Teaching: a Pleasure within!
I have realised that the best place to write about instructional strategies is my blog! Every teacher possesses a special affection for her own child, ie her own class! Though Instructional planning is important in a teacher's life, I have many a times experienced that spontaneous strategies have always made m feel happy and excited! Since I donot write about them, I myself do not remember and hence cannot use those as case-studies!
So let me try how recording of my own classroom experiences help me create a repository for myself... and if few of them are felt useful, can be adapted by others!
I recently loved two of my spontaneous activities...
A few months back, during the previous semester, I had to listen to a very brief presentation on 'PBL' as a part of the main topic 'Constructivism'. I realised that students might have not got proper idea of the 'Problem-Based learning' and since the sub-topic didnot have much weightage during Sem I, I could not afford to spend much time on explanation. I left that student's presentation with a short comment of mine and declared that I plan to start the next topic I was supposed to teach. I assigned a problem related to the next topic. This topic was thus explored thr' PBL. At the end of discussion, the next day, I asked them to reflect on the way they addressed the topic and collected information so as to suggest solutions. The discuss was brief, but helped them understand their own presentation given about 'PBL'. I've always experienced that the actual application before teaching new trends, theories, procedures help a lot... to teachers in explaining and to students in understanding its nature!
The other activity was born in mind, again, just before going to the class, as I had been watching tele-shopping ads of some techno products... We have been exploring various technology solutions for the University since last several months and these shopping programs give some idea of the discounted prices, so I watch them eventually!)...
I have been teaching characteristics of CAI for the last 10-12 years and truly speaking, I get bored to teach that part now... my colleagues donot agree to teach that part as they somehow feel that some of the basic concepts shd be introduced by me to every new batch! This year, after showing ample examples of CAI (my colleagues showed many), I told the girls that these are department products and we need to sell these CAI packages now! I assigned them task of producing a tele-shopping programmes to sell the CD assigned to each group. Those were different levels (primary and upper-primary). Girls were supposed to bring out every small feature of the product while presenting the product. Girls explored almost all characteristics from the packages... they failed to bring out all features extensively during the performance for the simple reason that they donot watch tele-shopping programmes and hence donot have clear idea... I wanted them to focus and stress on every small feature the way performers in the programmes do! I first need to tell girls to watch these programmes extensively and then give this task!
