Dec 2010
Volume 4, Issue 12
Pic above: Workshop
for MEd Students at
Institute of Advanced
Studies in Education,
Osmania University,
2009
Articles this month:
Beyond Classroom –
Editor ……..….2
The difference a teacher
can make – Jaye
Lewis ………..3
Dysfucntional Illusions
Sridhar Chitta ….5
1.
2. AMSSOI - One day workshop on
3. 4th batch of Teacher Training
4. Adam's High School - Long term
5. Workshop at Aditya Engg
Inspiring Teachers
Driving educational change through excellence in teaching
Editor’s Comments
This month we have a true
story of how a teacher can
make a difference …with a
note from the author. The
story is really touching.
Some classroom tips and
some extracted observations
from Stanford’s Tomorrow’s
Professor (sent by Dr Sridhar
Chitta). These are findings
from a study.
There is an article on how to
November & December at Teacher’s Academy
Sessions for Effective Teaching
Skills for NMREC
Innovative Teaching - Dec 10th,
2010
Program at Enhance Edu, IIIT-
H - Nov 1st to Dec 5th, 2010
school development project -
two more training sessions
College – Nov 17th to Nov 19th,
2010
create interactions outside regularly. These have been
class with students. captured in some of the
A few useful links that you polls on the site. But please
should not miss and the do drop a line to info@...
regular schedule at the We will be seeing you again
Academy complete this in 2011 and with lots of
issue. plans and actions for the
Our website is undergoing new year.
the annual make over, we Read, enjoy, forward, and
will be interested in do ask your friends to sign
knowing what will make up.
teachers come to the site
Do you want to be a part of excitement
@ Teacher’s Academy?
Short term project for faculty
from professional colleges
We need innovative and competent teachers of
engineering and management colleges for a short
term project of one month. The mandate is to
create sample lessons plans and actual videos of
these innovative methods. Selected candidates will
have to work at Hyderabad for the period. They
will be paid an honorarium. Excited and
interested faculty may send their profiles
including their methods of teaching and why they
want to be in this project to info@inspiring-
teachers.com
 Inspiring Teachers
Beyond the classroom
Many times, the light
teachers try to light in the
minds of students is like a
candle – it gets blown out in
the breezy yawns in the
classrooms. If it manages to
survive there, it gets
extinguished in the winds of
campus activity. And we get
disappointed that we are
not able to light a flame!
But sometimes, inspiration
occurs unexpectedly,
without a lesson plan or
design on part of the teacher available doesn’t help.
– outside the class; maybe
Tip! in your staff room, or when
students visit your house, or
Your private help or
discussions outside during a bus journey
the class should be together. A professor relates
about classes or
problems but keep how a student came to his
your exam and office with her assignment
assignment
in which she got a C grade.
discussions within
boundaries defined She wanted to know what
by you. was wrong with her
assignment, though the
professor had written
detailed comments. As he
sat her down and started
finding out how she wrote
it, and looked at her notes,
she understood that her
main points weren’t
conveyed in the paragraphs
that she read. Suddenly, it
was clear to her, and she left
Page 2 of 5
Uma Garimella
with a big smile. It wasn’t should take place at least 2-
just the student who 3 times in a semester/term.
learnt, states the
The risk of such interactions
professor. Through this
is that you might develop a
discussion, he could see
personal bias, which may
that his comments were
not go down well with the
not helpful, and also that
rest of the students.
his teaching needed to
address some more issues. But I have seen teachers
who maintain their
Now the question is how
professional reserve while
many students actually
being helpful. They lay
come and meet you in
down ground rules in class -
your staff room? Just
what is negotiable and what
telling them that you’re
is not.
Some students are too Another suggestion is that
scared to approach you, you discuss the solution to
while others barge into
an exam paper before you
your room for the smallest start grading their papers –
reason. I typically do it in the
immediate next class after
I have personally found it
the exam. This opens up
useful to make a schedule
some valid deviations
and see them. I ask 6-8
students have made from
students (specific roll
my ‘solution’.
numbers) to come and
meet me (one on one), (Contd. On Page 5)
and I take the opportunity
to discuss their
performance, attendance
and other issues. In one
such meeting, a student
told me he didn’t
understand English, and I
had to call him for a few
sessions in Telugu on the
subject. This interaction
 Page 3 of 5
The difference a teacher can make
Steve, a twelve-year-old boy other things, as the day
with alcoholic parents, was
about to be lost forever, by
the U.S. education system.
Remarkably, he could read,
yet, in spite of his reading
skills, Steve was failing. He
had been failing since first
grade, as he was passed on
from grade to grade. Steve
was a big boy, looking more because no one was sober
like a teenager than a
twelve year old, yet, Steve
went unnoticed... until Miss of school.
White.
Miss White was a smiling,
young, beautiful redhead,
and Steve was in love! For
the first time in his young
life, he couldn't take his
eyes off his teacher; yet, still Steve locked his gaze on
he failed. He never did his
homework, and he was
always in trouble with Miss
White. His heart would
break under her sharp
words, and when he was
punished for failing to turn
in his homework, he felt
just miserable! Still, he did
not study.
In the middle of the first
semester of school, the
entire seventh grade was
tested for basic skills. Steve
hurried through his tests,
and continued to dream of
Inspiring Teachers
wore on. His heart was not
in school, but in the
woods, where he often
escaped alone, trying to
shut out the sights, sounds
and smells of his alcoholic
home. No one checked on
him to see if he was safe.
No one knew he was gone,
enough to care. Oddly,
Steve never missed a day
One day, Miss White's
impatient voice broke into
his daydreams.
"Steve!!" Startled, he
turned to look at her.
"Pay attention!"
Miss White with
adolescent adoration, as
she began to go over the
test results for the seventh
grade.
"You all did pretty well,"
she told the class, "except
for one boy, and it breaks
my heart to tell you this,
but..." She hesitated,
pinning Steve to his seat
with a sharp stare, her eyes He, quickly, gathered up his
searching his face.
"...The smartest boy in the
seventh grade is failing my
Jaye Lewis
class!"
She just stared at Steve, as the
class spun around for a good
look. Steve dropped his eyes
and carefully examined his
fingertips.
After that, it was war!! Steve
still wouldn't do his
homework. Even as the
punishments became more
severe, he remained stubborn.
"Just try it! ONE WEEK!" He
was unmoved.
"You're smart enough! You'll
see a change!" Nothing fazed
him.
"Give yourself a chance! Don't
give up on your life!" Nothing.
"Steve! Please! I care about
you!"
Wow! Suddenly, Steve got it!!
Someone cared about him?
Someone, totally unattainable
and perfect, CARED ABOUT
HIM??!!"
Steve went home from school,
thoughtful, that afternoon.
Walking into the house, he
took one look around. Both
parents were passed out, in
various stages of undress, and
the stench was overpowering!
camping gear, a jar of peanut
butter, a loaf of bread, a bottle
of water, and this time...his
schoolbooks. Grim faced and
determined, he headed for the
woods.
The following Monday he
arrived at school on time, and
he waited for Miss White to
enter the classroom. She
walked in, all sparkle and
smiles! God, she was beautiful!
(Contd on Page 5)
On email: It is a true
story, every word. It
amazes me every time I
think of it. My
husband just recently
had a massive heart
attack, and we almost
lost him. Praise God
for the miracles of
modern medicine. The
reason I'm sharing this
is because I've heard
time and time again,
from complete
strangers, since
his heart attack: "He's
such a wonderful man,"
or "He's such a good
man." I like to think
that the intercession
of that good woman is
one of the things
that has made my
husband, the man he is
today. He has overcome
much, and he is a good
man.
Thank you for your
request. It has
particular meaning
right now. Of course
you may use it!
With gratitude,
Jaye Lewis

Faculty Development
program at Sir MVIT,
Bangalore in 2009
Inspiring Teachers Page 4 of 5
Dysfunctional illusions Sridhar Chitta
Illusion 1: Hard courses This is not to say that that these conventional
weed out weak students. students have no methods are not as
When students fail it is responsibility for their effective as some other far
primarily due to inability, own work. Rather, we less frequently used
weak preparation, or lack have grossly methods. The comparison,
of effort. underemphasized the still from physics, is that
Realistic view: When faculty members’ alternative methods teach
students fail it is often due responsibilities. on average twice as much
to inappropriate Illusion 2: Traditional as traditional lectures.
pedagogy. Substantial methods of instruction from Chapter 10, Dysfunctional
Illusions of Rigor: Lessons from
improvements were offer effective ways of
the Scholarship of Teaching and
produced (see above) even teaching content to Learning, by Craig E. Nelson,
in classes traditionally undergraduates. Modes Indiana University, in the book,
regarded as necessarily that pamper students To Improve the Academy:
Resources for Faculty,
difficult, among them teach less.
Instructional, and Organizational
calculus, physics, Realistic View: Development, Volume 28, (Eds)
chemistry, and economics. Evidence is equally clear Linda B. Nilson and Judith E.

Useful Links Miller

1800-Teacher.com http://www.1800-teacher.com/
Free training & development resource center http://thetrainingworld.com/
Fun & Games http://www.funandgames.org/index.htm
Kash Club http://kashclub.com/
Teacher Plus – Honoring The Guru http://www.teacherplus.org/event/honouring-the-guru
CDIO http://www.cdio.org/
Schoolscape http://www.schoolscape.in/en/index.html

Beyond The Classroom

(Contd. From Page 2)
Many times this is a
perspective you have missed
or you have worded the
question ambiguously. Then
I either invalidate the
question or consider new
answer options during my
grading. This saves lot of
embarrassment and Maintain a schedule that
heart-burn after marks is comfortable to you and
are handed out. the students. Be practical
and don’t get frustrated
Remember, to become a
by setbacks.
good teacher, you should
be open to interactions
outside classrooms. But
don’t get drowned in a
flood of students.
Page 5 of 5 Inspiring Teachers
Teacher’s Academy The difference a teacher can make cont’d from page 3

He yearned for her smile to turn on him. It did not.

Hyderabad
Miss White, immediately, gave a quiz on the weekend homework. Steve hurried

PHONE: through the test, and was the first to hand in his paper. With a look of surprise, Miss
97011 41118
White took his paper. Obviously puzzled, she began to look it over. Steve walked back
to his desk, his heart pounding within his chest. As he sat down, he couldn't resist
E-MAIL:
info@inspiring-teachers.com another look at the lovely woman.
Miss White's face was in total shock! She glanced up at Steve, then down, then up.
Suddenly, her face broke into a radiant smile. The smartest boy in the seventh grade
had just passed his first test!
From that moment nothing was the same for Steve. Life at home remained the same,
but life still changed. He discovered that not only could he learn, but he was good at
it! He discovered that he could understand and retain knowledge, and that he could
translate the things he learned into his own life. Steve began to excel! And he
continued this course throughout his school life.
After high-school Steve enlisted in the Navy, and he had a successful military career.
During that time, he met the love of his life, he raised a family, and he graduated from
college Magna Cum Laude. During his Naval career, he inspired many young people,
See us at: who without him, might not have believed in themselves. Steve began a second career
www.teachersacademy.co after the Navy, and he continues to inspire others, as an adjunct professor in a nearby
college.
Miss White left a great legacy. She saved one boy who has changed many lives. I
know, because I am the love of his life.
You see, it's simple, really. A change took place within the heart of one boy, all
because of one teacher, who cared.

About Teacher’s Academy…

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members on-line, 28
colleges and 15 schools
touched by the training.
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