learnings

Oct 31st It's Halloween!! I am staying with a wonderful family at Lincoln. Randy and Paula have a daughter Sara(22) and son, Jonathan(25). Such a warm family and they have such a lovely house. It's a dream house- so beautiful, spacious and with lots of natural light coming in. They have done it up very aesthetically.. Yeprakasia( Armenia) is with me too. We were picked up at 10.30 am. We had a lovely lunch- potato salad, yummy sandwich. We exchanged a lot about our countries and culture. The fun part was when we cleaned out the pumpkins and began to carve them. It was hilarious!! There were small knives and saws that we worked with.. We placed the pumpkins outside and placed small lamps inside them so they lit up so beautifully lending an orange glow. Meanwhile kds from across the neighbourhood ,dressed up in whacky costumes came to the house asking'trick or treat'. Inevitably candy treats were given away. Dinner was salad, burger , hot dog, fruits, apple pie with ice c...

Oct 30th Workshops again and this time it was technology all through. We learnt a bit about Excel. We had a tele conference with teachers in Georgia and Azerbaijan who had been to Nebraska on exchange programs.

Oct 29th Today we had a couple of workshops on Effective Leadership. Both were good. A manager does things right while a leader does the right things!!

Oct 28th We visited Public and private schools in Nebraska City. The private school-Our Lady of Lourdes School was run by a Catholic diocese. I found the students more friendly and courteus. It was refreshing to see the KG and primary students. Our next visit to the Lewis and Clark center. This is a small museum showing the trail of these two men who hiked throughout this region recording the animals/birds/trees species. So this center honors these men and have recreated their trail. The most exciting part of the trip was seeing the Missouri river. It was quite picturesque. Click , click went the cameras!!!

Oct 27th, Visited Crete a small town here. Participated in a Adult Education program. It's amazing to note the level of dedication here. Post Noon, Lunch at cafeteria and workshop on technology. We also did a guideded reflection on our micro teaching.

Change is the rule of nature. Whatever happens happens for the good!! This ancient wisdom stuns me and renders me speechless from time to time.

Oct 26, We were taken to a public school in the countryside. It was a small replica of the schools here so it was hardly exciting. In fact it was a mere waste of time. All I gained from the trip was reading.. I managed to read the National Geographic, Reader's digest and the Time magazines. Post Noon, Did a little shopping at Wall Greens.

Man Proposes while God Disposes...

Oct 25th, After a good brunch ( waffles with blueberry sauce etc) we headed to Omaha. We stopped at an art museum. It was a pleasure to see works of Renoir and Monet. The most stunning were the artifacts of native Indians. Such intricate bone and bead work on leather/ hide. Next we headed to the zoo.We were taken aback by what we saw. it was truly amazing. the desert habitat, butterfly park, cat complex, giraffe and zebra complex ,bear complex were awesome. But most astounding were the apes- gorillas and orangutans. The gorillas won our hearts. Seeing them leaves no doubt about Darwin's theory of evolution. We saw a baby gorilla in diapers being carried by a lady who is playing its surrogate mother. It was too to cute. The way this country presents its culture/ history etc is something we have to learn. The zoo experience was remarkable.

Oct 24th Today we had to do the 'micro teaching 'presentation! We had to take a lesson for 15 minutes in our native language. English should not be used strictly. So I decided to teach in Tamil. Ha ha! it's an irony as its not my native tongue but I feel more at home in Tamil than in Malayalam. So I taught 'my class' a rhyme in Tamil.It was good learning and great fun too. We learnt many a language today ranging from French, Spanish, Ukranian, A sengalese dialect to Bengali...It was interesting to note that the person whom I thought would not present well actually did a wonderful job. It is definitely not easy to teach!! The ones who appeared to be smart could not communicate as the shy Bangladeshi friend of mine. She stunned me! Her teaching was so effective.She used such simple method and simple language. Effective communication is the key!!! Post noon Had lunch very leisurely at the cafeteria.Had thought provoking conversation with Tim Bayne. Got back to the hote...

Oct 23rd, Today has been a day of emotions!!! It was my last day at East High. We had a celebration.. I conducted a small activity. I told the children to write down the names of their classmates on a sheet of paper and alongside they had to mention one unique quality. I another paper when their friends called out each name and the quality, they had to write what was described about them. The were quite thrilled to learn what their friends thought about them. hey had written about Lyn and me too so it was good fun. I also got a royal tour of the school. Cody Brown too me around. He is a very nice boy, well-mannered. I was astounded and amazed at the vastness of the school and the awesome facilities they have. The woodwork class/ photography/indoor gyms/ culinary classes are 5 star category. Ansur came to meet me and it was a very emotional farewell for us. I have got so attached to him. My ninthers also gave me an emotional farewell. Lyn and me broke down!! In just 2 weeks we had all b...

Oct 22 Today when I joined back work, there was a lot of cheering from my ninth graders. They are a sweet naughty bunch. Today it was very interesting. The children prepared transparencies on the given topic. They also had an interactive session where some did skits/ songs/etc. Post noon At the university we planned for the end of program presentation,SSC!! It was chaotic. Lilya, my Armenian pal refused to agree to our ideas ad it was vice versa. It was hilarious. We had dinner with a senior professor here. He has a lovely house which is so well kept. He and his wife make a very handsome couple. We had a great time. Lovely food and friends playing the piano!! It has started raining. the temperature is 4 degrees

Oct 21, I did not go for work or the workshop.I woke up with a bad bout of gastritis.I took complete rest. According to the program rules I had to see a doctor. Fortunately it was an Indian doctor from Andhra so I could convince her that it was just gastritis. I took plenty of the much needed rest.It's amazing that the body gives us signals when it is not feeling well. Yet we ignore and then suffer!! The rest did me good. I missed my mother a lot!!

Oct 20th Lynn is back today. the day went off smoothly. I had been to Tim Bayne's class. He conducted the fish bowl activity. After which there was a parliament session. One boy ,Sam was particularly impressive. Post Noon, The colors of Autumn!!! Oh my the campus looked stunning with the maple leaves turning bright rust, some leaves in yellow and one particular plant with scarlet red leaves. It was an enthralling sight. Today the WEB QUEST presentation began.

Oct 19th, Lyn did not come to school today as her baby daughter was sick. So i took a psychology class for AP students. I also conducted a mock European Union. Once again I missed my Indian students as it would have been so difficult to control their excitement. Here the kids have everything working for them- great teachers, super technology and other resources. But they just do not participate. The silence here is sometimes killing.. ha ha am I missing the noise!!! Post noon We worked on our lesson plans/ web quest/ micro teaching til 6. 30 pm

Oct 18th, We had an ethnic dinner night!!! Each nation presented a dish or two. Sarada and me made kheema upma. Devika made kesari. Both dishes came out so tasty! The upma got over in a jiffy. We also danced to various genre of music of varied countries. Indian music rocked!! i had taken a collection of old hindi (bombay vikings) and tamil koothu. Everyone lovedthe music ad we danced merrily.

Oct 16 Today it was exciting to note the palpable excitement at school. Teachers and students were on a natural high as its the weekend. The mood infiltrated into me too. I was skipping ,literally, at the end of the day. We had the students doing research on the member nations of the European Union. I am holding a MOCK EU on monday so they are preparing for it. I also distributed 'jeera mithai' to the students. Some liked it ans few did not. Surprisingly boys liked it better than girls. Post noon we had a session wit hDell Harnisch. We were divided into groups to do a presentation o nany of the cultural events that we had attended here. So we chose to enact the Union Coll dinner( where we dressed in our national costume and showcased our country) . I was chosen the leader of the group by my team members. We had hardly practised but gave a great show. Each one of us sang/ danced/ talked on how we had perceived the evening thro seeing/hearing/tasting/ smelling/touching. So Devik...

Oct 15th Today was exciting at school. I took 2 AP( advance placement) ie 12th in psychology. it was interesting. initially I was nervous but got over it soon!! Then it was geog the rest of the day. Post noon the workshop was intensive but of short duration,, I forgot to mention that a few days ago an Indian looking boy of ninth grade walked up to me and asked in a very happy tone if I am an Indian. With great excitement i nodded in the affirmative and I asked him the same. . With a beaming smile he said that he was from Pakistan. Now I was all the more excited. We struck instant friendship. It was a unique bonding, so instant and so intent. He has promised me to look me up every day. Ansur keeps his word and comes after lunch to say a hi and we end up exchanging a small conversation in hindi. Today he was a few minutes late and I was anxious and actually began to miss him. he is so endearing. There was no difference between us. We felt we were of one nation. All barriers melted. I wis...

Today I continued with European Union with the 9th graders. I gave them an activity too. I conducted an oral quiz. It was such an easy quiz that my 6th grade back home would have done it in seconds. Here to elicit an answer its a monumental task where as my 9thers would have been so excited!!! Post noon we had a short session of workshop with Joe on how to make a 'problem statement' required for a grant. It was a relief getting back early to the hotel!!!

Oct 14th, It's my best friend's bday and i was most excited calling here from here .She is holidaying at Coorg!! I wish i had been with her. She is there all alone. Today was yet another busy day. Took classes independently at East High for the ninth graders. It's so mazing to note that kids are so similar all over the world. One particular batch is so interactive and few are mischievous. When one girl remarked that she was stressed out due to some assignment, my heart cried out for my boys back home!!!Exams, loads of homework,pressure form school, home and society... Poor souls. If they had these facilities, this system they would have all gone to space by now!!! Post noon- It was raining and biting cold! Thanks to Tim Bayne I am better equipped for the cold. He has lent me lots of woolens. We had a SSC workshop till 5.30 pm.

Oct 12th Today Lyn was on leave so I managed to take a class on types of govt. I also attended Scott Gailey's class on theater and poetry unplugged. During the poetry session a girl recited a poetry by heart with such depth and expression. I was astounded. If i had read the poetry I am sure I would not have liked it but hearing it from her made such a difference. I have lunch in the staff room. Lilya's mentor Chuck Morgan is so full of spirits. He reminds me of the song'for he is a jolly good fellow'!!! The noon session with Dell Harnisch was as usual very good. The highlight was that he treated us to ice cream!!! it was heavenly in spite of the cold weather.

Oct 11th Today we visited an aircraft museum. It had aircrafts from the world war 2 days. It was interesting. The most awesome experience was when i sat inside a helicopter simulator. Oh it was such an enjoyable ride !!! Virtual reality is such an amazing concept!!!

Oct 10th ( am actually writing this a day later!!) WE had been given a video camera to shoot a film. We were divided into 6 groups. I gave the name 'Sparkzz' to my group. It was fun and great learning to plan/ write the storyboard/ shoot the film. I have always enjoyed being in front of the camera. This time I enjoyed directing and shooting some footages of the film. All the more fun and learning was when we had to edit the film. We did it on MAc again on Imovies! I enjoyed editing/ adding effects/audio. It was very fulfilling. http://cehs.unl.edu/tea2009/tea2009/Movie_Time.html This is the link to the film. Our film is right at the end. Enjoy!1

Oct 9th Another day at school. kids enjoyed the photos i showed on power point. Am learning to use the MAc machine! One boy called Will had me listening to a song composed and sung by him. He also plays the guitar. He is awesome.

Oct 8th Today I started my school internship. I am assigned to Lincoln East High. My teacher partner is Lyn Peterson. Here students move to the teacher's room which is equipped with a pojector/ magnetic wall maps/electric sharpner/shelves/ computer/white board...Students do not have uniforms. Neither do they have to carry a heavy bag. They bring in a folder which contains sheets for them to do their CW and HW. They have individual desk and chair. They have lockers to store their personal stuff. They work with pencils. They have only multiple choice questions or one line answers/ map activity.. they can represent their answers graphically. All answers are accepted as it's their own work. They do not copy ever as they do not have the stress of failing an exam. They graduate from one class to another irrespective of their grades. They can take re-tests to improve. They receive special coaching if they find difficulties. HW is done at school when they have free periods and every d...

Oct 7th Morning was a session with Lindsay Hastings on Youth leadership training. It was ery interesting. we learnt a new theory- the bucket and hte dipper theory!! Each one of us has a bucket that gets filled with happiness, cheer, goodwill etc. For eg if someone wishes us in the morning with a smile it fills our bucket. Yet there are some one who can be nasty to us, pull us down etc. They are dipping into our bucket and removing our joy. Such dippers cause misery. Our bucket gets filled if we fil the buckets of others!! Such a sweet and simple theory. So let us choose to be either a bucket or a dipper!!

Oct 6th Today we had tech workshop. I assisted the instructor in teaching others. It very interesting to teach as i learn more myself. Lunch Post lunch also we had tech workshop.

Oct 5th Woke up with groan on Monday morning.. the usual monday morning blues... Today we visited a landmark here, the state capitol which houses the legislature. It is the only building with the highest tower.( 14th floor). We were given a very good guided tour by Ms. Gloria. She was so articulate and excellent in her communication. The highlight was when we were received by the Lt.Governor. We were all awarded honorary citizenship of Nebraska. This was very exciting. We then boarded the elevator to the 14th floor where we got a bird's eye view of Lincoln city!!! LUnch.. Post lunch we had a session on student council/ lateral thinking( which I did pretty well because I have held quiz programs on the same).... 5.30pm back to the room. It's been drizzling. the temperature is 16 degrees while back home its more than 40 degrees!!

Oct 4th Ah today I woke up only at 10 am. Blissful sleep. Felt homesick. Missed my parents and son. missed home!! At 2 pm we had a meeting with the teachers whom we will be working along with. From Thursday my internship at EAST HIGH school begins. The teacher whom I will be working with is Lyn Peterson, a young lady with just 3 years of experience. She is very enthusiastic and eager to work with me and its a mutual feeling. I will be teaching geography to the ninth grade and observing the psychology classes in the 11th grade. I wanted to brush my skills in geography and psychology so i opted for this combination.We discussed in length our lesson plan. Then we were taken shopping. Thankfully shopping has lost its charm. God save my pocket!! Back to the room and had a simple dinner....

Oct 3rd Today we had a session with Anastasia on web quest.we worked in pairs. Anahita from Armenia is my partner. Post brunch it was a session with Mila.She introduced Czech language using flash cards, cartoon. Very helpful in teaching a new concept/ topic. The Ar gentians behaved child like!! Why is it that we adults stick on to our egos? How can one 'learn' then? Evening w were hosted by Bob at his lakeside house. It's such a beautiful location. After two days of chilly weather it was welcoming to see the sun out today. I felt wistful on seeing the lovely house. Then I felt happy that at least I had a chance to visit such lovely places and meet such lovely people!!!!!!!!!!!1 We had a wonderful time .We, Indians began singing songs, well I was just braying along!!! Soon others joined in. Music truly bonds... We danced too. Me with a left foot .. but hey I taught the Turkimenistan friends to jive to Indian songs and oh how they danced. It was an evening of fun

Oct 2nd It was very windy and cold once again. Brrrr so so so cold. This morning we had been to East Campus. We had a session with Shannon who gave us a lot of inputs on 'learning by doing'. Lot of interactive games to teach various concepts were discussed. By noon the univ campus where we first headed to the cafeteria for lunch. I had a hot meal! it's indeed surprising that here 'cold meals' are most common for such a cold place!!! salads, meat, vegetables,beverages are 'cold'!!! Post noon we had a session on service learning with Tim Bayne. It was interesting. He is very good in his communication and reaches out to all of us. It was a good interactive session. It made us think on the community service we have been doing. It is like 'lip service'!! Our so called social work has not actually changed the lives of the target people! Service learning is when we reach out to bring about a change i n the community. Reminded me of the teaching of Confuciu...

It is an strange coincidence that my son and I remembered Chintu and Mintu our old neighbours who had been a trmendous source of strength to us when we had a great personal loss

Oct 1 Thurs Today I had a good session with Tim. Both Socratic and fish bowl methodology were explained. we had a discussion and learning on quality assessment of homework!! Had an early lunch. Post noon was the tech workshop which was meaningless as I am quite ahead. Did some shopping too....