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. 

Textbook turbulence

A few weeks back, as part of my work, I had to develop some formative assessment questions with solutions, to go with elearning modules related to Standard 12 physics curriculum prescribed by the Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi. 

As textbooks related to this curriculum are published by another central government agnecy known as National Council of Educational Research and Training, and as most CBSE affiliated K-12 schools use these books, I had to read the NCERT physics textbooks for grade 12, in order to gain an understanding of  the pedagogical objectives (of  NCERT) in designing these questions.

Let me present an excerpt from the NCERT textbook for Standard 12.  This is an end of a section question.

"In the Rutherford’s nuclear model of the atom, the nucleus (radius about 10¯¹⁵ m) is analogous to the sun about which the electron move in orbit (radius ≈ 10¯¹0 m) like the earth orbits around the sun. If the dimensions of the solar system had the same proportions as those of the atom, would the earth be closer to or farther away from the sun than actually it is? The radius of earth’s orbit is about 1.5 X 10¹¹ m. The radius of sun is taken as 7 X 10⁸ m".

(Source: NCERT PHYSICS TEXTBOOK for Class XII Chapter 12 ATOMS p418cf)

We can easily see the oddities in the question. If I were to write the question, my version would be as follows:

"According to Rutherford’s model of the atom, electrons orbit round the nucleus like planets revolve round the Sun. Assuming the dimensions of the atom and that of the solar system (as given in the data below) to be of the same proportion (which in reality, is not), state how the Earth would be positioned from the Sun.

Data: Actual radius of orbit of the Earth is about 1.5 X 10¹¹ m".

However, at the K-10 level, I have found NCERT textbooks to be better than those published by many private publishers.

In 1985, when I was teaching physics at Cochin Refineries School in Kerala, India, we were using NCERT textbooks. [This was one of the best schools where I worked: well disciplined students, friendly colleages in a cordial and hospitable community].  At that time, I wrote to NCERT by pointing out mistakes in their textbooks and suggesting corrections.  Probably my suggestions were considered.  I found their later editions to be free from mistakes.

Contents in science textbooks should be presented in unambiguous and simple language without unnecessarily long words, phrases and sentences (for example `two minutes' would be better then `a couple of minutes').  This will enable students to understand concepts better.

Instead of being a database of how much or how best we know about lesson concepts, textbooks should pave the way for children's curiosity and help them to spread their wings so that they can begin to explore concepts from their points of view. Besides, textbooks should be accompanied by teachers' guides which offer guidance to teachers in a systematic manner based on research evidence of good practices.

   

Lesson concept development: Use of stories

When  we were young, it was customary for mothers and grandmothers to tell value based stories to their children so that they developed as good human beings. We were also taught to respect secularism. Besides parents, schools were also involved in teaching values to children.

When working as a teacher, I had always included stories to teach values and curricular concepts to my students.   I have taught a range of concepts (from dispersal of seeds in middle school science to diffraction of waves in precollege physics) by using stories. Yesterday, I got a communique from someone in Australia commending my idea after reading an article. 

Another significant advantage of stories is that they can be dramatised as illustrated in the following photograph (which shows my Grade 9 children engaged in a mini play on dignity of labour in a high school in Bangalore, where I had the joy of teaching children besides being the school principal).

  
I wish our textbooks contain a lot of stories through which children can be taught effectively.          

Off the beaten track

Yesterday I flew down from Ahmedabad to Chennai on a week's leave so as to spend Makara Shankraanthi back home in Chennai.

Though my flight was at 1155 AM, I was at Sardar Vallabhai Patel International airport before 9 itself. Thanks to my travel agent and Manoj Bhai, the call taxi guy, I could leave my residence at Vadodara well in time on a pleaseant sunny morning.  The A C system at the airport was very much within tolerance limits unlike in many airports and offices.

I wish Chennai airport too maintains a comfortable level of AC.

Off the beaten track: Shortwave musings

After nearly 20 years, I returned to my hobby of DXing last week, thanks to the simple radio receiver that I managed to buy from a small radio shop in town, after trying to buy one in speciality outlets in modern malls in Chennai and here in Gujarat. 

I had two very good receivers, one analogue and one digital, with nearly 13 bands in the FM, AM and SW range. When the gadgets fell down on two occassions and had minor problems, I gave them to radio repairers in Chennai and Benglaluru (where I was working at that time).  The guys returned them to me in the same condition after a month as they "could not get spare parts". Though my present receiver is far less expensive, very modest in looks and perhaps old fashioned as some people would perceive it, it serves my objective. 

In  the past week, I could listen to some of my most favourite stations including, Radio Nederlands (which is now known as Radio Nederland Worldwide), Deutsche Welle, BBC and Radio Canada International.

As 2011 begins, I think that I  may have some more free time to spare away from work and hence hope to be on the blog more frequently than in the past few months.

Best wishes to all my friends and others who read my blog.

Off the beaten track

Hello ladies and gentlemen.

I am sorry that I am still unable to blog as freuqently as I wish.  At my workplace, all of us work on Saturdays too to get the processes speeded up a bit so that our company can meet consumer deadlines.  I hope to  get back to blogging atleast once a month, after November.  Thanks. 

Off the beaten track

Thanks for following my blog.  I may not be able to write any new post until after I get settled in my new placement in an Elearning Company in Vadodara, Gujarat (India).  I look forward to joining an exciting team there.

See you in a few weeks' time from the historic city of Vadodara. Thanks once again. 

Off the beaten track: Indian Film Music on Radia Australia .. nearly 40 years back!

This afternoon, the airwaves around our apartment, carried something exceptional: sound of a melodious song `Naan pesa ninaithadellaam nee pesa vendum ..' from one of the Tamil films released way back in '60s. [Although I am not particularly keen in films or film music, I do relish the sounds from the TV of my neighbour.  He could be about 10 years older than me and seems to like old film songs, almost all which were nonvulgar and full of good meaning].  My memory took me to 1969 when I used to listen to this very song and others, on Radio Australia in a programme known as Indian Film Music.  This radio programme used to be presented by Mr V M Chakrapani, who was a newsreader (on All India Radio) and a popular cricket commentator.  The programme used to air contemporary film songs in many Indian languages.  However, the programme did not last long.

I liked Radio Australia for its music content (They had excellent softrock programs). BBC World Service aired its own programmes, one of which was, `A Date with a Disc'. This was a 5 minute program before (or after?) their news bulletins.  VOA used to come out with `Now Music USA' with a lot of Afro-American, Blues and Country and Western songs (I prefer to call them `songs' not `numbers').  SLBC and Radio Malaysia  were also popular for their softrock content.  Back home in Madras, there were two channels of the Madras station of All India Radio on the medium wave: Madras 1 and Madras 2.  Western Music used to be broadcast on Madras 2 every evening from 5.30 to 6 PM.

More recently in the '80s, if I remember correctly, BBC World Service used to transmit a weekly programme known as `Vintage Chart Show' which contained songs of the '60s, '70s and '80s. 

While there were several other radio stations which used to broadcast western music, there were not many print based publications, except occassional articles and write ups in `Life' Magazine as far as I knew. In India, The Statesman of Calcutta introduced its `Junior Statesman' somewhere around 1968.  The magazine contained popmusic reviews, lyrics of famous songs, posters of pop musicians and of course articles.  We used to enjoy reading the magazine.  Those were the days.   

Teachers Day in India

This morning, Sreejith Karthikeyan sent the following message on facebook:

"I found guidance, friendship, discipline and love, everything in one person. And that person is you. “Happy Teachers Day”.

He is a very simple young man with excellent behaviour in his late ‘20s from Kollam, Kerala. He has a Master’s degree in Information Technology. He and I were colleagues at a Digital K-12 Materials Development Company.

Sreejith sent this message as this day is celebrated as Teachers’ day every year in India, in memory of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.

My father, who belonged to the generation next to that of Dr Radhakrishnan, was a dedicated teacher and a headmaster; he passed away on this day in 1997. In the '60s and '70s, poor students across caste and religious barriers, used to stay in the front room of our house for nearly a month just before their school final Board exams. My mother would cook food for them as well when she cooked for us. She would also teach them lessons (I learnt all the rudiments of English language grammar and usage by listening to my mother's teaching using a grammar book written by Wren and Martin.  This book was very popular in those days). My father, an avid lawn tennis player, usually played lawn tennis in the evenings, by forming a small team consisting of himself, the local doctor, village adminstrative officer, etc. Sometimes, he would teach these people how to play tennnis and train them in the game. After playing for at least an hour he would come home. This was his daily routine, in whichever town or village he was posted. After dinner, he would sit for some time with the students to find out as to their progress in studies. At the end of the students' stay, when parents came to take their children back, they would try to offer small gifts (such as paddy), which my parents would politely decline. I vividly remember the brightness in the faces of students and parents, a brightness that reflected a high level of gratitude.  Those were the days when most teachers acted as role models and were respected.

I am not sure as to whether I really deserve Sreejith's nice compliments. What I am sure is that this inspiring message will instil more confidence in my work towards education for all in our global village. I adore youngsters like Sreejith. I wish I had a son like him. 

Off the beaten track: To Koh Kong, Cambodia

It is nearly a year since I returned home after a year's stay in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (where I worked at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports). This morning when I went out for some shopping, I could not help comparing the road conditions of Chennai (where I live), Phnom Penh (where I was based) and Koh Kong (a Cambodian fishing town, which I used to visit on work). 


Cambodia Map

Koh Kong is the capital town of a province with the same name.  It is a small beautiful town and is situated at nearly the same latitude as that of Phnom Penh, Bangkok and Chennai. It is very near the border with Thailand. The people were friendly like in other places in Cambodia.

Although, being a vegetarian, I did have an actue food problem, I could get it sorted out without difficulty, thanks to Indian restaurants (particularly Taste Buds, Aman and Annam) in Phnom Penh, from where I used to order vegetarian food that could be stored in fridge for 3 or 4 days, before leaving for Koh Kong. Of course, fresh fruits were abundantly available in the market place as well as in departmental stores in Koh Kong itself, just like in any other Cambodian village or town, not to mention Phnom Penh with several departmental stores and restaurants, including KFC, an outlet of which was just across the street, from my office at the Ministry of Education.

I cherish my memory of an evening dinner that I had with my Cambodian colleagues in a stilt on River Tonle Sap that flows along the town.

Signboard to the town

Road to Koh Kong

Restaurants on stilts on Tonle Sap