Friday, January 20, 2006

 

CASW- Session 1

The first CASW meeting of Group 3 was held in the Computer lab on 18-1-06. The presenters were Srinivasan and Anitha. Mrs. Dharma Kannan kindly consented to be the facilitator.

The first presentation was by Srinivasan

The context: A trip to Bandipur by std 9D students as part of DOD week
The objective: to create an awareness of civic ans environvental issues and to awaken a sense of social responsibility.
The process: conversation with an expert (audio recording) followed by a socratic seminar, role plays etc, interspersed with other activities.

Key questions: How to carry on further activities to consolidate learning?
do life skills need to be assessed? If so, what tools could be used?


Many pertinent questions were asked during the clarifying stage, which were helpful during the discussion phase. Many ideas were expressed. The crux being that students require practical exposure to such issues and that continued reinforcement would be requied even after they returned inorder to consolidate learning. It was also felt that students must interact closely with social activists and should be aware of the legal issues. Another point for consideration was that Srini could use current events to spark off debates or discussions in class.Identifying areas where intregration is possible with other subjects was another suggestion.

It was jointly agreed that while life skills do need to be assessed, they are intagible and cannot be assessed withe grades or a number. It is an on-going process and the effects of life skills training may take years to amnifest themselves.

The presenter was certianly provided with ideas to take away and implement . We will know what has worked when Srini returns after his next DOD trip!

The second presentation was by Anitha

the context: Peer teaching by students of std 9
The process: students present their understanding of the topic in pairs by means of a powerpoint presentation
Guidelines for the process were provided to the students.

Key questions: Will peer teaching work for any topic?
How can students be occupied fully during the presentation.

Several interesting ideas were thrown up during the discussion. While the consensus was that peer teaching is an excellent teaching/learning tool- it may not work in all contexts and with all topics with all students. A lot of thought and planning has to go before a topic can be thrown up for peer teaching (issues like background knowledge, heaviness of content, nature of peer tutor) It was felt that for peer teaching to be effective, the students should be active participants in the process.

As for keeping students occupied, it was felt that graphic organizers, worksheets or key questions would help them focus better.Peer assessment issues also came up during the discussion.Giving the students clearcut assessment criteria / awarding them points for good questions were other ideas.

Anitha has a lot of ideas to choose from and implement when she has her next class of student presenters. We will hear from her at the review.

Lots of great ideas came up. Many were learning experiences for all of us. The protocol while seemingly following a rigid procedure actually sets both the limits and the platform for discussions. the time limits set for each and the time given to the presenter to develop his context and reflection is actually a great idea. (initially I did find it irksome!! to be silent while the presenter said something I did not personally agree with.... But on reflection I realise that it gave both the presenter and the participant time to consolidate their thinking.) All thanks to Mrs. Dharma Kannan for acting as the facilitator at such short notice!!!

Comments:
Thanks for sharing, Raji, and glad to see that you are on the 'blog rolls' again. (I'm assuming then that your blogger issues have all been sorted out).

Yes, the process is rigid and it does take a session or 2 to realize the rationale behind the rigidity. I'm happy it made sense to you finally.
 
Raji, I liked your comment to Anitha with a detailed explanation about what a graphic organiser could look like and how it could be used to ensure that a student presentation is useful to the student audience. Have you shared that with Hema as well?
Your reflections on the CASW process are revealing and I hope the benefits of the process are sustained and grow into establishing a community of practitioners.
 
raji, your entries are full of common sense and can be appplied everywhere. interesting.
 
Thanks Tara and Koshy!! My feet are two feet off the ground already!!And Shuchi, it feels great to be back!
 
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