dogs and us

sometimes when i see the dynamics among the children, i feel as if i am witnessing a pack of dogs attacking a lone, weak one!
have u ever seen a pack like this?

FORMULA...?

is there a formula for a best school...? someone asked me this the other day.
such would be a place that would be focused on nurturing and bringing out the best in individuals, children or adults. where every experience would be a learning, and life and not exams would be the end in view.
formula...? none! for none is possible. such would be a living dynamic place, fluid in structures and open in space. human relations would be valued before anything else.

need for space

every now and then there seems to be a sense of suffocation and a need to create space for myself to expand. to grow..there is boredom with existing circumstances and a need to find another dimension of thought and way of life. to break some boundaries and grow vaster.

students or clients?

is education a business and children clients?

the school management is soft on children and hard on teachers. children are clients...we are dispensable...

the children do not wish to study. they have unconditional admissions in universities abroad that need their money. slight pressure on them and they get hostile! how far can i have a relation with children if at any point i know that i will be questioned if they report a 'unacceptable behaviour'?


how far can a teacher last in this scenario!?
either she/he would become insensitive and die a slow psychological death or quit.

life

where do i run...?! it follows me all over. this sense of emptiness that nothing fills. material objects, recognition at work..all comes and then fails. i achieve and get recognised for it, and then it comes back! then i achieve again, set new horizons, challenges and chase them. it comes back again, merciless laughter following in its wake. slowly...i learn the game; i stop running. i work and live out of this emptiness. i nurture it and care for it as a friend...waiting for what will become of us.

empowerment

"take ownership of the school". is this not what we hear so often in the school from the principals?
this is my take on it:
i can take ownership of the place and all the challenges that it offers. but only if i feel empowered as a human being, as a teacher. do i feel that...? that is the question!
i can feel empowered only if i am allowed to take creative challenges.
if i work in a place with a Euripides sword hanging on my head - 'what will happen if i do this' - ;if i am bashed for making a mistake, can i ever feel empowered?
and if i can't, can i ever take ownership?

when you govern with fear, it is like Euripides's sword hanging on the head all the time!

"who can i trust"

"who is informing?"

"was this task done fine?"

in this atmosphere of doubt and suspicion, can i stand on the truth of my being and operate from there? and if i can't can i build a relationship with the organisation? can i grow into my own being?

unless managements also see their role as Human Resource Developers, organisations will never be places where people grow...they will only be means towards an end.

private education...

i am doing client service.
children are revenue and teachers are expenses.
parents are clients that have to be pleased so they get good business for the company.
the more the better, for profits have to roll in...
so please the children. demand from the teachers to produce results...the onus is on me to get results.
so give a braod smile to parents...children...management...and go on! become a good sales person if nothing else.



education...passion...what's that?

HRD

i think leaders in an institution ought to be human resource managers also! empathetic, nurturing and encouraging. instead, we find critiques and judges!

exams...why?

i think, no matter how creative the work is in a classroom, so long as we are in an exam set up, we are still dancing in a 4 x 4 small cell.
the destruction through the exam set up turns every free flowing educative work to a limited problem solving work.
the suffocation of finitude..?
why exams?
what purpose do they serve?
when we will wake up to the sheer destruction they are causing all over?

and what we do in the meantime!

when elephants fight

i have a HOD and a principal both of who do not wish to talk to each other! i report to both...and often have to run from one to the other.

i am gaining wisdom on the ancient saying - 'when elephants fight'.

IB math

how is it that some classes go so beautifully? what are the ingredients of a successful class?
good mood+good preparation??

i had a great IB class today!
we had to do identification and sketching the graphs of quadratic equations, parabolic. we did all 6 types at one go!
i showed them, on the LCD projector, various equations and how to identify them through sheer comparison with the main one : y=x^2.
i drew equations with various colours and went back and forth. the beauty was when they started to see the pattern between equations...they looked so cute when they said, "oh! i get it now..."
these classes generally go well; when there is a projector and colours and lots of discussion. they were tired and stretching their capacity to understand whatever was taught.
...but they gave such an effort it was heart wrenching!

IB math

IB SL studies group!
is there anything more challenging to teach...?

a group of completely disinterested children who often wonder what the use of math is to their lives; and if there is none, why do thay have to enter this torture chamber 3 times a week for 80 min each!

some sessions have been interesting, where we have explored the question of need for mathematics...how math evolved.

there is one kid though whose fav query is "who the hell created this subject!?@"

i find that if i de-structure the work for them, break it into small chunks and offer only a bite size work to them - one at a time...they can digest better. and they feel good and are calm.
i also find that if i don't expect them to come with any previous knowledge...don't even expect them to know facts of grade 5-6 level, come as clean chit, i blow up less and classes go fine!

but then how low do you go...?
just how less should your expectation be...?
the other day i taught one of them BODMAS!

sometimes i feel i am not equipped to deal with this.

feedback from students

end of the year, 1 of the things i do is take a detailed feedback from my students on the work done the whole year and the class management by me. i have found over the years that the best feedbacks come from the students! they are merciless, honest, can see through us and also compassionate in their expression.

i took one recently with my GCSE groups. some cute responses...

• "whenever i am unhappy you make me happy"
• "you make math fun to study"
• "over the years, in the feedbacks given by the students, the + must have grown and the - reduced!"
• "you guide us well"
• "can you just tell us what mood you are in everyday?!"
• "ma'am, you are just...just...just..............!?"

the student taught me

it is a student of mine that started me off on poetry...

he was brilliant at math and at poetry too! i was good at math teaching and wanting to write poems. but i would wonder, 'is this poetry, what i write?!' then i spoke to him once and he said, 'just write!' . the way he said it, it gave me the motivation and i just started.

...and words just flowed out and would not stop..