Reflections on Learning Spectrum by a teacher to-be

There has been a tremendous change in the way elements of a learning environment are being used these days. Where a black board was once used primarily by a teacher, it is now used as a sort of enlarged note pad – utilized equally by teachers and students to pen thoughts, ideas, key words and even doodle meaningfully.

When the term bulletin board is mentioned, I tend to think of the displayed class time-table – courtesy, the most creative student of the class, in addition to some assorted art work. But is there any learning happening on such a board? As teachers we must realize that learners come with plenty of hidden potential and we should tap into that potential to plan and deliver lessons through the bulletin board. Teaching Math using puzzles and quiz featured on the class bulletin board is something I am seriously thinking about trying when I begin teaching.

Newspaper in education calls for re-thinking on the part of schools in general and teachers in particular. What is the use of mere news reading if we are not paving the way for active learning wherein the gap between classroom and real world maybe bridged. Newspapers have always fascinated me for the ways in which it could be put to use. During the workshop on Learning Spectrum, when we were given newspapers to solve problems in Math, Science and Language, all I could think about was a project I did when I was a class 10 student. It involved comparing different news papers on the coverage given to politics, sports, advertisement, local news and entertainment in terms of percentages and area.

                                     (Using newspapers to teach Mensuration)

All it takes to enhance the teaching-learning experience is to improvise our teaching methods and actually listen to the student and incorporate those ideas on ways he or she would like to be taught!!