There are photographs of the ex students who are achievers now. The school is extremely spacious and feels like a maze to a newcomer. However there is no dearth of

25

SECTION 4: GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

resources. Each classroom is equipped with TV, computers, printer, books, CD players etc. Every possible resource is made available to students.

2. Activity based teaching: Most of the topics are taught by conducting a number of activities. They strongly seem to believe in the principle of Learning by Doing. Students interact a lot and do a number of tasks independently under teacher’s guidance

3. Teacher’s Approach: The teachers seem to be very patient with students. Students are generally not scolded by teachers. They are quite open. Students feel free to interact with teachers and even disagree with them.

4. Freedom to teachers: The teachers have a defined syllabus but there is a room for tremendous flexibility for a teacher. Certain texts from the book are mandatory.. i.e. a student has to do them. From the rest of the course the teacher is free to decide what he/she will teach. There is a freedom to decide the nature of assignments, test etc. Teachers can make their own assignments and make their own plan for assessment. The ultimate aim is that they should do well in SOL( standard of learning) Tests.

5. Classroom Environment: The classes are very well equipped with all the required resources. Computer, television set, CD player, OHP, White boards, books, printer, computers for students, required stationery etc… everything is available in the class itself. Besides this, a no. of charts are put up, students’ work can be displayed in the classroom. Every student sits independently and there is enough room for students to move. Students are given lot of freedom to interact among themselves.

26

6. Diversity: The most remarkable feature of the class is the diversity. Students from various countries are there in the same class. Hence it is a challenge for the teacher to take note of various cultures while discussing texts.

7. Different Levels in classes: In order to cater to different needs of people coming from different countries there is a provision of different levels of learning like Transition, HILT, HILT EX, Regular etc. There are many students whose mother tongue is not English. When they join schools their language is not up to the required level. Hence the student is sent to a HILT class or a transition class after which the student can dome to the level of a regular class. This is an excellent feature to deal with different needs of students.

8. Nature of Assessment: There is a lot of internal assessment. Teacher keeps taking quizzes and tests. Teacher decides which tests are for practice and which ones will be graded. Regular attendance to class, participation in the classroom activities, completing assignments as per the deadline etc- all these are taken into consideration while grading. Hence the students have to be attentive, do every task assigned by the teacher. This also reduces the emphasis on memorizing which is the most remarkable feature according to me.

27

9. Application oriented Approach: Students get a lot of opportunity to work independently and present their work in front of the whole class.. In my class the students were given a task of writing a story and a ballad on their own which had to be presented before the class and a copy had to be submitted to the teacher. This gave a chance to read out their work and gain confidence to speak in front of the class. Similar tasks of analyzing the assigned poem was given. The students were assessed on the basis of their presentation skills as well as the content.

TEACHING:

I was given an opportunity to teach three different units of the prescribed syllabus for Grade XII Regular English Class. The textbook prescribed was Elements of Literature, Course six. The three units that I taught were:

1. Right Mind Wrong Mind from Panchatantra Tales2. To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell3. Meditation 17 by John Donne

The mentor gave me freedom to teach these the way I wanted to. However she let me deal To His Coy Mistress with a stylistic approach. It was a great experience to interact with students of different countries coming from totally different backgrounds. It was interesting to share details about Panchatantra and information about Gurukul system. While discussion the other two poems I used the blackboard which was appreciated by my mentor. The students understood the argument of Andrew marvel as I developed it on the board while teaching. After teaching I gave written work which I could assess and I gave a feed back to students and got it redone from three students.

ASSESSMENT:

I was given lot of written work for assessment. Column Responses, stories, paragraph writing, assignment on poems etc were assessed. I gave a feedback to students and gave suggestions for improvement. This assessment has given me a fair idea about the level of students, the kind of work they do, their command over the language, their strong and weak areas in writing etc. This also enabled me to compare the nature of written tasks given in my college and the ones given in

28

Yorktown High School. However I have also realized that the approach towards organizing the written material is the same.

OBSERVATION OF VARIOUS STRATEGIES:

The school mentor used various methods in due course of the eight day internship. Use of OHP, Tape recorder, internet, library facilities etc were seen in the class. My mentor, Ms Millie Solomon, organized a Socratic Seminar with her students twice based on the Shakespeare’s play Macbeth and Othello so that I get to know a new strategy. I also got to know about the Column responses written by students where they write their opinion about an article in the newspaper. Proofreading warm ups were effectively used in the class, generally to begin with the day’s activities and the students also looked the activity.

INTERACTION WITH STUDENTS:

I interacted with the students during the lessons I taught and they asked questions with lot of interest. Informally I interacted with them to give them feedback about their written work, assignments etc. The students opened up with passage of time and on the last day they asked many questions about India when I gave a short presentation about my hometown, Pune. Bindis was a fascination point and even two of the boys wanted to put it on their forehead. Students willingly took snaps and one girl from Vietnam showed me some snaps and showed me her currency.

DISCUSSIONS WITH THE MENTOR:

My mentor discussed my queries and gave information about her plans and students after giving a task to students a, during breaks and after the school. She told me about Teachers Organizations which are called unions. These unions cater to all the problems of teachers. If the administrators’ and unfair, if parents create any problem, they can get back to the Union.Parents Role- Parents have a lot of say in the school. They are allowed to observe a lesson. Many times parents do interfere a lot. There is on the whole lot of pressure from the parent’s side.Evaluation system.- It is largely holistic in nature. Ultimately students take the SAT exam for further degree education. Till grade XII they are prepared to do the same. The most important aspect is to reach the

29

SOL level.ie. Standards of learning. Teachers give grades on the basis of attendance, participation assignments, quizzes, tests etc. The evaluation does not rely much on memorization. It is more application oriented.

OBSERVING DIFFERENT CLASSES:

Ms Millie Solomon arranged to send me to different classes so that I could see how English was taught at different levels.HILT class provides high intensity instruction. The students need more help to come at par with other students. The transition class is a step below the regular class. Hence the difficulty level is more. This system is very well developed and is really essential in the US Education system to cater to immense diversity( people coming from different countries ).

OTHER ACTIVITIES:

I got an opportunity attend a staff meeting where issues about result, discipline etc were discussed. I realized that there was an informal atmosphere in the meeting. The details to be told were kept ready in the form of printouts outside the meeting hall. The points to be discussed by the authorities were ready and very precisely.NIE Workshop- A workshop was arranged by USA Today representative for the teachers to discuss how newspaper could be used in education in a variety of ways. She gave some new suggestions to the teachers.

Differences noticed during field visit and their applicability in our Education System.

The concept of summer school itself is very new. There is no such system in India. The students who fail in a grade have to repeat it and hence waste one year. Many times they are given an option of joining national Open school where the child can complete the course as per his ability.

30

This idea may not be applicable as it is in our schools but some extra classes for weak students can be organized during summer vacations and students can be helped to come at par with other students.

The idea of HILT class, transition class, and self contained class is very interesting. Students’ needs can be catered to in a more individualized manner. This concept can certainly be introduced by the teacher at her level though it can’t be included in the system as such. Any teacher can design some material as per her students’ needs and help them.

Assessment of students is done in an effective way as it has an application basis to it. There is less emphasis on rote learning and students are made to do short projects, research and even give a presentation on it. Teachers can use this idea and develop critical thinking and communication skills of students. I teach grades XI and XIIFor Grade XII, a public exam is conducted and specific instructions are given for conducting grade XI exams. However the teacher has the liberty to take internal exam for 20 marks and I can introduce such research work.

Extensive use of technology is perhaps the hallmark of American classrooms. Use of technology to such an extent and availability of computers in classrooms is not possible in our classrooms so soon. However it is possible to plan, do some homework and make more presentations, use activities and make classroom interaction more involving and interesting for the students.

STUDENT CENTERED STRATEGIES

1. Socratic Seminar - It is a group discussion. Questions prepared

beforehand, leader moderates the seminar, sit in a circular fashion (intro

questions, core questions, end questions) Students discuss various

aspects of the text, go beyond the text, agree, disagree. Points are allotted

for participation, supporting points with details from the text and submitting

the details of the seminar.

2. Student Presenatations - About their country, family, food habits etc.

Students use power point.

3. Creative Writing related to the text studied - Writing a story, writing a

ballad after ballad is taught in the class and presenting it before the class.

4. Research-Finding information or texts from the internet - Writing a

paragraph about the poem downloaded.

31

5. Student report of the guest lecture - Inviting the Mayor to discuss topics

related to social studies curriculum and asking students to write a report

about it.

6. Maps of different countries- students are told to collect information

about different countries. Teacher puts up the map on the board. Students

put up the information collected on the map.

7. Mind Mapping 8. Desert Island Activity -. Students decide the flag, rules, Forming a

government etc.

9. Utopia - Based on the lesson taught. Imagine how the place would be like.

10.Pictionary - Make own definitions, explain words

11. Writing experiences- eg Bullying

12. Chain Story writing- important

words to be written on the

blackboard and students write a

story.

13. Class room quiz- One group of

students prepare questions and other group answers.

14. Choosing a picture - narrating the related part.

15. Sequence Chart- Drawing the sequence of the story which helps for

recapitulation.

16.Enactment of a scene - Create the situation and enact the scene to

explain new concepts. Eg Dowry.

17. Personal Album-Collection of stories and other details for the album

18. Four Square Writing Strategy

19. Guided Reading and Thinking- Book connection exercise. 1. Teacher

gives extract from the book and students connect it with self,another book,

world. 2. Books are given to students, they select extract and check any of

the above connections.

Reason Reason

Conclusion Reason

32

20. Use of drawing to teach

21. Use of games- Name of a celebrity is given to the teacher, students ask

yes-no questions.

22. Jeopardy- Element of gambling. Students earn money for correct answer.

23. Personal Coat of arms-

Student’s greatest success

Greatest failure

One year plan

Ten year plan

Dream

Motto

Symbol

24. Vocabulary Building with the help of newspapers.

25. KWL Concept26. Self Study-Questions are given to students. They take the prescribed book

and find the answers

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCE This theory put forth by Howard Gardner in 1983 was discussed by

Dr. Shahrokhi in two sessions. We were told about the eight different intelligence

put forth by Gardner.

Linguistic intelligence ("word smart"):

Logical-mathematical intelligence ("number/reasoning smart")

Spatial intelligence ("picture smart")

Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence ("body smart")

Musical intelligence ("music smart")

Interpersonal intelligence ("people smart")

Intrapersonal intelligence ("self smart")

Naturalist intelligence ("nature smart")

33

Source: http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm

We were given sheets to assess which of our intelligences are strong and which

were weak. We also discussed a unit in a group as to how the lesson shpuld be

conducted in class to cater to students with different intelligences.

COOPERATIVE LEARNING This concept was introduced by Dr Steeley in one of her sessions with the help

of an activity. She explained the principles of this concept.

P- Positive Interdependence

I – Interactive

E-Educational

S- Structure

The main session was conducted by Dr. Anders on. She discussed the features

of this concept through an activity. The session was interesting.

LIFESTYLES INVENTORYDr Shahrokhi conducted a session where the LSI Inventory was given to us. We

took the test and the purpose was to enable us to understand ourselves better.

This would help us to analyze our strong and weak areas. This will enable us to

work on our weak areas and strengthen our strong areas to emerge as a better

personality. Effective self management will lead to better management of

organizations.

ACTION PLAN Mr Bauers helped us to draft an action plan. We had to select an area that we

would like to work on in our institution. The entire problem was analyzed well.

The factors which would make the plan a fiasco were discussed and he

effectively made us come up with our action plans. His sessions were immensely

interesting, interactive and were replete with activities. Indirectly he put across

the qualities of an effective leader.

34

ACTION RESEARCH PROPOSAL Dr. Flowers’ sessions were about ESL. The main task assigned to us is an

action research project. He gave us directions to prepare an action research

proposal to be implemented in our institution. He discussed our research

question and helped us to redraft it. Sufficient help and guidelines are provided to

prepare the proposal. He also discussed some aspects of assessment.

Action Research ProposalRashmi Makhija,India

INTRODUCTION

Statement of the Problem :

The problem posed by me is regarding the inability of the students to write a well

organized essay. In grade XI and XII not much time can be devoted to the

discussion of essay writing. It is assumed that students will be able to write an

essay since they have been doing it throughout their school life. I have observed

that students are not motivated to write essays when an assignment is given to

them. Most of them directly attempt this question in the tests. The expected word

limit is 250 words. However there are students who can’t even write 100 words.

Sometimes they fail to understand the topic itself. Many essays lack content.

They are unable to organize their ideas effectively as they do not seem to have a

reasonably good command over English.

Context

My college is affiliated to the Maharashtra State Board. It follows their curriculum.

However it is not a government aided institution. It is a private college which is a

35

small part of a host of institutions started by Sinhgad Technical Education

Society. Our college is located in Kondhwa area of Pune city which is in the

outskirts of the city. As per the centralized admission procedure students staying

in the vicinity of this area can take admission in our college. The fees are

relatively more as compared to government aided institutions. Hence many

students belong to a well off family background. We also have students coming

from very ordinary backgrounds. We have a cosmopolitan environment in our

college and students who belong to Hindu, Muslim and other religions form the

group. Besides, we have students who come from other states; especially

Rajasthan. Our college is an English medium college. But some students in our

college come from vernacular schools (i.e. Hindi medium, Marathi medium

schools) .Our College offers two streams at the Grade XI and XII level.ie.

Science and Commerce streams. Students specialize in these subjects and

English language is compulsory as a part of their curriculum. However many

students are not very comfortable while communicating in English.

Academically the students are not very good. Many of them score average marks

in Grade X board exam. The cream of the city takes admission in the old and

established colleges in the heart of the city. Hence we don’t get a very bright lot

of students in our college.

Statement of Research Purpose and Question :

How can I help Grade XI and XII English language learners of Sinhgad College

of Arts, Science and Commerce write better organized essays?

36

The students do write essays but are full of grammatical mistakes and they are

unable to organize the content properly. This is very discouraging for the student.

I wish to help my students in writing well organized essays so that their written

communication improves and they feel confident about expressing their ideas in

the written form.

LITERATURE REVIEW

I will look through journal articles and dissertations available on the internet

through various databases to look through the researches and find the ones

relevant to my topic. I plan to see ERIC and GMU library websites. In the Mason

Library database I will look in the education section. I will mainly go through the

research work done (i.e. doctoral dissertations). I intend to see the abstracts of

dissertations and articles related to writing skills on the ERIC database in the

English language section. I will also look through articles and references using

google.com. The key words to be used are: writing skills, writing good essays,

writing well organized essays etc.

After going through some of the databases I found a study conducted by Yang,

Miao; Badger, Richard; Yu, Zhen titled A Comparative Study of Peer and

Teacher Feedback in a Chinese EFL Writing Class(2006). The study revealed

that students used teacher and peer feedback to improve their writing but that

teacher feedback was more likely to be adopted and led to greater improvements

in the writing.

37

Another study by Sweetland, Julie titled Teaching writing in the African American

classroom: A sociolinguistic approach(2006) revealed that children who

participated in a writing process curriculum that incorporated direct instruction on

language variation demonstrated growth in several traits of effective writing,

including content quality, organization, author's voice, sentence fluency, and

conventions.

Thus I plan to give proper feedback to my students to enable them to organize

their ideas.

METHODS

Procedures :

I plan to adopt the quasi- experimental method. I will conduct a pretest where the

students will have to write an essay in 250 words and that will be assessed for 10

marks. This test will help me to identify specific problems. I will interview a few

students to find out what difficulties they face while writing essays. I will get the

essays in the pretest assess by another English teacher to get another

perspective of the same essays. I will conduct a session with my students and

discuss with them the way in which they can do mind mapping and think of

various ideas associated with the given topic. I will help them to organize their

essays by teaching them to take up a point and write a paragraph and then

combine paragraphs to write an essay. I shall teach them the five paragraph

format and give practice for the same. I will also prepare an evaluation rubric to

ensure that students know how the essays will be evaluated. This will give them

38

some direction to write their essays. After two weeks I will conduct a posttest and

make them write an essay again. The essays will be assessed for 10 marks on

the basis of the assessment rubric. A comparison between the pretest and

posttest scores will reveal how far the students have improved in writing essays.

Sampling :

The sample for this research will be Grade XI Science stream students of my

college which forms one section. Random sampling method will not be followed

as this is the problem of every class. So I will take a purposive sample of

approximately 50 to 60 students.

Data Collection :

The data collection will be done mainly through the performance tests (Pretest

and posttest). Some more information about student’s difficulties will be acquired

by interviewing 10 students. The essays will be assessed by another teacher to

get a different perspective of the essays. The scores will help to derive

conclusions about the essays written by students. Thus the triangulation will be

done with the help of student interviews and teacher’s evaluation of the pretest

and posttest essays. I may interview some English teachers to ask their opinion

about student’s essays and take some suggestions for remediation.

Time Line

Task Time

Review of Related Literature & Designing of Rubrics September, October 2007

Interviews of English teachers and students November 2007

39

Pretest ,Quasi experiment, Posttest December 2007

Evaluation of posttest sheets December 2007

Analysis, Interpretation and Report writing January 2008

Ethics :

This study can be conducted during my regular English classes in college. I

might have to take up some extra classes. Hence I will have to take permission

from the head of our institution .i.e. The Principal, Dr. V. S. Mangnale and I will

also have to inform the Vice- Principal, Dr. Vijaya Nawale, about this work. I will

also have to request them to provide me with the required resources or manage

to procure them from the other institutions in our Campus. For this I will have to

take permission of the head of the Institution of the concerned College.

Since the area of research is essays, teacher’s personal opinions, ideas and

biases may influence while assessing the essays. Some amount of subjectivity

does creep in. However the assessment method can be made more objective by

specifying the areas that will be taken into consideration and make all the criteria

of assessment clear to the students. Besides the students will be informed about

the study that I plan to conduct and request them to be present in the class as

the absence of students from class is a major problem in colleges.

FINDINGS

40

The pretest and post test scores will be depicted in the form of a table. The

difference between these scores will be calculated to check whether there is any

improvement. These scores will also be represented in the form of a line graph.

Inferences drawn on the basis of these observations will be included in the

report.

ACTION PLAN

If the post test reveals an increase in the scores, I shall use the same method to

help my students in other classes and even in future. I will also share the format

of the essay and the rubric with other teachers to enable them to help their

students as well.

REFERENCES

A Guide for Writing Research Papers based on Styles Recommended by The

American Psychological Association(2007. August 13). Humanities Department

and the Arthur C. Banks Jr. LibraryCapital Community College Hartford,

Connecticut http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/apa/

Sweetland, J.(2006) Teaching writing in the African American classroom: A

sociolinguistic approach. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Stanford University,

(AAI3235360 Dissertation Abstracts Online Detailed Record,George Mason

University.)

41

Yang, M., Badger, R.,& Yu, Z.(2006) A Comparative Study of Peer and Teacher

Feedback in a Chinese EFL Writing Class. Journal of Second Language Writing,

v15 n3 p179-200 Dec 2006(EJ747738)

42

Action Plan

S. No. Task Who’s responsible

By When Resources needed

Success Signals

1 Talk to the Principal and inform him about my goal to seek his approval.

Self Principal’s approval

2 Informing the Vice-Principal of Principal’s approval and taking her permission

Self Ma’am’s permission

3 Organize ameeting with colleagues , discuss their needs and convince trhem about the need to use technology in classroom.

Self Staff room Willingness to attend sessions

4 Making arrangements for the Computerlab, LCD for the sessions to be organized.

Principal Lab, LCD Availability of computer lab or any other substitute.

5 Design a curriculum Self 1 week Books, Internet Preparation of a

short booklet, time schedule

6 Implementation of the curriculum

Self 2months Lab(computers and internet facility,LCD)

Conducting sessions

7 Evaluation and providing assistance to conduct lessons

Within two months

Colleagues prepare PowerPoint lessons

8 Provide long term assistance for enhancing skills to conduct technology based lessons

After two months

Colleagues willingly conduct such lessons

44

AppendicesAppendix 1

Some characteristics of metaphysical poetry : a tendency to psychological analysis of emotion of love and religion

a penchant for imagery that is novel, "unpoetical" and sometimes

shocking, drawn from the commonplace (actual life) or the remote (erudite

sources), including the extended metaphor of the "metaphysical conceit"

simple diction (compared to Elizabethan poetry) which echoes the

cadences of everyday speech

form: frequently an argument (with the poet's lover; with God; with

oneself)

meter : often rugged, not "sweet" or smooth like Elizabethan verse. This

ruggedness goes naturally with the Metaphysical poets' attitude and

purpose: a belief in the perplexity of life, a spirit of revolt, and the putting of

an argument in speech rather than song.

The best metaphysical poetry is honest, unconventional , and reveals the

poet's sense of the complexities and contradictions of life. It is

intellectual , analytical , psychological , and bold ; frequently it is

absorbed in thoughts of death, physical love, and religious devotion.

Appendix 2

BACKGROUND INFORMATIONTALES FROM PANCHATANTRA

 Panchatantra, is a collection of five volumes of stories written by a teacher to help instruct the different aspects of kinghood for princes. The five volumes together serve as a manual for a prospective king, to help him in deciding how to rule, how to choose his fellow friends, fellow ministers, how to conduct himself in daily life etc. The collection of stories in Pancha Tantra are a real treat for parents to help them in guiding them towards values in human life. Every story in Pancha Tantra is accompanied by a moral.The story of Panchatanra itself is an interesting one in that, the intention of writing it was precisely the one mentioned in the previous paragraph, namely, to serve as a manual for a prince to rule as an ideal king. The background story of Panchatantra goes as follows:

 "Long ago in the kingdom of Mahilaropya, there lived a king who was ruling very ideally. He had three sons, who were not intelligent. The king was worried about the heir to the throne, as he knew that his sons were incapable of governing. He was desperate to find a good and knowledgable teacher for his sons who would teach them the scriptures and make them knowledgeable in a short time. His minister then pointed towards a skilled pundit, VishnuSharman. Vishnusharman was old and the king was worried as to how the teacher could accomplish the teaching to his sons as he told that even an intelligent man takes more than twelve years to grasp all the elements of scriptures. Then VishnuSharman convinced the king that he would teach the princes about kingly conduct through a series of stories, which would be more effective than the scriptures. Thus VishnuRaman compiled the collection in five volumes termed as PanchaTantra meant to serve as the guide for the princes to learn about kingly behaviour."  

Almost every child in India is read stories from Pancha Tantra either by parents or grandparents to drive home some particular moral points. In this page we shall try to bring as many stories from the Panchatantra to you as possible. If you have any story to contribute, please contact us, and we shall add your story with your credits.

Panchatantra is written in five volumes:

1. The Loss of Friends2. The winning of friends3. Crows and Owls4. Loss of Gains

46

5. Ill-considered action

Appendix 3

The Foolish Lion and the clever rabbit

Once upon a time there lived a ferocious lion in the forest. It was a greedy lion and started killing animals in the forest indiscriminately. Seeing this, the animals gathered and decided to approach the lion with the offer of one animal of each species volunteering itself to be eaten by the lion everyday. So every day it was the turn of one of the animals and in the end came the rabbits' turn. The rabbits chose a old rabbit among them. The rabbit was wise and old. It took its own sweet time to go to the Lion. The Lion was getting impatient on not seeing any animal come by and swore to kill all animals the next day.The rabbit then strode along to the Lion by sunset. The Lion was angry at him. But the wise rabbit was calm and slowly told the Lion that it was not his fault. He told the Lion that a group of rabbits were coming to him for the day when on the way, an angry Lion attacked them all and ate all rabbits but himself. Somehow he escaped to reach safely, the rabbit said. He said that the other Lion was challenging the supremacy of his Lordship the Lion. The Lion was naturally very enraged and asked to be taken to the location of the other Lion. The wise rabbit agreed and led the Lion towards a deep well filled with water. Then he showed the Lion his reflection in the water of the well. The Lion was furious and started growling and naturally its image in the water, the other Lion, was also equally angry. Then the Lion jumped into the water at the other Lion to attack it, and so lost its life in the well. Thus the wise rabbit saved the forest and its inhabitants from the proud Lion.MORAL: Wit is superior to brute force.

47