Current issue
In this issue
New and unfamiliar
Usha Raman
The new academic year has begun on a totally different note – online classes, reduced syllabi and of course, new students meeting their teachers for the first time online. How has the experience been both for teachers and students? It is important that teachers share their experiences about what works, what doesn’t, what frustrates, what gives joy – with their peers as well as those in the teachin
When students’ voices take centre-stage
Fiona Vaz
Active Learning engages students in two ways - doing things and thinking about the things they are doing. In order to learn, students must do more than just listen. They need to read, write, discuss or be engaged in solving problems. But why do most schools and teachers resist adopting Active Learning methods in their classrooms? The reasons are many, ranging from a vast syllabus to class control and eve
July 2020 | Off The Library Shelves
Emotional literacy through picture books
Lakshmi Karunakaran
The role of a library educator is not merely to give access to books, but also to nurture children's socio-emotional and cognitive growth. The article highlights the author’s experiences of how a library can address the emotional needs of all children, including those who are ‘at risk’ or/and are from marginalized communities.
The Pyramids – a cross-curricular trip
Sunita Biswas
For centuries, the pyramids of Egypt have been a source of wonder because of their size, the complexities in the construction process and about the men who created these enduring marvels. So, in the school curriculum, how can this topic be dealt across all disciplines and not just history? Here is a fascinating insight.
May-June 2020
May-June 2020 | Practice
Folk mathematics
S N Gananath
The beauty of math lies in the variety of methods one can employ to teach it. If you are a creative and passionate teacher, you would have realized the potential of folk puzzles to teach several aspects of mathematics - problem solving, spatial thinking, computation, pattern identification to name just a few.
May-June 2020 | Policy And Perspectives
Can we use our participation in PISA to improve our maths learning levels?
Sridhar Rajagopalan and Nishchal Shukla
Only once has India ever participated in a PISA test and so badly did we perform that it has taken us more than a decade to muster the courage to participate again in 2021. Even locally designed tests like ASSET and ASER have time and again shown the dismal standards of the Indian education system. While these assessment tools show us how terrib
Cover Story | May-June 2020 | Pedagogy
Exploring explorations
Vinusha Venkatesh
A typical classroom, teacher-centric and bound by the shackles of time and syllabus gives its students absolutely nothing. Try and transform your classroom into one where students are given a free rein to explore questions that interest them and where teachers stay on the sidelines and then see how learning blossoms.
Read more articles from this issueApril 2020
April 2020 | Cover Story.
The teacher has failed
Simran Luthra
Do teachers fail at any point during their journey as a teacher? Do they have self-doubts? How do they approach or view failure and achievement? Is the so called ‘perfect teacher’ a myth? Most articles by teachers showcase successful strategies for student and classroom management, but there are very few examples of ‘teacher failure’ or even training for teachers
April 2020 | Cogitations.
Controversies in disciplines are useful!
Prakash Iyer
School curriculum is organized by subjects, and subject content is decided by subject area experts. In that sense, we teachers become dependent on experts. If experts change their mind or disagree with each other, it leaves us in a dilemma. Who do we agree with? This leads to even more vexatious important questions: What do we teach? Why? This is a fictional conversation b
Action Research | April 2020.
Using data to improve learning
Ishita Ghoshal
Action research helps a teacher to enhance her reflective practices. It gives her a glimpse of the learning patterns, learning attitudes, gaps in learning and empowers her to use fact-based data to drive, explore and experiment to improve or innovate upon these patterns. The author illustrates this with an example from her own experience.
Read more articles from this issueMarch 2020
March 2020 | Nature Watch.
Mangroves: a national wealth
Geetha Iyer
Mangrove forests are a national wealth. They protect coastal areas from natural disasters, provide food for their inhabitants, are home to a variety of wildlife, provide a safe breeding ground for many species of fish, sustain livelihoods and are now also a popular tourist destination. When this rich and vibrant habitat gives us so much, the least we can do is to protect an
A Step Ahead | March 2020.
Combating drugs
Neerja Singh
Drug abuse is so rampant these days that it is no longer a secret; no longer something that only the “naughty” children do; and not something that we can ignore anymore. With dissatisfaction, emotional instability, stress and depression on the rise, more and more youngsters are falling prey to this vice. As their teachers and parents, let us arm ourselves with enough k
Cover Story | March 2020.
Swatting away the worry bugs
Lamia Bagasrawala
Students live tough lives. While grappling with psychological challenges and under constant scrutiny for their academic performance and behaviour, students are expected to “fit” into the standard norms we have set. We do not appreciate any kind of deviation. With pressure from parents, school and the society to be a certain way, what the students put at stake is t
Read more articles from this issue
New and unfamiliar
Usha Raman
The new academic year has begun on a totally different note – online classes, reduced syllabi and of course, new students meeting their teachers for the first time online. How has the experience been both for teachers and students? It is important that teachers share their experiences about what works, what doesn’t, what frustrates, what gives joy – with their peers as well as those in the teachin
When students’ voices take centre-stage
Fiona Vaz
Active Learning engages students in two ways - doing things and thinking about the things they are doing. In order to learn, students must do more than just listen. They need to read, write, discuss or be engaged in solving problems. But why do most schools and teachers resist adopting Active Learning methods in their classrooms? The reasons are many, ranging from a vast syllabus to class control and eve
July 2020 | Off The Library Shelves
Emotional literacy through picture books
Lakshmi Karunakaran
The role of a library educator is not merely to give access to books, but also to nurture children's socio-emotional and cognitive growth. The article highlights the author’s experiences of how a library can address the emotional needs of all children, including those who are ‘at risk’ or/and are from marginalized communities.
The Pyramids – a cross-curricular trip
Sunita Biswas
For centuries, the pyramids of Egypt have been a source of wonder because of their size, the complexities in the construction process and about the men who created these enduring marvels. So, in the school curriculum, how can this topic be dealt across all disciplines and not just history? Here is a fascinating insight.
May-June 2020
May-June 2020 | Practice
Folk mathematics
S N Gananath
The beauty of math lies in the variety of methods one can employ to teach it. If you are a creative and passionate teacher, you would have realized the potential of folk puzzles to teach several aspects of mathematics - problem solving, spatial thinking, computation, pattern identification to name just a few.
May-June 2020 | Policy And Perspectives
Can we use our participation in PISA to improve our maths learning levels?
Sridhar Rajagopalan and Nishchal Shukla
Only once has India ever participated in a PISA test and so badly did we perform that it has taken us more than a decade to muster the courage to participate again in 2021. Even locally designed tests like ASSET and ASER have time and again shown the dismal standards of the Indian education system. While these assessment tools show us how terrib
Cover Story | May-June 2020 | Pedagogy
Exploring explorations
Vinusha Venkatesh
A typical classroom, teacher-centric and bound by the shackles of time and syllabus gives its students absolutely nothing. Try and transform your classroom into one where students are given a free rein to explore questions that interest them and where teachers stay on the sidelines and then see how learning blossoms.
Read more articles from this issueApril 2020
April 2020 | Cover Story.
The teacher has failed
Simran Luthra
Do teachers fail at any point during their journey as a teacher? Do they have self-doubts? How do they approach or view failure and achievement? Is the so called ‘perfect teacher’ a myth? Most articles by teachers showcase successful strategies for student and classroom management, but there are very few examples of ‘teacher failure’ or even training for teachers
April 2020 | Cogitations.
Controversies in disciplines are useful!
Prakash Iyer
School curriculum is organized by subjects, and subject content is decided by subject area experts. In that sense, we teachers become dependent on experts. If experts change their mind or disagree with each other, it leaves us in a dilemma. Who do we agree with? This leads to even more vexatious important questions: What do we teach? Why? This is a fictional conversation b
Action Research | April 2020.
Using data to improve learning
Ishita Ghoshal
Action research helps a teacher to enhance her reflective practices. It gives her a glimpse of the learning patterns, learning attitudes, gaps in learning and empowers her to use fact-based data to drive, explore and experiment to improve or innovate upon these patterns. The author illustrates this with an example from her own experience.
Read more articles from this issueMarch 2020
March 2020 | Nature Watch.
Mangroves: a national wealth
Geetha Iyer
Mangrove forests are a national wealth. They protect coastal areas from natural disasters, provide food for their inhabitants, are home to a variety of wildlife, provide a safe breeding ground for many species of fish, sustain livelihoods and are now also a popular tourist destination. When this rich and vibrant habitat gives us so much, the least we can do is to protect an
A Step Ahead | March 2020.
Combating drugs
Neerja Singh
Drug abuse is so rampant these days that it is no longer a secret; no longer something that only the “naughty” children do; and not something that we can ignore anymore. With dissatisfaction, emotional instability, stress and depression on the rise, more and more youngsters are falling prey to this vice. As their teachers and parents, let us arm ourselves with enough k
Cover Story | March 2020.
Swatting away the worry bugs
Lamia Bagasrawala
Students live tough lives. While grappling with psychological challenges and under constant scrutiny for their academic performance and behaviour, students are expected to “fit” into the standard norms we have set. We do not appreciate any kind of deviation. With pressure from parents, school and the society to be a certain way, what the students put at stake is t
Read more articles from this issue