Oct-Dec 2013

Page 1 of 4VOL. # 7 ISSUE #10-12

Inspiring Teachers
Human Excellence

From the editor..

Some of you may have wondered why the newsletter hasnt come. Actually I had started sending it out in Oct 2007. So it just finished five years. There were many colleagues that hel ed in this journey! contri"uting lin#s! articles! faculty rofiles and a reciation of the efforts. I re$uest you to ort and suggest more %inspiring teachers

In this issue: Editorial accept, adapt and lead ways to look at change Featured Mrs Annapurna, Sevalaya . 2 Everyone resists change some issues 4 The only way we can remain ha y in such times is "y

acce ting change rather than resisting it. Those who have succeeded in life or "usiness are those who have ada ted to change. Its li#e getting into a flowing river. 5ou #ee hesitating 4 afraid to ste into the cold water! that it might ta#e you away from the secure shore. And then few minutes into water and you start li#ing it. And fear of change is not just a malady of old age as we would li#e to "elieve. 6eo le of any age could "e $uite rigid in their ways. ,ven infants react negatively when they are ta#en to a new lace or meet new eo le. Some "a"ies seem to enjoy the change! though. So is ada ta"ility something you are "orn with0 Though some are %naturals! anyone could ac$uire this $uality any time in life. Another ers ective to ta#e is to "e leaders of change (

continue your su

to "e rofiled. &ore articles from readers are also needed. 'ow from this year! I will send this newsletter once in three months ( yes! it will "e a $uarterly now. Since we are tal#ing of change! lets loo# dee er into this issue of change) *hile we li#e the adage +,very day is a new day ( a new "eginning-! dee inside! most eo le! I e. ect! would not want to "e thrown into uncertainty! where we have to figure out our res onses to continual change. Small changes li#e moving to a new house or a new jo"! are $uite challenging in the first few months. Some changes are voluntary and lanned ( with lot of mental and hysical re aration. /ut some changes come as "olt from

when you see new waves on the hori7on "efore others! dont just sit and say I need to acce t this8 "ut ta#e the lead! show others what you see and leverage the change to "enefit yourself and others around you. *e have a short
article that can hel you ersuade others to change))

the "lue li#e getting laid off from a jo" or facing the death of a
loved one. These changes are also more drastic ( sometimes redefining a new direction in life. Some eo le thrive on change and adventure! "ut most others resist it. Imagine if you #new the story and screen lay of a movie! would you go and watch it0 /ut thats e.actly how we want to live our life. So why does human nature want adventure in the movies and "oo#s or on 1iscovery or 'at2eo "ut not in their life. 3ast twenty years saw ra id changes in society! relationshi s! technology! living style and every as ect of life 4 more "ecause of the connectedness with the world through technology and economic reforms.

On the professional front, the role of teachers as experts or warehouses of knowledge has disappeared. People believe everything can be found on the internet. o, to keep us relevant and needed, we need to reinvent ourselves. !lasses should be used more to discuss, to motivate, to connect and to listen, than to disseminate information. "echnology and pedagogy must be our focus.

Contact us: info@theprofessor.in,

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VOL. #7 ISSUE #10-12

Faculty of the month # $rs % &nnapurna

9ead &istress ( Sevalayas Mahakavi Bharathiyar Higher Secondary School, Kasuva, TN 'hat has influenced your decision to take up teaching( :sed to teach my sister and her friends and found that I could do it well. 3ater could feel the joy when student;s eyes lit u as they understood something or when an anecdote<story shared with students "rought a"out a very ositive visi"le change in a erson. All in all found it very rewarding on an emotional level . Time flew "y while teaching! the eriods a eared so small when there were so many things to "e told. &ore than anything else learnt as much as I taught. I discovered the real joy of learning as I re ared for my classes and getting this through to my students just increased it. "ell us something about your )oining evalaya &y hus"and was always interested is wor#ing for less rivileged! always had the ha"it of giving res ect to them ! hel ing them in small ways. So it was a art of our lives and slowly I had got into this too. *e were not very cra7y a"out ac$uiring a lot of wealth just wanted to have enough to lead a decent life . Somewhere we started tal#ing a"out s ending an active art of our life wor#ing for worthy causes and then my hus"and decided to ta#e a =>S from his "an# jo" we started searching and this "rought us to Sevalaya. I had day dreamt of such a life many a times and it "ecame a reality. 'hat kind of teaching methods did you use to keep students interested in your classes( 3oo#ing "ac# I don;t thin# I have used so many methods. &ostly it has "een lecture method using sim le tools li#e charts! ictures! music! sometimes games! encyclo edia or other similar "oo#s with lots of ictures! models ? e. eriments in science classes and of course story telling in "etween . /ut videos and net connectivity were not so accessi"le those days and my resources were the "oo#s in li"raries. I thin# it was the sincerity and true desire to hel which really hel ed the students. I would sit u for hours gathering facts ! information related to the lesson and ass it on. As written earlier I taught myself "asic facts @conce ts which had not "een clearly taught<learnt in my school daysA and whenever I could understand things clearly I would really get e.cited and this would naturally come across in my class. *ow do your colleagues react to your ideas and initiatives( *ow do you respond( It varies from erson to erson. In some laces I have or#ed with eo le who would "e really e.cited and we would wor# further develo ing the idea. &ostly the friends grou ! with whom I have "een! "elonged to this category and we would "e discussing our classes and students and ways to im rove. 9ere too at Sevalaya we have this grou which is always thin#ing of im roving !trying out new methods etc. ,ach time a new idea comes u we all get into it with enthusiasm "ut it is difficult to get everyone to feel the same way . Some "ring u all the difficulties in the ath and are reluctant to try. I just try to hel <su ort them to the greatest e.tent ossi"le.

&rs ' Anna urna was "orn in Trichur! Berala and grew u at Calcutta. She did her schooling at Carmel Convent there and graduated with honours in Chemistry from 3ady /ra"ourne college. She then got married and went with her hus"and to different laces. As a result she was a"le to ic# u languages and #nows ,nglish! 9indi! /engali! Tamil! &alayalam! Telugu and little "it of Bannada<&arathi. She started wor#ing when she was in 9ydera"ad and did a /,d later through corres ondence. She also did her masters in ,nglish and finished &6hil theory "ut did not com lete the dissertation as she did not feel it was im ortant at that oint. She went for an ,36 @,ducation for leadershi A course conducted "y the Buruvilla Daco" Eoundation which was really good. She enjoys teaching! motivating students! wor#ing on creative rojects!and hel ing eo le as much as ossi"le. She li#es reading and music and many of of her joyous moments have "een s ent with "oo#s in li"raries. She has a love for the meta hysical and has done >ei#i! ranic healing and courses offered "y Art of 3iving ? Isha 5oga. Through /ritish Council;s 2lo"al School 6artnershi rogramme she got a chance to visit a school in :B where she met some lovely eo le and made many great friends. *or#ing with Sevalaya has "rought in many new o ortunities to wor# in diverse fields and she is enjoying this learning e. erience . She is so hum"le! that she says she doesn;t #now much. That she has not really gone a"out this rofession in a systematic way ac$uiring the re$uired degrees "ut e. osure to various e. eriences in life have "een e.citing and educative. >ead full interview at www.the rofessor.in

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VOL. # 7 ISSUE #10-12

Any memorable moments as a teacher? Many small incidents - the day I went out of class literally floating in the air when I could get the desired breakthrough in the math class. I have forgotten the topic I taught but the feeling still lingers, a tiny tot in the primary runs up asking me when I will go to their class again, when I get a call from an old student(a slow learner) who says he is today what he is all because of me the day sevalaya got its first 100% , the tears in my eyes when an old student recollected the day I had scolded him in class for not studying but which later turned out to be a turning point in his life , when I wish each and every student of mine on the eve of their board exams -we have trodden a rough path sometimes frustrating ,sometimes good but at the end of it heart overflows with love wishing that each of them will get through with good marks which will lay a strong foundation for them to come up in life..... Moments of frustration? When students are not able to understand all efforts we make to improve their academic level and continue to fare badly in their tests, when some staff do not take steps to improve their teaching ability in spite of the efforts taken by their seniors to help them , when time just flies by and the academic session is drawing to a close without our having been able to complete all the changes we wanted to How can we get competent people to choose teaching as a career? I am not really sure because this is a profession where passion is required. We should increase the respect for this profession. It may seem harsh but anyone with poor academic scores should not be allowed to join BEd courses. Have good quality professional colleges that admit students based on tests where the students can be assessed for their teaching skills What could be a sustainable model to improve the teaching skills of existing teachers? Frequent refresher courses to improve their knowledge levels, good training programmes where new methodologies can be learnt , selfd evelopment programmes and retreats ,giving a lot of inputs from real life of teachers who have made a difference in lives of their students . What are your future plans? Not thought about it much. Would like to continue helping as much as possible especially in this field of education, coaching teachers/helping them prepare for their classes etc. Would like to be a part of a community with similar ideas /beliefs where we could meditate together ,explore new paths /ways towards a more meaningful life.

'hat are the special challenges you face from students and teachers in evalaya( and how do you overcome them or turn them around( On the students side it is their lac# of awareness a"out education and its ossi"lities. They are just not a"le to understand why they have to study when almost most of the "asic necessities of life are offered free. 9ome environment is not conducive to study. In case of girls things are even worse. They grow u hearing a"out their marriage to so and so erson and media com ounds matters "y ortraying a rosy icture of love and marriage. 1ecades of single minded a roach to life have to "e "ro#en down to ma#e a headway. As far as the "oys are concerned !one;s with fair amount of intelligence can "e easily motivated "ut others down the line are too la7y to wor# and refer to ta#e life easy. 6resenting role models from the eo le they get to see often ! tal#ing from one;s e. erience ! giving them a glim se of life "eyond this village through tal#s< ictures slowly ma#es dents. *e as# the alumni to share their e. eriences and this hel s in changing mindsets. Teachers come from similar "ac#ground and with many of them! their lac# of dee #nowledge in their su"jects and not having a real assion for their jo"s is the challenge. Eurther most want to get into 2ovt. jo"s where they feel they need not wor# so much . /ut all are not li#e this. The ones who are interested in going further can "e easily motivated through constant mentoring. 3oo#ing for o ortunities to raise goes a long way in "ringing teachers around. &any of them have talents in one field or another and a u"lic raise at the wee#ly meetings in &r &urali;s resence "oosts their self confidence and ma#es them more amena"le to wor# harder. The greatest lus oint !there are some who are self motivated and are an ins iration to others.

June 2013

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VOL. #7 ISSUE #6

+veryone resists change,

1o you also "elieve that everyone resists change0 If so! lease read on.

+
CHANGE
-eward -isks

NO CHANGE

!omforts

6eo le should have some motivation or "enefit to change. If you thin# of change as clim"ing a hill! then there must "e a pot of gold on the to ! for someone to ta#e the effort) /ut thats not enough) There are many ris#s li#e falling and injuring oneself. *hy should someone ta#e those ris#s0 *hat if they end u with a crutch in their clim" for the gold0 So when you want to ersuade! you need to enlarge the ot and reduce the crutches)) 'ow loo# at the scenario for no change. &ost eo le are ha y with where they are @comfort

7oneA or they dont want to give u some goodies ( for e.am le! their "each house and their mermaid. So how do you motivate such a erson to clim" the mountain0 5ou may have to oint at the dangers that he is constantly fighting 4 if he doesnt move out of his current comfort 7one with his mermaid! he may "e fighting hard with some crocodiles lurching in the waters. To ersuade! then you need to minimi7e the mermaids and enrage the crocodiles. So when we need to tal# a"out change! all these four as ects of change need to "e discussed or considered. And the most challenging art of the motivation is that fact that everyones ot of gold! crutches! mermaids and crocodiles are different. 5ou need to see them from the other ersons ers ective. Or "asically! ta#e off your glasses and see the situation wearing their glasses))