Buildings talk… structures teach!

Meera Bhuvanesh
Buildings tend to inspire strong emotions in many of us. A temple or a church may give us a sense of peace while a more stately structure might inspire awe in us. But have you thought how buildings and architecture can also offer a world of learning possibilities? When children study about buildings, they can draw upon different fields of knowledge —- from math and history to art and design.

Rewards or bribes?

Krishna Chebolu
Is the reward system the best way in which educators can increase productivity in children? While it has its advantages since it helps in motivating a child, there are other issues too that one must look at. A happy alternative would be to appreciate a child for his/her uniqueness.

Invent, create, protect

CIPAM team
What is Intellectual Property and how necessary is it for children to not only be creative and innovative but also how they can protect their own creations and respect others’ IP.

Gaming math on the board!

Sandeep Yadav, Anveshna Srivastava and Koumudi Patil
The fact that math is a hard subject and difficult to learn is known and educators are doing their bit to make math fun. Here is a board game that connects both fun and basic math learning. The conceptual theme is around area-perimeter.

A student’s best ally – memory or intelligence?

Anuradha C
How does learning take place, and what type of learning stands in good stead throughout life? All types of learning have their place such as rote learning, conceptual learning and experiential learning. So, the ideal would be to memorize facts, understand the concept behind the facts and apply that understanding to solve problems.

What it takes to run an eco-club

Saurav Shome and Archana Dwivedi
Student clubs in schools are often set up with much fanfare and enthusiasm but lose steam midway because the syllabus is given priority. However, some schools do persist in engaging the students and the results are quite noteworthy. In this article, the authors describe the revival of the eco and the science clubs.

Embracing risk and uncertainty

Sheela Ramakrishnan
Can a teacher afford to take risks in her class and experiment with newer ways of teaching? Or should she stick to the tried and tested path, of not leaving her comfort zone? The moot question is how can she even begin to think out of the box? The first step would be to nurture a mindset that says that it is alright to fail and to start looking at effort and not result. Fear and failure need to be a part of the process of learning. This month’s Cover theme looks at risk and experimentation in the classroom.

Why Fridays matter

Usha Raman
How can educators introduce conversations around big issues in the classroom and how can children be helped to think differently when it comes to tackling these issues? Fifteen year-old Greta Thunberg has been an inspiring voice, calling governments across the globe to tackle climate change. It is now up to educators to support the participation of children in movements like this so that they understand what is happening around them and also give them the intellectual tools to navigate through these trying times.