Household items, activities and games in K-10 Mathematics and Science Education

In my post on April 18, I mentioned the importance of outdoor games to children. I am sure that you would agree with my point of view.

When we were children, we used to go out in the evenings and play simple games such as hide and seek. During summer, when the whether was very hot, we used to get ourseves involved in hobbies such as making cardboard houses. Later, I had the pleasure of involving my science and mathematics teaching colleagues in such activites so that the pedagogic benefits and the pleasure derived could be passed on to children.  Most of my colleagues, students and their parents liked the idea.

There are numerous ways in which simple household items with which children are familiar, can be used to teach lesson concepts. My students and teacher colleagues in different countries have enjoyed `playing' with coffee and fruit juice containers as shown below, when handling concepts such as area and volume:

Infact, even concepts such as linear equations (in middle school algebra) can be taught very effectively by using pupil friendly playway approaches. 

    

If you closely observe teaching learning processes in our K-10 schools here in India, you can find that activity based approaches take a back seat. The most common reason attributed  to this odd state is that our Syllabus and Examination Boards are highly quantity oriented at the cost of quality.

Yes, it is true, at the 9-12 level where Public Exam marks matter a lot. At the same time, neither our Syllabus Boards nor Exam Boards are bottle necks when it comes to using innovative and activity based approaches in K-8 classrooms. But still, many schools are reluctant to introduce these approaches because of false notion about syllabus and exam requirements and because our K-8 textbooks don't contain as much learner friendly activity based contents as they should.

Hope our textbook publishers, at least at the K-8 level, break away from their current inertia and include innovative activity based learner friendly contents. Many K-8 Mathematics and Physical Science lesson concepts can be taught effectively by using teacher and pupil friendly activities in the classroom and enabling them to be used in homework assignments.

As UNESCO stated in one of its reports, most K-10 science concepts can be taught effectively using household items.

Off the beaten track: Zodiac The Shirt People

When I was glancing through the pages of this morning's edition of Times of India, I was delighted to see a full page ad released by the manufacturers of `Zodiac', one of the first branded shirts in the Indian market. [Ofcourse, even in the '60s, there were a few other very good shirt stores such as `Chellarams' in Madras. Chellarams was my favourite store and my dad used to take me there whenever we used to go to Madras. The last time when I bought Chellarams shirts was in 1978, when my parents went to Madras to buy dress materials, utensils and other items which were needed for my sister's wedding].

This morning's ad reminded me of 1985-1986, when I was teaching at a school in Cochin (now known as Kochi). I used to have my monthly shopping at Zodiac showroom in Abad Plaza in M G Road, Ernakulam. Though the shirts were relatively expensive, their qualty mattered a lot to me. Besides, the store had a tailoring section which helped in minor alterations such as the length, to suit individual needs. I was also a member of the Zodiac Club.  Members used to get their 13th shirt free of cost.

When talking about trousers, I always used to get them stitched for the simple reason that readymade ones never fitted my size (I am thin built).  I used to get my trousers stitched at `Rajan tailors', in Thorappadi, Vellore, where we had settled for more than 30 years.  This tailoring shop was smaller than many tailoring shops in the town and the charges were very moderate. I have never come across trousers stitched as perfectly as at Rajans, anywhere else. This shop was a classic example to disprove our common belief that quality is related to price tag. The photo of mine shown below is a clear proof of how fitting were the trousers stiched by them (This picture was taken in late '80s when I was teaching in Southern Africa).

My shirt was bought during a shopping spree in Harare, Zimbawe, on route Victoria Falls during holidays, thanks to to my Toyota Corolla 1.3L, which was one of my companions as illustrated in the following photograph; the photograph was taken during lunch break in front of my flat in the teachers' quarters inside the campus of the school were I taught:



[Since moving to Madras, I have been shopping at `Peter England' and `Raymonds' for my shirts and trousers respectively.  While the former is very satisfying, the latter is not, at times].    

  

Whenever I travel, I take my notebook and datacard with me, so that I can watch my favourite TV programmes (some of which may not be available in the conventional TV at the venue where I stay).

Recently I derived the joy of listening to the melodious voice of Sri Shashidhara Kote and the spiritually enlightening explanation by Sri Gururaj Karajagi, in their programme `Daasa Vani' on Sri Sankara TV.  This program centers round the spiritual compositions of saints such as Purandaradasa about Shri Hari and His great devotees.

Thanks to the `world wide web' for enabling people like me to quench our spiritual thirst, even when travelling.

Outdoor games and computer/videogames for children

People of my age know very well as to the immense benefits which children can derive by playing outdoor games.

Today, most of our towns and cities do not have adequate space for outdoor activities at all. Children seem to be addicted to TV (watching counter educative programmes) or to computer and video games. Very often, parents seem to encourage such trends. 

I am not saying that virtual games are useless.  What I do mean is that such games are cognitively benefitial in lesson concept development (particularly in subjects such as high school physics as I have myself seen) only if they are used with well defined educational aims and objectives. This fact is endorsed by research studies.

From the health point of view, outdoor games are certainly far more superior, for obvious reasons. I think that our schools should encourage outdoor games which all children can play.  

What do you think? 

Stories in school textbooks

Good stories have always been an effective teaching resource in classrooms.  Our textbooks need to contain as many good stories as possible.

Though I have used stories in my own teaching, it was not until I began working in `Chandamama' (a children's magazine from Chennai) for a few months, that I ever thought of writing one.  One of my career responsibilities at Chandamama was to write short stories in English, which would then be translated by someone else, for publication in the children's section of `Dainik Bhaskar', a Hindi language periodical published in Northern part of India.

One of my short stories is as follows:   

Biju’s back pain

It’s Sunday evening. Biju spent the whole day out with his friends and forgot all about Monday’s English test at school. He returns home after play and takes a fresh bath. It’s 8 o’ clock. His mother says, “Biju, dinner is ready. Don’t waste your time. You have to prepare for tomorrow’s English test.’ This worries him.

Well, what does Biju like to do at school? Sometimes, he finds it so interesting to watch what’s happening outside the window that he completely misses the teacher’s lessons and all those important points that she writes on the board.

It is 8.15. Biju sits at the dining table. His plate contains vegetable soup, yoghurt and a few fruits. He usually relishes them. But now, they look like monsters saying, “Hey, tomorrow morning Ms Sen will be in your class with her question paper. How are you going to handle it?” This terrifies him. He has to act swiftly before it is too late. Within a few minutes of no nonsense planning, he gets the idea!

As he eats his dinner, he groans frequently. His parents get anxious and ask as to what is wrong with him. He groaningly replies, “Oh, my hands and back are paining so much that I cannot even lift the water bottle”! His dad says, “Biju, that’s what happens when you play the whole day. Any way, it doesn’t matter. You can stay away from school tomorrow and take rest”. This is exactly what Biju expected, after all! He is happy that the ordeal has ended.

He spends the next day without watching much TV. He is both sorry and happy. In the evening he phones Nelson, his classmate, to find out about the test. Nelson says, “There was an unexpected change in the class time table this morning. There was a magic show. Hence Ms Sen said that today’s test is postponed for tomorrow and will contain more questions to answer”. Biju almost `faints'.

Moral: Don’t cheat.



Off the beaten track: World cup cricket

It was nice to watch India winning the world cup after 28 years.  We have had internationally acclaimed sports persons in games such as lawn tennis, chess and athletics. It will be nice if the abovmentioned games as well as games such as hockey, football, long jump and table tennis are also given importance, besides cricket.  Many of these games are very cost effective and can easily be promoted in our schools and colleges.

Off the beaten track: Role of accents in language

As an Indian who was born and brought up in a bilingual parentage and lives in a region in which people speak a language that is different from what we speak in my home, I have had the pleasure of experiencing the nuances of nearly eight Indian languages and a bit of French and German, besides English.

In my boyhood, I studied in government schools where the medium of instruction was not English. However, as English was also used as a lingua franca in our home, I could find English to be an easy language. I retain my interest in English language and literature to this day.

It is amazing as to how idiomatic English of my boyhood years ("Hope this letter of mine finds you in the best of health and cheers") has gradually changed to email English of today ("hi").

Although linguistic metamorphosis is inevitable, I find that the role played by accents hasn’t changed much over the years. As communications technology continues to grow taking the customer base along with it, somewhat like the pied piper of Hamelin, every one of us is affected due to it, in one way or the other.

In fact, how we communicate with others becomes a very pronounced issue, as we move from country to country in search of a job or just for sightseeing. What role does accent play in language communication? This article presents my snapshot view on accents.

Nearly three years back, I left for Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to work with the country's Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, for a year.

When I reached Phnom Penh on 18 September 2008, after a tiresome flight from Chennai via Bangkok, it was great to experience the cordiality and friendliness of the Khmer people. Soon after reaching the airport, I could sense my difficulty in understanding their English with Cambodian accent. I felt very embarrassing to ask my Cambodian colleagues to repeat what they said. However, within a few weeks, I got used to their accent. When I recollect my auditory experience, I think that their `toomarrow' sounded sweeter than `tomorrow'.

Once when I was in a restaurant in Kolkota (known as Calcutta then), I ordered for `curd' (the Indian equivalent of plain yoghurt). But the waiter couldn't understand what I needed, until I enacted a role-play to show how a bowl of milk was churned and so on. Good heavens, he got the idea and brought a delicious cup of `chord'.

When I was working in the editorial department of a textbook publishing company, my colleague used to ask me to `simbly’ estimate the right amount of `royal tea' for authors. As someone who never knew of offering tea as a compensation for good writing, I found his idea to be utterly hilarious. It took a few weeks for me to realise that the term used by that colleague from Kerala actually meant `royalty'. His `simbly’ stood for `simply’.

When I was teaching in Southern Africa, I needed to take my `lunch' (pronounced as in `push') (thanks to my neighbour form Yorkshire), needed to take care of myself from heavy `rhine' (to mean `rain'), (thanks to my friend from Australia) or I needed to take my car to `ze' petrol station when the petrol was in reserve, as advised by another friend from `Ze Neederland'.

I think that the accent aspect of any language should also be taught when we teach languages to kids. I think that different accents add colour to any language, and English is no exception.

Now, let me watch that 1964 musical `My fair lady' yet another time, and enjoy its aroma of accents. See you next `thime'. `Thaenk' you.

Accent is the soul of a language: it gives the feeling and truth to it (the language) - Jean Jacques Rousseau in `Èmile'.

Lesson concepts: Issue of authenticity

As my job involves quality assurance, I make it a point to verify the authenticity of reference sources, which content developers use when developing lesson modules.

Oddly enough, it is not uncommon to come across factual and conceptual mistakes in K-12 textbooks. Hence, editors and other professionals involved in quality assurance search for authentic reference materials.  

A few weeks back, as part of my work in this direction, I came across a beautiful depiction of Earth's magnetic field in a New Zealand based web source. The picture was colourful but contained an obvious blunder. Earth's magnetic  poles are labelled wrongly. Intead of showing the Earth's South magnetic pole being near the Geographic North pole and vice versa, the illustration shows the poles the other way round.  As the mistake was uncorrected, when I revisited the webpage on last Sunday, I wrote to them using an option given on the same webpage, requesting them to correct the mistake by explaining as to why the depiction was wrong. I havn't yet received a reply.    

I am sure that you will agree with my point of view that any appropriate learning material presented to students should be authentic, whatever be the source. 

Off the beaten track: My farewell to Short Wave Listening and DXing

In my post on 1 January, I had mentioned as to how delighted I was in getting back to my hobbies of SWL and DXing using my short wave receiver after many years.  But now I realise that these two hobbies are no more fascinating due to more effective modes of broadcasting during the past few decades. 

I remember with nostalgia as to how useful was my simple SW/MW receiver when I was working in Endaselassie (a remote village) and later near the capital city Addis Ababa in Ethiopia in 1982-83.  In fact, I used to enjoy listening to early morning devotional songs broadcast from radio staions in cities such as Madras (now known as Chennai) in India, my home country, on short wave.

Later, when I  was placed in Southern Africa, I continued listening to shortwave broadcasts including those from Madras. Occassionally I used to receive signals beamed to South East Asia though my location would be diametrically opposite viz. in Southern Africa, as documented in the following excerpt from the UK based `Short Wave Magazine', to which I used to contribute regularly:


But today, by using our AM//SW receivers, it is only possible to receive signals from a local radio station on the medium wave and not beyond.

At the audience interection level, a few decades back, even as recently as the early '90s, SW broadcasters used to respond to listners' letters and reception reports promptly.  I remember with nostalgia as to how BBC World Service (Radio) continued mailing 'London Calling', their monthly programme guide, even after they closed down their World Service Listener Panel (of which I was a member) in mid '80s, as part of cutting costs and how my letter was the first one published when a listener mailbag programme was introduced in London Calling in late '80s.

Radio Deutsche Welle used to be glad when I sent my reception reports on their frequencies.

[Since I restarted DXing, I communicated to broadcasters such as Radio Nederlands Worldwide (which was previously Radio Nederlands) by using options in their own websites. But still, I havn't received any response].

Besides, we hear cost cutting measures such as reduction in airtime,  reduction in number of programmes and reduction in number of language services, which seem to be a clear indication of user shift from short wave audio to technologically more advanced digital audiovisual programmes.

Hence I have decided to discontinue SWL and DXing for ever, and get back to satellite TV and podcasts, so that I wouldn't be the odd man out.

Off the beaten track: Musical rendezvous

Yesterday, after a long time, I had time to visit youtube and watch recordings of my favourite soft rock singers.  

It was nice to watch The Beatles singing "Michelle", the lyrics of which came to my help when I was learning French at the Alliance Francais, Gaborone.

I think that songs by singers such as Mark Knopfler are a musical treat at times. When it comes to music, I remember my good friend and colleague Ulrich Klaussen. He was an accomplished violinist. He and I used to share Physics teaching workload at the school in which we taught.