Q: How to know or distinguish the students who need remedial teaching?

A: I hope your school has been taking unit test. If so, you will get three types of children every time you evaluate their answer scripts after unit testing -
a. Above average scoring more than 60% marks
b. Average scoring 40-60% marks
c. Below average who scored less than 40%

Now the teacher has to decide (c) group is the most poor with dire need of remedial teaching. The teacher also have to care (b) group because the students in this group also not performed well.

After finishing the grouping of students, the teacher's next activity is to analyse the answer scripts of the students falling under (c) &(b). This analysis guide the teacher to know where a child needs remediation. Suppose an answer script of a student of Class X in English subject shows very less score in Writing Section then the teacher has to focus on writing practice during remedial class. In the same way, an answer script of Class V student in Math subject shows incorrect solutions in Simplification, then the teacher has to make him practice  BODMAS.

However, in doing this the teacher should not neglect the students of group (a) because they too have to sustain their standards. So let them be in the class, participate in group activities designed for remedial teaching. This helps them to revise their lessons and ensure deeper understanding of already learned concept.

PRECAUTION: Do not reveal this grouping to students.
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(The above query is from a dedicated teacher received in my Fb messenger. I thought that other teachers as well may have same query but not being able to communicate. So this post is intended to reach such teachers)

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE SPACE TO ACCOMMODATE, CUT DOWN THE SIZES - The best option!

The children up to the age of 14 years are most vulnerable. They need continuous support and guidance to make them capable of living in the society of multifarious challenges which need a set of the best chosen human resources with ample spaces, tools and equipment. The capabilities of service providers means a lot to ensure this. Thus, if you don't have capabilities to support the children's growth, make them retard.

Although this would be a historical incidence of a country that the most intellectual group of people takes away the children’s fundamental right instead of safeguarding it and nurturing them in a changed environment.

I know the country with best education system like Finland also has the system of making child’re-take the year' who performs the poorest, but the system has its procedures. However, directly favouring the detention system advocating detention can ensure quality learning in children is really a crude and PRIMITIVE idea.

"No detention" doesn't mean that the system has to pass a child without making him/her capable of next higher grade. "No detention" implies that the system is bound to make a child capable of next higher grade compulsorily at the end of an academic session. It is the system which has to work harder to make the child pass rather than to fail a child and held back for a whole academic session. The content of the post "Review of No Detention Policy" reveals that the system has more faith on DETENTION of children to ensure quality learning than on its manpower who are meant for ensuring quality education.

Till date, we have the notion that teachers only held responsible for making a child learn. Now it's time for us to change it. As you know that the actual works of whole education department is done in the school campus. Thus, let's make everyone in the system responsible for ‘making a child learn’. It is the responsibility of Educational Administration to provide relevant logistics that support a teacher to conduct effective teaching, the teacher education institutions need to provide trainings to teachers as per their training needs, the community leaders need to provide good infrastructure that supports children's learning, the parents need to establish close coordination with teachers, so on. I dream a new education system where all sets of stakeholders are made responsible in children's learning.

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“Ahh…BaLA” – An ignored story of the most ever successful project of people’s participation

The story goes back to 2009, when a man strongly impressed by BaLA  activities of Himachal Pradesh returned to Sikkim after finishing curricular programme of Diploma in Educational Planning and Administration (DEPA) from National University of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi. He started propagating the programme in his district (South Sikkim) with utmost zeal and keenness though there was no single penny for this to happen in the schools. He presented the photographs of BaLA activities through power point presentation collected from his DEPA batch mate Mr. Yashwant Depak (Principal Kullu DIET) in every meeting of the school heads. He explained its importance in impacting children’s learning and requested all of them to initiate it through people’s participation. To start with as demo, he requested the then District Project Coordinator of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Shri M.K.Rai to allocate fund from the component ‘Child Friendly Environment’ approved under Civil Works. He wholeheartedly supported the proposal and an exact replication of BaLA activities was created in Bhalukhop Primary School in the same year. The head of schools who supported him first and created the learner-friendly environment in their schools are Smt. Bimla Rai, the then Principal of Temi Senior Secondary School and Shri Sekhar Chettri, the then Headmaster of Melli Gumpa Secondary School.

The concept was well received by the heads of schools but due to lack of fund to execute it, the implementation became very slow. Considering the importance of fund to realize the dream, he included the proposal of BaLA activities in the Annual Plan of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan continuosly for two consecutive years i.e. 2010-11 and 2011-12 when he got transferred to State Project Office of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in 2010. However, the proposal could not get approval in both the years.

The man did not stop yet. He started writing about it in local newspapers. His article titled “School Infrastructure as Additional Learning Resources for Teaching Primary School Children” published in local daily SIKKIM EXPRESS on 8th September 2011 spread a most impacting awareness on the concept among the school heads and educational stakeholders of the state. Some of the schools started working on this by mobilizing fund from among themselves and community, some of them mobilized local panchayats for the resources. In the same year i.e. 2011, the project was named as ‘Development of School Infrastructure as Learning Resources’ – a voluntary project for making school print-rich. During the training of School Management Committees organized in all the Block Administrative Centres across years 2012 to 2016, he never forgot to talk about the project and encourage the SMC members, local authority and school heads to initiate it in their schools.

As a mark of accomplishment, almost all the government schools of the State of Sikkim are now like reputed private schools – well decorated, print-rich and pedagogically supportive.

The project in later years was recognized by some of the far-sighted officers of the department. They congratulated him for its success. Some of his senior officers have tried to appraise it in higher forum also while speaking on State achievements but after seeing the ‘school walls with content related paintings’ got very reluctant remarks ‘Ahh… BaLA’. Shri D. K. Pradhan (Respected Special Secretary) when he was State Project Director of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Sikkim), tried to showcase it in the National forum also but the same reluctant remarks ‘Ahh… BaLA’ echoed the meeting hall.

Frankly speaking as an initiator of the project, I take it as the most ever successful project accomplished through people’s participation. I would like to thank all the good people and my senior officers who appreciated our joint efforts.

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(Published in Sikkim Express on 29.08.2017)

LEARNING REMEDIATION: A BURNING TOPIC

I attended an eye opening orientation session by outsourced expert on remedial teaching at HRDD conference hall yesterday. It was targeted for present Class IX students. I am really grateful to our respected SPD (RMSA) sir and SPD (SSA) sir for giving me this opportunity. 🙏🙏🙏

The strategies suggested in the orientation session are different than what I have been suggesting to schools for conducting remedial teaching.

Some major differences are:
a) we suggest subject teachers to map/locate learning competency and difficulty areas of individual student before starting remediation but the session suggested to refer scores of students of diagnostic test before starting remediation.
👉 Our strategy to identify competency deficiency (deficiency of individual student) is through feedback "formative assessment in true sense") not through centralized diagnostic test.
👉 Our logic is that a teacher should need to know the actual areas where an individual child need remediation or it will be just re-teaching only, not remedial teaching

b) we suggest whole class approach without revealing the students about their competency inadequacies but the session suggested tiered approach (seggregate and teach the students without requisite learning level in separate classroom).
👉 Our strategies for remediation are peer teaching,  group activities, blackboard works, class quiz, etc. We believe that thi is the suitable strategy to conduct learning remediation  accommodating all children (Teaching in  separate classroom means requirement of extra sets of furniture, one extra classroom and one extra teacher which is hardly practical)
👉 Our logic is that segregation of students on their learning competencies will lead to further demotivation, problems or dropping out. On the other hand, this strategies will help students having learning difficulties can get more learning scopes when they were involved in the activities with their peers who have already achieved the requisite learning competencies and provide revision scope for later group

c) we suggest series of unit testing (paper-pencil tests) to track children's learning progress but the session suggested to 'make children work on worksheet provided' to track their progress (no test for students).

👉 Our strategy is to conduct test with standardized tools (following general testing pattern) after completing each unit and make an inventory of score records for tracking students' learning progress.
👉 Our logic is "testing is confirming". We believe that a standardized paper-pencil test helps subject teachers to know about their instructional gaps in particular unit and helps children to know the general testing patterns. In addition to this, we also believe that the paper-pencil tests will help the children to understand how to respond appropriately to given questions in written form (after all we are preparing children for written examination).

I know that I have very little knowledge and I also know that "little knowledge is dangerous" 😁😁

A POSITIVE INDICATION

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I feel so happy that the schools have now started conducting learning activities for their children besides the activities prescribed for Formative Assessment. This is indeed a positive feedback of series of in-service teacher trainings on "Teaching through activities" conducted under SSA during 2014, 2015 & 2016 academic years.

Here I want to say that the learning activities which we conduct inside/outside classroom require utmost attention. It should be meticulously structured in such a way that do not allow children to go astray and make learning objectives set for the activity get defused. It is not like, just thought of taking children to park, market place,  neighbouring schools or grouping children and making them work.

In fact, I want the teacher should keep in mind the grade specific learning outcomes while designing such learning activities. The activity should be designed in such way that can replace the classroom teaching and implicate more learning experiences among children than other instructional approaches. I mean the teachers should have clarity (curricular and co-curricular) of what competencies/skills that she/he intends to develop by the activity being designed.

I also wish that the teachers have Teaching Schedule with them for each activity with sequence - how activity starts, moves and concludes within the timeline decided while designing it.

Kindly use Learning Indicators prepared by SCERT & DIET (East) and Learning Indicators and Learning Outcomes prepared by NCERT while you design learning activities.

Thank you all the resource persons, school heads, DIETs and SCERT for making the dream a reality.
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A DIGITAL MENACE

Our style of life living is loosing family bonding. You don't miss your papa as much as your papa misses you in his life. Your children do not miss you as much as you miss them. Slowly and gradually the concept of family is diminishing and people are started living alone with a smartphone. If this is the way of our living style, a  day will definitely come where breaking of a smartphone would be more painful than death of a father.

So cannot we think of phoneless time in our family? Let it be of at least two hours a day when all family members gather.
Cannot we think of integrating family values (not in casual way) in classroom practices? Let it be as activity, projects,  etc.
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9th March 2016

2017-18: SPECIAL PROGRAMME FOR CLASS I & II UNDER SSA

Class I: Learning Enhancement Programme for Classes I is focused on enhancement of English language skills among children. It is proposed to provide English language kits to the children reading in Class I. The following learning outcomes are expected to achieve through the activities given as under:

Activities:
• Making Words Tray (includes tray, picture cards, and plastic letters A-Z)
• Slides and Ladders Reading Board Game
• Roll a Word (includes a real word/silly word graph)
• Word Card and Mini Object Matching
• Left, Right, Center Card Game
• Feed the Silly Word Monster Activity

Targeted Skills:
• Increase Phonological Awareness
• Beginning, Middle, and End Sounds
• Segmenting Phonemes
• Blending Phonemes
• Building CVC Words
• Reading CVC Words
• Identifying Real Words and Nonsense Words

Materials to be provided:
1) Tray
2) Picture cards (animals)
3) Picture cards (Fruits)
4) Picture cards (Kitchen tools)
5) Picture cards (sports materials)
6) Plastic letters

Class II: The focus for Class II is enhancement of Mathematical skills among children. It has been found that the children who are better in mathematics in initial grades only can do better in higher classes. Hence, it is proposed to provide mathematics kits to the children reading in classes II. The Level 2 Math Kit is a hands on way to introduce and/or reinforce math concepts such as addition, combinations of 10, and odd/even. The following learning outcomes are expected to achieve through the activities given as under:
Activities:
• Dice Race
• Fishing for 10s
• Four in a Row
• Count and Cover
• Addition Yahtzee
• Battle Ship
• Race up the Beanstalk

Targeted Skills:
• Number Identification
• Counting
• Addition
• Subtraction
• Combinations of 10
• Critical Thinking
• Probability
• Odd/Even

Materials to be provided:
1) Dices
2) Ruled Grid Boards
3) Yatzee score pads
4) Count and Cover Boards

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WHO ARE WE?

We have two gangs or we can say we have two opposite poles within education system i.e.
(a) one who are responsible for making children learned and (b) one who evaluates how much children have learned

We educational workers associated with classroom teaching, monitoring and administration have to fall under gang (a) and all the different boards who evaluate children's learning and make them "pass" or "fail" should fall under gang (b).

But we have so many people in gang (a) who prefer more to be (b).

The quality in education remains in danger until and unless the educational worker (amongst us) who feels that the detaining of children brings quality in education phases out.

For me, gang (a) is for QUALITY EDUCATION and gang (b) is for QUALITY FILTRATION.

Yeah I am serious and I am confident that one day everyone will definitely realize this fact.