Homework Sharing, Why modern Schools need them today?

Tue, 22 Sep 2015 07:18:00 GMT

School is the place where Children grow themselves with the society. School is a close knit community where children learn life skills, quality education, social skills and last have fun with your friends. Every school try to give their best to the community around them. Each school is so unique that they all have different ways to achieve this. Most Schools are successful connecting to the community and a few are still trying. Let me discuss some of the ways Schools have always connected to the community

Gurukula(m) Days (until a century back)

Gurukula or Gurukulam is the most ancient one the best schooling practice, contributed by India to the world. It has been extremely successful until a century or two ago. Still many philosophers think Gurukula is the best way for kids to learn wholesome life skills. Gurukulas spread their values and message mostly through their disciples (or students). Kings, ministers and other higher class society send their children to stay and learn with a renowned Guru for years together. These disciples when they are out of the Gurukulas spread the knowledge and values they learnt. Through the disciples, world came to know about the Guru and their Gurukulas.

Until late 20^th Century …

Last 50 years or so, people (parents) in general have been realizing the importance of school education more than ever. Parents who wants to give their kids a good quality education have been relying on neighbours, friends and relatives to decide on the best school. Word of mouth and references have limitations of reach. The schools were able to reach the crowd to a maximum of probably with the town or city where its located. That was a big change then. When educated philosophers and political leaders came into limelight through media, their place of education inspired so many people. Parents tried put their children in School where great people went for study. A few noted examples would be Mahatma Gandhi, Chacha Nehru, Dr. Sarvapalli Radha Krishnan, Nobel Laureate Sir. C. V. Raman, Great Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujam, Astro physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. Parents wanted to send their children to school where leaders were shaped up. It was truly inspiring. News print Media, Radio and later Television Media played a significant role in spreading the value of Education Centres. Government Schools and Government aided school were the norm giving high quality education for the masses. People moved cities and sometimes different states inorder to get better education.

Current decade (2011-2015 as of this writing) …

Today at the information age, Schools have access to communication tools that were never even thought were possible. Satellite/Cable Televisions, Cell Phones, Computers, Internet, Smart phones, 2G, 3G, 4G are making a huge revolutions in ways people connect and exchange information. We now have the power at our finger tips, to get any information anywhere anytime. What was passed earlier via friends and relatives references, we now look into social networking sites, blogs and online reviews. People now truly have the all the information to make decision themselves. No more influences by friends and relatives.

So why website?

Earlier people liked information to be fed to them. But now, people seek out information. Be it about history or the school, board members, values or school’s past achievements. It becomes very important for school to provide this information. The best medium to start is having school’s own website. Through website School can dissipates its core values, its infra structure, its unique teaching methodologies. Through a website school can lists its achievements, past events, upcoming events. A website connects School with the rest of world who seek to know any information of the school

What is a Homework Sharing, Communication Platform?

We all know that School is tightly knit social community. Teachers, Students, Principal, non-teaching Staffs, Board members and last not the least, the parents of the students, they all interact together with a higher level understanding for the benefit of everyone. When they are within the school campus, they all are well connected. But once Students and Teachers leave the school, are they still connected? How does a School reach its Students or their Parent? How does a Parent reach school management from their home? Having both parent working as norm in this age, it becomes more relevant than ever. Working parents having limited time for kids, want to effectively use it for children education.

If a tool exists, that can make school, teachers, students and parents stay in touch no matter what time of the day is, no matter where they are, no matter which device they use a feature phone or smart phone, Android or iPhone, sms or email, would be very powerful in the hands of new age modern schools. Schools, at the push of a button, should be able to send a message to Parents. Parents will get an SMS on their mobile phone. If they are using smart phone like Android, they will be able to see the message in rich text as well any picture, video or PDF. Or login to school portal to check the messages at the end of the day.

At this mobile internet age of using Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter etc. for schools, data security becomes an important factor. Wizdemy provides tools for always connected messaging platform that provides secured communication. The Wizdemy puts control on School hands to own their own communication platform and provide ecosystem for Teachers and Students to always stay connected.

Grow in Teaching

Fri, 22 May 2015 10:37:00 GMT

Whatever it may be, the New Year provides people with a time to make resolutions that will bring about a positive change in their life. So, I ask you this: if we can do this for ourselves on a personal level, why not do the very same for ourselves professionally, as educators, and for the students we teach every day?

Each year, millions of people, all across the globe, make resolutions. These resolutions are often goals to achieve something personally, whether it is to lose an extra few pounds, exercise daily, or eat right. Whatever it may be, the New Year provides people with a time to make resolutions that will bring about a positive change in their life. So, I ask you this: if we can do this for ourselves on a personal level, why not do the very same for ourselves professionally, as educators, and for the students we teach every day?

The New Year is not only a time for us to change our calendar; it is also a time for change at school. In most schools, the New Year marks the end of the first semester and the beginning of the second. As educators, we should take this time to reflect, set goals, and set a plan of action to bring about positive changes for our students and ourselves.

Reflection

Fine tuning our skills and trying to perfect our art is what makes us innovative, creative, and quality educators. So, here is where I start. In order to make any type of resolutions or goals for myself, I need to take a look back to see the strengths and weaknesses of my teaching practice. What have I done well and what could I have done better?

Set Goals

After this list of strengths and weaknesses has been created, I then sit down to write resolutions and goals for myself. Quite a few factors play into what I want to achieve vs. what is feasible, but ultimately, I have developed a list of goals that I want to achieve for my students and myself. The end goal, therefore, is to have these changes to my teaching practice, affect both my teaching and my students’ learning. This ultimate goal should be kept in every teacher’s mind while completing resolutions during the second semester and beyond.

A Plan of Action

With weight loss, you see your change on the scale. By exercising and eating right, you begin to feel better and have more energy. But, as we are all well aware, how we measure our successes as educators is not necessarily always so clear-cut. From classroom-to-classroom, teacher-to-teacher, school-to-school, each and every situation is different. While writing your goals, it is therefore also important to devise a plan of action. This plan of action is going to be individual to your situation and will be assessed in your classroom and/or school, by means, which you see fit. The plan of action should be something obtainable for you and your students and should also contain a strategic plan of completion.

Sticking With It

The hardest part of any resolution is the follow through. While the idea of losing weight, eating right, and managing that extra tricky classroom can be perfect scenarios in our minds, we often get discouraged along the way there. That is why I encourage you to set a plan that takes you through small increments and goals along the way to reaching your end goal. These small achievements will help to keep you motivated in your quest for the best teaching practice.

A Brighter Future

I am not here to tell you what you need to do and how you should do it to perfect your teaching practice. This problem of practice, course of action, and end goal will be completely devised by you. However, what I can tell you is that, when the end of the year rolls around, you can be one of two teachers. Either you’ll be the teacher that stuck to their guns and didn’t make any changes in their teaching practice, or you’ll be the teacher that was innovative, goal oriented, and willing to make changes for the benefit of your teaching practice and the students’ learning. Let us all choose the latter and work to make 2015 a year of positive change in our classroom and beyond.

wizblog