Can freedom reign?

Are teachers bound by the school curriculum and the text books that are prescribed for students? Do they have the freedom to go beyond the text books and impart learning in new ways so that they can open up children’s minds? How does politics impact school practices? These are questions for which everyone needs to find answers so that those who deliver education can resist intrusions into their space.

Lyrics and language

Avantika Thakur
Can music be used as a teaching tool? What would be the effect on children if music were to be played in the background in the classroom? Do they become more energetic and alert? Here is an interesting article where the author gives some tips on using music to further learning.

The music of poetry

Neeraja Raghavan
This article continues with the discussion on ” How can a poem be made into a learning experience?” There are some more tried and tested out ideas given by teachers. From ‘singing’ a poem to planning activities around the content of the poem, the ideas given in the article can easily be replicated and enjoyed both by the teacher and the students.

A vision for reviving an adventure

G Gautama
Has the concept of a ‘school’ changed in the Internet era? Have schools become forbidding places where few people are interested in being teachers? In such a changed scenario, the role of the teacher needs to be re-defined. This article outlines a new and a fresh approach to looking at a teacher and a school, and thereby tries to to revive an adventure.

This big round Earth

Jyotsna Vijapurkar
Is the earth really round? Children have difficulty in imagining the earth to be round. They think that if this is so, then why is it that people do not fall off, they wonder if we live on the earth or in the earth. The project on this topic addresses the root of all these conceptual problems by getting children to work on a lot of activities. Try out all of them and your students will be better of for this fun learning.

Journey to the ends of the earth

Manik Dhingra
Eighty one participants from 26 countries went on a mission to Antarctica to learn about leadership, climate change and the Antarctic environment. The author who was part of this team which comprised mostly educators, pens his experiences in this simple article which both inspires and encourages. Read on for some fulfillment.

Assessment in science – a changing perspective

Garima Bansal
Science teaching requires that students’ inquiry skills and understanding of concepts be honed for them to develop a scientific bent of mind. Assessment procedures, in particular, need to go beyond the pencil- paper tests and year end examinations. The tasks need to probe the students’ conceptual understanding and application of ideas.

Watch out for scrambling shells

Geetha Iyer
Have you come across a crab that carries its home on its back? If you have lived near the coastline, you may have come across or seen shells that seem to be walking or scrambling about. These are hermit crabs and their shell is their home into which they withdraw when they sense danger. Read all about these social creatures.

The ‘Why’ of division algorithm

Monica Kochar
Why is it that while doing division, we hide the digit to check the first digit? Is it because our teacher taught us this way? However, it is time to ask ‘ why’.The author goes to tell us that algorithm without logic is murder. Read on to find out why.

Mainstreaming innovation

Arun Elassery
In the second of our series on stories about alternative schools, we profile a school called Aksharnandan in Pune. Aksharnandan is a mainstream school that does a lot of innovation within its spaces