Classrooms for/of/by the people?

How can we as teachers achieve democracy in our classrooms? As individuals in the larger scheme of things, we often stand helpless, not knowing how we can can bring about the much needed change. But in our classrooms, we can work in minute ways transferring values to our children, helping them to think, act and generally be.

Divide and rule

Sheela Iyer and Pallavi Mallya
Children often misunderstand the concept of division and end up with the wrong answers. Teachers must first understand the concept completely before they pass on their learning to children. Division needs to be developed from simple and easy numbers to complex and complicated numbers. This article explains how the concept can be taught clearly and with the help of a few tools.

Olympics and learning

Sporting events can be used in different ways to enhance the teaching-learning process. The recent London Olympics is one such example. Articles in newspapers, magazines and on the internet can prove to be a handy tool.Whether it is Math, Social Sciences or Language, information gathered from these sources can be the starting point and then classroom integration can happen. Read on to get an idea.

Teachers get a taste of freedom

Steven Rudolph

What do teachers do when they are given an entire working day to work at their own pace and are not required to adhere to any rigid schedule? Will they work productively or will they use the time to ‘catch up’ on other work? This experiment at the Jiva Institute threw up some interesting insights.

A space to unwind

Manaswini Sridhar
Staff rooms in most schools need to be given attention on a priority basis. Teachers are the pillars of any school and the torchbearers of the next generation. They need to be given quality time between their rush to different classes. For this, a staff room that is comfortable and airy, with enough chairs and cupboards and a friendly atmosphere is a must.

More power to the child

Gita Krenek
How can teachers foster independence in a child? Independence is not something that can be taught in the same way as perhaps any subject. Encouraging independence is an attitude that children need to carry with them all the time. This requires more time and patience on the part of the teacher. This article suggests some ways on how teachers can gently guide the child to think for himself.

What is successful communication

Geetha Durairajan
When teachers evaluate language, they do not value the understanding that happens either in a child or an adult. Due to preconceived notions of acceptable responses, most teachers do not realise that communication can happen in different ways and that it should be valued as meaningful and successful.

Living responsibly

Neha Pradhan Arora
Teachers have a lot of responsibilities and the primary task is not one of completing the syllabus, not ensuring that all children pass, but to make sure that at the end of schooling, children turn out to be responsible citizens. Children need to become active citizens and this can happen only when the students imbibe all the correct values.

Learning Math through Language

Monica Kochar
This article outlines a few ways in which English can be used to learn Math. Students who have a good vocabulary find ways to express their understanding of the subject without the use of symbols.

Unlearning, re-learning and sharing

Lalitha Krishnamurthy
A teacher’s first-hand account of her intervention in Nepal, and the process of unlearning and learning that happened while teaching core subjects like math and science.