the lithiumhead

The following blog post is a compilation of notes by Ridhi Agarwal, TeachForIndia Pune Fellow 2014. Mr. Kamal Mahendroo spoke about the Hoshangabad Science Teaching Programme, which is under Eklavya < http://www.eklavya.in/ > The three pillars of the HSTP were: Development of Scientific Temper. (Scientific temper is the implementation of scientific method in every problem in our life.) The modern times need technical and scientific literacy. Science education is the foundation of the technological or scientific development of the society. Some thoughts and questions he posed in front of the group were as follows: How do we build scientific temper? What are you teaching them and what is being assessed in science assessments? Joy of learning vs Joy in learning. This was to stress upon doing activities and experiments for entertainment and engagement during lessons as opposed to doing activities and experiments to attain deeper learning and work on deeper development of eve...

No, honey, you can’t be anything you want to be. And that’s okay. The Washington Post Link Manipulative Child Behavior? My Kids Are “Too Smart for Their Own Good” Empowering Parents Link (Related video ad -  Kissanpur - Real Joy Of Togetherness ) Indian Women Are Never Taught How To Be Alone, And That’s A Problem BuzzFeed Link Five fail-safe ways to silence a noisy class TES Link

Here is a speech that I thought of delivering at one of the closing ceremonies at Institute 2015. But it did not work out, so here it is for all eternity. What? How can we continue building the Culture at Teach For India and take it forward? Why? - We don't tell enough stories... - ....and when we do, most of us leave our emotions out of it... - ....We need to become vulnerable to each other if we are to let them help us heal in our moments of despair. - Not enough focus on empathizing to building lasting relationships with others around us : especially non-TFI staff of the school - A reminder to strive to be more consistent - Instilling a sense of brotherhood among the new cohort - collective action - Also Kiran Bir Sethi's famous lines "Inspiration has a shelf life of only one week", so I hope this get the new cohort all fired up and raring to go. How? A possible speech at the end of closing ceremony for Institute 1 2015 Good evening Institute 201...

You know why Ragini is so tall? Because she has gotten so many hugs over her life from so many people and that obviously stretched her out. The latest barrage of hugs is from TFIers (fellows, staff and supporters) who want are all determined to giver her some sweets (i.e. increase her height by 5mm) after reading her 10 tips piece for incoming TFI fellows. Like Ragini, I am a happy person and a 2014 TFI fellow. But I am also an engineer and I love building and improving stuff. I look at fellowship as being thrown into the ocean with minimal swimming lessons. You are expected to learn to swim and build a beautiful yatch around yourself from the shambles of stuff that isn't working anymore. And while you are at it, you may as well build yourself a better you as well. There are two kind of people who enter the fellowship - those that are fresh out of college, and those like me who have worked in the IT/Corporate/XYZ sectors and years of professional experience behind them. Ragi...

As far as cleaning goes, there is nothing as good as the lint free swabbing done using microfibre cloths. Get a 7 of these and you can use one everyday of the week for tour your daily cleaning then wash them all together on the weekend in your washing machine. Make sure that you don't mix generic cotton cloths with the microfibre ones or else the cotton ones would unleash a volley of lint on your unsuspecting microfiber babies and render them as futile as themselves when it comes to swabbing. A few months ago, Scotch Brite started selling these flat mops made of microfibre cloth. Needless to say, your life becomes easier with these babies. As is common with Indian households, people usually first sweep the floor with a broom and them swab it with wet dusters. Well if you get your hands on these mops, you can forgo sweeping and directly use these mops to round up all kinds of dust, hair and spilled liquids. Its a dream come true for cleanliness freaks like me. ...

Thoughts by the various Dreamers/Innovators/Creators that we met: On inspiration "Inspiration has a shelf life of only one week" - Kiran Bir Sethi (Director, Riverside School ) On hard work and perseverance Be consistent, day in and day out - kids are very receptive and would appreciate seeing you there in the class every morning no matter how the day ended the evening before. "You can't live on the legacy of what you did yesterday" - Dev Tayde (formerly of Indicorps) On finding "your Why" If you are doing what you love, there won't be any burn out because doing what you are doing is no longer optional - you have no choice. - Dev Tayde (formerly of Indicorps) Most of us know our "why" we just struggle to convert our thoughts to action - that is what requires courage. - Dev Tayde (formerly of Indicorps) On intentions "Do right by your children, not what may be right by you" - Kiran Bir Sethi (Director,  River...

Here is the content from a presentation on cognitive dissonance that I delivered in my class of 7th graders Cognitive Dissonance - What makes me sad? What makes me sad? अज्ञान (ignorance) अभाव (absence) अन्याय (injustice) अफसोस (regret) असमंजस (dilemma) What is the reason for irresolution or dilemma? Answer: Cognitive Dissonance. Meaning of the words Cognition the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses. Dissonance lack of harmony among musical notes. In psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time, or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values. The conflict: Roma knows that smoking causes cancer. She still smokes because she enjoys it. …what will Roma do? The conflict: Neeta loves Raj But Raj does not love Neeta ...