Resource person Mr. Parnab Mukherjee conducted two sessions at School, on 7th November and 14th December 2016. The first was about how to get students to make reading newspapers a daily habit to enhance their general knowledge and communication skills. The second workshop was on Classroom Management.
The workshop on 7th November was attended by students of classes X-XII and teachers of English.
Reading contributes a great deal to the development of the knowledge base. Newspapers and magazines enrich the mind, help build points of view and reasoning skills. Mr. Mukherjee shared important
tips on how to scan an entire newspaper in the least time in todays fast paced living.
He suggested some websites that students and teachers could to refer to for current affairs: 1. countercurrent.org 2. dailyo.in 3. thescroll.in
The second phase of the workshop was held on 14th December. It was attended by the faculties of English and Social Science. This was primarily on Classroom Management. The workshop began with Mr. Mukherjee suggesting that teachers maintain a checklist of things required before the beginning of each new lesson.
What is the time line of the topic that the teacher is about to discuss with the class, to clarify the order in which events occurred. Talk about myths and clichs associated with the topic and then reveal the reality to build interest. Introduce the central idea of the topic, interspersed generously with questions such as why, when, who, to stimulate the class. Last but not least comes the application, where students should be asked to express their views on the topic or debate it, to ensure a thorough understanding of the topic, laying emphasis on learning-by-doing.
To break the monotony of classroom learning, Mr. Mukherjee discussed a few changes the teacher could make to ensure a better understanding and to make the lesson interesting. Some of the ways in which this could be done are discussed below:
Make the students sit in the opposite direction in the classroom once a month, which means that the teacher becomes board-less. She then divides the class into teams of 4 for peer-learning. While making the teams, the teacher should keep in mind that each team should have one student who has good communication skills, one student who remains indifferent in class, one who is an introvert and one who is logical. The reason behind having this bifurcation is to ensure a hundred percent participation and thereby maximum learning. The students can use sticky note pads instead of the board to take the learning forward.
Introduce a new word in class each day and use it often in your teaching to ensure learning of new vocabulary effortlessly.
Talk about icons who have been instrumental in shaping our present day India. A list of such icons was given. A few of these were: Jaipal Singh Munda, C K Naidu, Ram Singh Thakur ( composed the tune of the national anthem), Madam Cama, Pingali Venkaiya (responsible for the Indian flag), Salim Ali, Nabin Chandra Das and Govind Ballabh Pant.
The teacher should introduce one paragraph in the class and let the children decode it expressing their own views based on their perception.
The workshop summed up with a few suggestions of books that teachers must include in their reading list. 1. What did you ask at school today? - by Kamal V Mukunda 2. Books written by Adam Khoo 3. Books on Mind Mapping by Tony Buzan 4. What is fear? - by J. Krishnamurti
Ms. Vandana Tewari.
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