amWRit

I got an idea! Last Saturday (September 5,2015), I was alone in the cottage. I was looking at the pictures of different classification of plants and invertebrates that I got my students to make. I was planning to paste these pictures as a chart of classification. I got this idea of making it a booklet of pictures instead. One idea led to the other. First terminal exam was approaching. Why don’t I let students make such booklet as a project work for 25 marks of practical? And that was it. http://amwrit.blogspot.com/2015/09/when-scientists-we-all-become.html I decided to spare the whole week for Practical marks fulfillment that would comprise of Project works, booklets and presentations. Details for each class are as follows: 1.       Grade 6 ·          Booklet – 10 marks ·          Project (self) – 10 marks ·          Class participation – 5 marks 2.       Grade 7 ·          Booklet – 10 marks ·          Project(self)

I am proud of you It’s been more than 3 weeks of SMGS . It was getting any positive feedback yet. It was the fourth weekly test. I entered Grade 6 with test papers on my hand. I distributed the papers. I was expecting the “Sir, please give us marks” dialogue. None of the 20 students gave me the dialogue this time. They were excited to see the comments this time. Not everyone loved the Smiley idea yet but I was glad few were accepting it. Those who got L last time but got J this time knew they had improved. They felt successful. Aryan is an average student from Grade 9. This time, he improved a lot. I commented, “ Much improvement than last time. If you study harder, you can do much better than this. I am proud of you.” I hoped he would understand that I meant it and was proud of him. Let your kids know, you are always proud of them, every small improvement they make matters to you. Kids are used to being discouraged by teachers as well as their p

The Sindhupalchowk Diary reward rɪˈwɔːd/ noun 1 . a thing given in recognition of service, effort, or achievement. "the holiday was a reward for 40 years' service with the company" synonyms: recompense ,  prize ,  prize money , winnings,  purse ,  award ,  honour , Don’t you love getting rewards? Everyone does. So do I. But, when was the last time you got rewarded. You might be thinking, “What should I be rewarded for? I haven’t achieved anything BIG. ” Yes, that’s right. You might not have achieved anything big. But you must have done something that doesn’t look big to others but means a lot to you. Let’s do a time travel. Travel to the time you felt glad because you did something you couldn’t do. Travel to your school days when you couldn’t add two digit numbers but learnt it finally. Travel to you KG days when you couldn’t write letter A properly but finally started writing it. What if you would be rewarded for all thos

The Sindhupalchowk Diary No marks? “ Sir, what is this? What is this face?” “Where is the number mark, Sir?” “How much did I get?” “Who got highest?” These were the reactions from my Smiley Mark Grading System (SMGS) - Yeah, let’s have a fancy word :P. You might be thinking kids from grade 6 were bound to ask so. This is not the case. Even students from Grade 9 had these questions after I graded their first papers using SMGS. So was the case with grade 7 and 8 as well. Here, I was trying to do something different. And I thought I did something that could help my students. But it BACKFIRED . Almost each of the students was asking for the number. I thought my SMGS would end the unfair competition regarding the numbers and end the bullying of low achieving students. “Yeah, right. You got to be kidding me.” Kids started competing based on the NUMBER OF SMILEYS. So creative these kids are. They would even count the number of ticks and compete. They would ask

The Sindhupalchowk Diary Smiley marks At the Mini Learning Institute, or Mili as we fellows call it, I realized that I haven’t assessed my students yet. The diagnostic test didn't happen. It had been about 2 weeks since I ‘actually’ started teaching. Then I had thought of taking test every week. Yes, that meant I had to spare one whole period every week. And with the pace I was going, just a period was critical. But I had to make a decision. I decided to do weekly tests. I took my first test in Grade 6 English today. Evening-the test papers were in my hand. I took my red pen and checked the first paper. It was paper of a very low achieving student. I was about to give marks. “Does this Number mark really help him at all? Won’t he be discouraged by these low marks? He will probably get teased for the low marks.” “Number Mark is very robotic. Even a robot could check the papers and give marks. What can I do different to reach to a personal level? What can I do to

The Sindhupalchowk Diary #SafetyProtocol I got posted to Shree Terse Higher Secondary School, Talamarang, Sindhupalchowk as a science teacher, through Teach for Nepal program. I was worried. I was buried under the expectations, of TFN as well as my own. Following my heart and not my brain, getting guided by emotions, is it a decision worth it? There were so many things going on in my head. Literally, my head had been a mess of thoughts. But then, #NepalQuake happened, followed by #SafetyProtocol . The former set us back by about a month, and the latter one just tore me apart. I was frustrated. My creativity was gone. I had stopped to think like I used to. I felt unimportant. I wanted to quit. Though classes resumed, I wasn’t in my best self. And I need to be in my form to work best. Yes, it’s not only a player who has a form. Every individual has his/her form, a situation he/she can be at his/her best. Thank you #SafetyProtocol . Find the other

When Scientists we all become "We will be doing some project work", I said. "Project work? What is that?" Suprised, confused, they exclaimed. "You will be making things, things that you want. It's a practical.", I said. "Practical?" They gave me suprised look. "But practical is what we always did at last. We did nothing but filled some lines in the Practical Book. " "Is it? We will be doing something new.", I said. "Make a balloon powered car, make a herbarium. You may make a booklet of plants. It needn't be fancy as a rocket. Make a doko , do some pottery. You might make a clay locket." "You might want to cook something nice and observe the science behind. Science is nothing, but what you apply and what you can find." "Cook? Whoa!" Sparkled eyes, excited mind. "Even cooking can be a project?" "We are starting new, we are starting fresh.