Teaching experience

[mohangkwd2011]

Hi all,

Today I had my first class on e-Vidyaloka @ Sitalpur centre.

It was a mixed kind of experience for me.

• Students seems to be excited to learn and very obedient.
  
• Internet connection and other infra provided was also good.
• Class coordinator helped me to control class.

But,

• some students were either unable to hear me or were getting bored.

Happy to here from all others.

Have some ideas about how could I engage all the students equally.

Today though I had started my class with a story, students unable to understand that due to lack of concentration, some technical problems in conversation.

Overall it was great experience.

Senior colleagues...Please share your experiences so that we could get new ideas..

Thank you.

[Dee Upadhyaya]

Hi

My name is Dee (Deepika) and I would love to talk about my experience teaching so far. I have taken 3 Math classes in Sitalpur, Jharkand and I have loved every minute of it. The students are quite communicative and smart, to be honest- I thought they would be shy and that their inhibitions would be a hurdle. 

Now, the internet connection is the elephant in the room. The video and audio is extremely poor (no fault of the organization or providers), and this gifts me a hoarse voice every Monday and Wednesday. About 20 minutes in every hour was spent in dropped calls and "sunai nahin de raha hein ma'm". 

But I would rate the program high. It is an opportunity of a lifetime. The impact we bear is immediate and visible. I like the textbooks too (ones in English and in Hindi). They tell me I can start lesson-planning after June. So I am hoping I will be free then and that I can actually do good.

Things I'd like to know from other teachers:  I do not know if I can ask the students to jot down things. Do they have enough books? Would that be unfair? Can we talk to the students, one on one? Will it be misconceived as grounds for bias?

Peace

 

[shrutigupta00]

Hi Dee,

My experiences were very similar to yours and the person who posted before you. Kids and great but the medium is frustrating. Here are some tips that I did to help pay personal attention to each person in class.

1. Find a way to memorize their names. I made sure that they sat in the same order except I would keep rotating the rows so that different students can sit in front but at the same time, I have a way to know their names. This worked well except that the concept of rotating rows took a little effort to explain. 

2. I divided each row into a team. So it was Team 1-5. I would give them all an exercise and ask them to work in teams and then I would work with one team at a time while others can listen. This allowed me to work with 5-6 students at a time instead of 30. Also, very easy to address students. "Team 1, show me your work". "How is Team 2 doing?".  Also, there is tons of research showing the benefits of interactive and active learning against listening to lectures. Having students grade each other, and asking them to discuss amongst each other are some examples of how we can implement those techniques. 

3. I do talk to students one-on-one. As long as you are doing it with everyone eventually, it's not bias. I am amazed at how smart and eager to learn everyone is. 

4. Among my students, everyone has a notebook, so I don't think it would be difficult to have everyone take notes. You could maybe check if everyone has a notebook, and find a way to help out the student who doesn't have one. Maybe ask if someone has extra, or ask the class-assistant if he can arrange for a notebook?

5. This one is not addressing your question, but just a suggestion to the group in general. It would be nice if we can have a blank background behind us as we teach. These children don't have much and showing a fancy room behind us can be harsh. I usually sit in a way so that only the wall is behind me, so that there is no visible difference in our lives.  

This is all I can think of for now. I would appreciate any teaching tips that people have. 

Shruti Gupta

[induonmoon]

Hi Dee and Shruti,


Very useful tips indeed! Thanks a lot...I agree with the last point about having a blank background (like a wall) ...I do the same...I like how thoughtful you guys are..These small things make a huge difference to student-teacher relationship

All the best!

Indu

[Nandakumar Kumar]

Wonderful thoughts fellow teachers.

 

I thought I would share my experience on the blank background. While it makes sense to avoid a fancy background on the grounds of distraction, I do feel that giving different backgrounds or opening your world can in fact inspire them. I grew up in a slum and always felt fascinated whenever ‘akkas’ and ‘annas’ came to our school in cars wearing ties and suits to talk to us. It inspired me more to be like them and I started living the dream from that very day J - Just a thought!

 

Kudos to all the tireless volunteers – I am new to this forum and awaiting my first assignment JJ

 

Thanks and Regards,

Nanda Kumar K

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Teacher Discussion Forum" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to forum-tdf+...@evidyaloka.org.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/a/evidyaloka.org/d/msgid/forum-tdf/68da6120-64df-4496-9c43-0f3cb5ab39e5%40evidyaloka.org.

**************** CAUTION - Disclaimer ***************** This e-mail contains PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION intended solely for the use of the addressee(s). If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender by e-mail and delete the original message. Further, you are not to copy, disclose, or distribute this e-mail or its contents to any other person and any such actions are unlawful. This e-mail may contain viruses. Infosys has taken every reasonable precaution to minimize this risk, but is not liable for any damage you may sustain as a result of any virus in this e-mail. You should carry out your own virus checks before opening the e-mail or attachment. Infosys reserves the right to monitor and review the content of all messages sent to or from this e-mail address. Messages sent to or from this e-mail address may be stored on the Infosys e-mail system. ***INFOSYS******** End of Disclaimer ********INFOSYS***

[rupika dhurjati]

Hello everyone

All the posts in this thread are very insightful.
Nandakumar's post especially made a lot of sense to me.
Inspiring children and exposing them to the world outside is also a major part of this effort.
The roles we play in their lives  as that of  teacher is as important as that of an external outlet to world and inspiration. I remember when  someone other than our regular teachers addressed the morning assemblies at school,we would listen to them more attentively. Even when we watch videos on YouTube or listen to someone in public ,what draws us is the personal connect that person makes with us ,the drive and inspiration he/she instills in us.

On a more personal level ,I think all of us must have had a favorite teacher at school or university and the reason they become our favorites is because their personalities appeal to us at some level and make us want to emulate them.

That is the reason the background may be interesting or personalised according to the comfort and fancies of the teacher.

That is not to say that the background being clutter-free and least distracting isn't essential .

Too much of information in the background can be irksome but some hints of personal touch or some charts or educative material may be interesting too.

I am still experimenting with it and as of now prefer a blank wall or curtains.

Regards
Rupika

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/a/evidyaloka.org/d/msgid/forum-tdf/0f4212ffffa6425c8cffefaa48185a24%40CHNSHLMBX34.ad.infosys.com.