assetscope january

Brainstorming in the Classroom

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

Issue 69 | January 2011 | www.ei-india.com

Editor’s NoteHello Readers!

The festive seasons are over and I believe most of the schools will be having their mid term and annual exams approaching.

We have come up with AFLI- A nat iona l seminar se r ies on ' A s s e s s m e n t f o r L e a r n i n g Improvement'. AFLI seminar focuses on how assessment can be instrumental in improving learning standards across the schools. The first two seminars were conducted in Kolkata and Jaipur. Read about it on page 8.

ASSET WEEK 2010 results will be out in February. This issue contains an article about teaching kids Science, an Interview of Mrs. Valli Arunachalam, Principal, PSBB, Nungambakkam and lots more.

Happy Reading

This Month’sIssue

Brainstorming in ..............

New School of thought....

ASSET WEEK .....................

Teaching Kids Science.......

How to Show Students.....

Annual Day ......................

How Shanghai Topped......

Where Are All the.............

Teacher’s Bite...................

Activity Based Learning....

Seminars on Assessment..

Person of the Year 2010...

Bindu Pillai

Thomas Edison said, “To have a great idea, have Push Beyond the Obvious: Children need a lots of them.” gentle, encouraging push to get beyond that

first line of over-used ideas. So if you’re all Brainstorming is the key to creative processes. It’s

dreaming up names for a super-hero who’s a the best way to think of a number of potential

bear, know that the first answer will be “Super answers to a problem. It also can involve tons of

Bear!” Gratefully accept it, and then say fun.

something like, “Great idea! But what else could we name him?” You could even start by Creativity can thrive in any group if the saying the obvious answer: "I bet many of us environment is right. It doesn’t have to be a solitary thought of 'Super Bear'. Okay. That's a good child staring at a blank piece of paper. idea, but I know we can do better!" Once your Brainstorming can be a team sport. As a teacher, students get past the initial shock that there you take the lead -- asking questions, fielding might possibly be another answer, they’ll come answers, showing enthusiasm, keeping the "what up with more.if" spirit flourishing.

It's good to show them the progress they Accept all Ideas: Make the tone positive. Even if make. At the end of the brainstorming session, an idea obviously won’t work, write it down or

there should be a range of ideas. hear it out. Not only will the You may need to highlight a few quietest of your kids feel that have real possibilities, or included, that idea may be a you may just want to let them stepping-stone to another, individually choose which ones more useful answer. will work for them. In either

Have a Visual Focus: It really case, point out how the helps to have something visual answers worked out are so to start with. Students can use it much more interesting than the as a mental touchstone as their obvious ones.minds wander in search of new

Most of all, remember to make ideas. It may be the name of a brainstorming fun! There's an character on the board, or ideas amazing energy that builds in a that are listed as they are group as ideas begin to flysuggested, or a quick drawing of

a character, or a painting as a prompt.

Source: http://www.brucevanpatter.com/brainstorming.html (Modified)

check page #6

Where Are AllThe Butterflies?

Source: http://www.science.org/molecular-biology.html

Almost 30 robots have started teaching English to youngsters children. in a South Korean city, education officials said, in a pilot project "The kids seemed to love it since the robots look, well, cute and designed to nurture the nascent robot industry. interesting. But some adults also expressed interest, saying Engkey, a white, egg-shaped robot developed by the Korea they may feel less nervous talking to robots than a real person," Institute of Science & Technology (KIST), began taking classes said Kim Mi-Young, an official at the Daegu city education at 21 elementary schools in the southeastern city of Daegu. office.

The 29 robots, about 1m tall with a TV display panel for a face, Kim said some may be sent to remote rural areas of South wheeled around the classroom while speaking to the students, Korea shunned by foreign English teachers. She said the robots reading books to them and dancing to music by moving their are still being tested. But officials might consider hiring them head and arms. The robots, which display an avatar face of a full time if scientists upgrade them and make them easier to Caucasian woman, are controlled remotely by teachers of handle and make them more affordable. English in the Philippines - who can see and hear the children "Having robots in the classroom makes the students, especially via a remote control system. shy ones afraid of speaking out to human teachers, more active Cameras detect the Filipino teachers' facial expressions and in participating," Kim said. instantly reflect them on the avatar's face, said Sagong Seong- She stressed that the experiment was not about replacing Dae, a senior scientist at KIST. human teachers with robots. "We are helping upgrade a key, "Well-educated, experienced Filipino teachers are far cheaper strategic industry, all the while giving children more interest in than their counterparts elsewhere, including South Korea,” he what they learn." said. The four-month pilot programme was sponsored by the Apart from reading books, the robots use pre-programmed government, which invested $1.37 million.software to sing songs and play alphabet games with the

Teaching children, science can be both rewarding and fun. answered. By adding this idea to your teaching method you will Science plays an important and crucial role in the education of be engaging the minds of the students, while simultaneously the current generation. With rapid advancements in science conveying the topics of kids’ science within your teaching plan.and technology, this field is very vital to every-day life. Being Articles: Science is always changing and developing. With the aware of what is going on in the world of science and why wave of new technology and inventions, students should be certain phenomena occur is important to a young child’s aware of what is going on in the world. By reading short and education in science. Science for kids, although very basic in informative, but interesting, science related articles every day nature, covers a broad variety of topics that involves fun and you will be able to keep students involved and up to date with uniqueness in teaching these concepts to children every day. the most recent advancements in the field of science. Keep the Some children may excel in content light and keep in mind other subjects and may not be the age of the audience that as interested or skilled when you are teaching.it comes to science. To gain

Mix it up: Change the the attention of all of the learning atmosphere from students you teach, you may time to time. The world of want to try a few creative as science is not limited to a well as different approaches. classroom. Take a field trip or When teaching them science, walk outside. You could be keep in mind that children teaching kids science in real have a shorter attention span life situations. Some children than adults and you may need learn better with visual aids to keep the material light, and this will appeal to the easy to understand as well as needs of those students. By enjoyable while getting it actually seeing science in across to them. Here are action it may be a more some fun ways to spark the productive learning session children’s interest in the

for kids since they need to be engaged in order to focus on the classroom when teaching them science.kids’ science topics at hand.

Scientist of the Day: Select one student who will research a Games: Kids’ science does not have to be limited to books science related topic and come up with a fact to share with the alone. Teaching can consist of many different methods and classroom, every day. In this way, the students will not only tools to convey the material. Once you have gone over the teach each other but will also bring to light new and interesting material with the students you could implement a game to test information on the concerned topic, to the class. With each their knowledge. In this way, learning can be fun and can create day, a new fact will be discussed and any questions that an atmosphere that will challenge young minds.students may have with regard to kids’ science will be

New School of Thought Robots teach English in South Korea

Source: Times of India

Teaching Kids Science Some Tips and Advice onHow to Engage your Students

ASSET WEEK - 2010Results will be announced in the 2nd week of February, 2011 on our website www.ei-india.com.

Source: http://www.science.org/molecular-biology.html

Almost 30 robots have started teaching English to youngsters children. in a South Korean city, education officials said, in a pilot project "The kids seemed to love it since the robots look, well, cute and designed to nurture the nascent robot industry. interesting. But some adults also expressed interest, saying Engkey, a white, egg-shaped robot developed by the Korea they may feel less nervous talking to robots than a real person," Institute of Science & Technology (KIST), began taking classes said Kim Mi-Young, an official at the Daegu city education at 21 elementary schools in the southeastern city of Daegu. office.

The 29 robots, about 1m tall with a TV display panel for a face, Kim said some may be sent to remote rural areas of South wheeled around the classroom while speaking to the students, Korea shunned by foreign English teachers. She said the robots reading books to them and dancing to music by moving their are still being tested. But officials might consider hiring them head and arms. The robots, which display an avatar face of a full time if scientists upgrade them and make them easier to Caucasian woman, are controlled remotely by teachers of handle and make them more affordable. English in the Philippines - who can see and hear the children "Having robots in the classroom makes the students, especially via a remote control system. shy ones afraid of speaking out to human teachers, more active Cameras detect the Filipino teachers' facial expressions and in participating," Kim said. instantly reflect them on the avatar's face, said Sagong Seong- She stressed that the experiment was not about replacing Dae, a senior scientist at KIST. human teachers with robots. "We are helping upgrade a key, "Well-educated, experienced Filipino teachers are far cheaper strategic industry, all the while giving children more interest in than their counterparts elsewhere, including South Korea,” he what they learn." said. The four-month pilot programme was sponsored by the Apart from reading books, the robots use pre-programmed government, which invested $1.37 million.software to sing songs and play alphabet games with the

Teaching children, science can be both rewarding and fun. answered. By adding this idea to your teaching method you will Science plays an important and crucial role in the education of be engaging the minds of the students, while simultaneously the current generation. With rapid advancements in science conveying the topics of kids’ science within your teaching plan.and technology, this field is very vital to every-day life. Being Articles: Science is always changing and developing. With the aware of what is going on in the world of science and why wave of new technology and inventions, students should be certain phenomena occur is important to a young child’s aware of what is going on in the world. By reading short and education in science. Science for kids, although very basic in informative, but interesting, science related articles every day nature, covers a broad variety of topics that involves fun and you will be able to keep students involved and up to date with uniqueness in teaching these concepts to children every day. the most recent advancements in the field of science. Keep the Some children may excel in content light and keep in mind other subjects and may not be the age of the audience that as interested or skilled when you are teaching.it comes to science. To gain

Mix it up: Change the the attention of all of the learning atmosphere from students you teach, you may time to time. The world of want to try a few creative as science is not limited to a well as different approaches. classroom. Take a field trip or When teaching them science, walk outside. You could be keep in mind that children teaching kids science in real have a shorter attention span life situations. Some children than adults and you may need learn better with visual aids to keep the material light, and this will appeal to the easy to understand as well as needs of those students. By enjoyable while getting it actually seeing science in across to them. Here are action it may be a more some fun ways to spark the productive learning session children’s interest in the

for kids since they need to be engaged in order to focus on the classroom when teaching them science.kids’ science topics at hand.

Scientist of the Day: Select one student who will research a Games: Kids’ science does not have to be limited to books science related topic and come up with a fact to share with the alone. Teaching can consist of many different methods and classroom, every day. In this way, the students will not only tools to convey the material. Once you have gone over the teach each other but will also bring to light new and interesting material with the students you could implement a game to test information on the concerned topic, to the class. With each their knowledge. In this way, learning can be fun and can create day, a new fact will be discussed and any questions that an atmosphere that will challenge young minds.students may have with regard to kids’ science will be

New School of Thought Robots teach English in South Korea

Source: Times of India

Teaching Kids Science Some Tips and Advice onHow to Engage your Students

ASSET WEEK - 2010Results will be announced in the 2nd week of February, 2011 on our website www.ei-india.com.

How Shanghai Topped PISA Rankings?

Shanghai students ' top T h e a u t h o r i t i e s s e n d ranking in the result of whatever support is needed Program for International to help those who are Student Assessment (PISA) struggling. In the OECD has drawn great attention video about Shanghai, the towards China's education lowest-performing school in status. the city is described as one

where "only" 89 percent of A total of 5,115 fifteen-year-

students passed the state old students from 152

exams! With the help sent by Shanghai middle and high

the leaders of the school schools participated in the

system, it eventually reached assessment, ranking top

the target of 100 percent.among 470,000 attendees from about 65 countries and Finland is at the other end of regions within all the three the educational spectrum. Its catalogues including reading, mathematics and science. education system is modelled on American progressive ideas.

It is student-centred. It has a broad (and non-directive) national Their stunning performances have aroused attention

curriculum. Its teachers are drawn from the top 10 percent of worldwide and shocked media in Western countries.

university graduates. They are highly educated and well Angel Gurria, secretary general of the Organization for prepared. Students never take a high-stakes test; their Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) which teachers make their own tests. The only test they take that developed the assessment, said the success of these Shanghai counts is the one required to enter university.students "shows what can be achieved with moderate

Last week, I went to a luncheon with Pasi Sahlberg, the Finnish economic resources and in a diverse social context."

education expert. I asked him the question that every politician However, Chinese educationists said that people should be asks today: "If students don’t take tests, how do you hold sober-minded towards the outstanding scores. teachers and schools accountable?" He said that there is no

word in the Finnish language for "accountability." He said, "We Consider the two top contenders on PISA: Shanghai and

put well-prepared teachers in the classroom, give them Finland. These two places, one a very large city of nearly 21

maximum autonomy, and we trust them to be responsible."million, the other a small nation of less than six million, represent two very different approaches to education. The I asked him if teachers are paid more for experience. He said, one thing they have in common is that neither of the world “Of course.” And what about graduate degrees? He said, leaders in education is doing what American reformers “Every teacher in Finland has a master’s degree.” He added: propose. "We don’t believe in competition among students, teachers, or

schools. We believe in collaboration, trust, responsibility, and According to the OECD, the international group that sponsors

autonomy."PISA, the schools of Shanghai -like those in all of China, are dominated by pressure to get higher scores on examinations. It is also interesting to consider what these two very different OECD writes: systems have in common: They place their bets on expert,

experienced teachers and on careful training of their new “Teaching and learning, in secondary schools in particular, are

teachers. They rely on well-planned, consistent support of predominantly determined by the examination syllabi, and

teachers to improve their schools continuously.school activities at that level are very much oriented towards exam preparation. Subjects such as Music and Art, and in some These two systems are diametrically opposed in one sense: cases even Physical Education, are removed from the Shanghai relies heavily on testing to meet its goals; Finland timetable because they are not covered in the public emphasizes child-centered methods. Yet they have these examinations. Schools work their students for long hours every important things in common: Neither of them does what the day, and the work weeks extend into the weekends, mainly for United States is now promoting: They do not hand students additional exam preparation classes...private tutorials, most of over to privately managed schools; they do not accept teachers them profit-making, are widespread and have become almost who do not intend to make teaching their profession; they do a household necessity.” not have principals who are non-educators; they do not have

superintendents who are non-educators; they do not "turn OECD points out that more than 80 percent of students in

around" schools by closing them or privatizing them; they do Shanghai attend after-school tutoring. It remarked on the

not "improve" schools by firing the principal or the teachers. academic intensity of Chinese students. Non-attention is not

They respect their teachers. They focus relentlessly on tolerated. Interestingly, the authorities in Shanghai boast not

improving teaching and learning, as it is defined in their culture about their testing routines, but about their consistent and

and society.effective support for struggling teachers and schools. When a school is in trouble in Shanghai, authorities say they pair it with The lesson of PISA is this: Neither of the world’s highest-a high-performing school. The teachers and leaders of the performing nations do what our "reformers" want to do.strong school help those in the weak school until it improves.

If you love children and love learning, communicate your Be Firm and Tough: When teachers are always prepared and feelings to students with these tips: ready, students get the message: Learning is important, and so

are they.Listen: Most of us have been taught to teach, keep order, and attend to the endless details that make up each school day. Be Curious: People who love learning are in a perpetual state Often we don’t take the time to listen. How can we sharpen of curiosity. Gently prod your students: Why is this? Why is our listening skills? One way is by making eye contact with that? What do you think? How can we find out? students while they are speaking. After students finish Reward Effort: Every child needs to know that education is a speaking, invite questions and comment from their classmates. journey, not a destination. To keep children engaged in the This tells students that their statements are important. process, consistently reward academic exertion as well as Share Something About Yourself: Sharing something achievement. personal - but not intimate - with children is a nice way to Spend time with children who need to be drawn in.demonstrate that you respect them as fellow human beings.

Value Yourself: We touch children’s lives. Valuing children and Value Humour: Appropriate humour is healthy and can bring valuing education are among the characteristics of a great teachers and students together. nation.Admit you don’t know everything and acknowledge your Enjoy being with children.mistakes. That will mean a lot to students.

How to Show Students You Care

Contributed by: Ms. Meenakshi Atal, Vice Principal (Source: Creative Class Room)

Annual Day

Presidency School, NLO, Bangalore celebrated its Annual Day, the field of theatre and ‘Jhankar 2010’, on 04th November. ‘Jhankar 2010’, was an movie, appraised the show intricate blend of Indian folk dances from the Northern, as cent percent without a Eastern, Western and Southern part of India. These dance single flaw. The other forms were performed by all the 1159 students from Grade 3 dignitaries present on the to 10. The Annual day was organised in two shows - one in the occasion were the Chairman, Mr. Nissar Ahmed, the Director, morning and the other in the evening - so that each of the 1159 Mr. Thangadurai, and the Principal, Mrs. J. Bhuvaneshwari, students gets an opportunity to showcase his skill on stage. Principals, Headmistresses, Coordinators and teachers from

the Presidency Group Schools.The chief Guest, Mr. C.R. Simha, a renowned personality from

By Priyanka Rao, ASSET Ambassador, Presidency School, NLO, Bangalore

By - Valerie Strauss

Source: http://voices.washington.com (Modified)