The Pedagogy Puzzle

Some closing reflections/musings on the ASSET Day Scholar Programme (in no particular order)... Please do go through all the earlier posts before reading on to get a better picture and appreciate what is written below. Here is the first post ; each post has a link to the next post. Flipping the script In most Indian schools and curricula, the final answer (especially in math and science) is what children are rewarded for as that is the easiest metric to evaluate. The thought process is looked at by asking children to write steps (in math) or explain their reasoning (in science) but I have observed that it is not emphasised as much as the final answer. When students get back their test papers in school, the focus is on the marks/grade they obtained and finding out what were the correct answers to questions that they got wrong. In this course, I was upfront with the children about this fact and told them that we would do the reverse. I was far more interested in their though...

On the penultimate day of the programme (May 3rd, 2019), we completed classes by 11 a.m. so as to leave the last two hours (11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.) for a reflection/summing up of the programme followed by preparation for the Open Day. There were a total of 49 students in the programme and each class (comprising 16-17 students) had studied all 7 courses in rotation. The courses were: Developing Logical Thinking Skills through Puzzles Historical Thinking Scientific Inquiry Design Thinking Inclusive Thinking Mathematical Thinking Gamification Students were divided randomly into groups of 7 and each group was assigned to a course. The group was responsible for preparing the stall/exhibits for the course allotted to them in a manner that best brought out their learnings from the course. Parents would be visiting the following day (i.e. May 4th) in the morning to understand what their children had learned over the past 2 weeks.

In this post, I shall highlight aspects of my sessions with Section Gamma that were different from Alpha and Beta. By now, you must be familiar with the puzzles and structure of the course from the previous posts so I will build on that... Here is how my time with Gamma was spent: Session Time Key Activities 1 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. on 1/5 Introduction with code  + course expectations 2 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. on 2/5 Discussion of course expectations +  Slitherlink  +  session feedback 3 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. on 2/5 Dominoes  + Logical Thinking Quiz + session feedback 4 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. on 3/5 Dissection  +  Kakuro  + end course feedback Based on my observations with Alpha and Beta, the kids found Slitherlink the most challenging puzzle in the course; so, for Gamma, I put it at the start of the day and as a standalone puzzle so that the children could get ...

Let me recap where we stand based on the previous post ... My time with Section Beta went like this: Session Time Key Activities 1 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. on 20/4 Introduction with code  + course expectations 2 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. on 22/4 Discussion of course expectations +  Slitherlink  +  Dissection  + session feedback 3 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. on 22/4 Kakuro  +  Logical Thinking Quiz  + session feedback 4 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. on 23/4 Dominoes  +  Logical Elimination  + end course feedback In Part 1, I discussed the pedagogical changes made in sessions 1 and 2 with Alpha based on feedback and logistics of the session: Session Time Key Activities 1 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. on 25/4 Introduction with code...

To appreciate the thoughts behind the changes I made while planning for section Alpha, I strongly suggest reading the 5 posts on the sessions with Beta - 4 session posts ( one , two , three , four ) + 1 post on the end-course feedback . This will allow you to compare and contrast my time with the two classes and understand the mindset and decision making process of a teacher! 😃 One great aspect of this ASSET Day Scholar Programme was being able to deliver the same course to 3 different sections. As a teacher, this allowed me to test the waters with the first section (for me, that was section Beta) and understand what went well and what could be improved. Having a couple of days between the end of my time with Beta and the first class with Alpha allowed me to reorganise a few aspects of the plan to enhance its effectiveness. Some logistical information is given below that is an important backdrop to understanding the planning. Session Section Beta Sec...

As a teacher, I have always valued feedback - I have written about how I used feedback during my 3 years of teaching in Pune in this post on instructional practices and also in earlier posts of this series. I firmly believe that feedback from my students provides useful insights into how I can improve as a teacher while keeping a two-way channel of communication open. It also conveys to them that I value their opinion and that I shouldn't be put on a pedestal simply because I am the teacher. The last 15 minutes of our final session (discussed in the previous post ) was dedicated to my students filling out end course feedback forms. I designed these forms (3 pages) to have a mix of rating questions and free response type questions. My only request of the kids was that they be as sincere, critical and honest as possible!

In our fourth (and final) session, which was on the day after the third session , I gave children to choice to sit in 7 pairs of two and 1 group of 3 with the only condition being that they sit in a part of the class different from where they sat yesterday. Once again, I would recommend reading this post on a computer/laptop or tablet with a big screen to appreciate our classroom work . After discussing the feedback from the previous session (mostly positive but with some concerns raised about wanting more time to do the puzzles), we began with our first puzzle of the day - Dominoes . I designed this puzzle to be done in pairs with one set of puzzles for every two kids.

In our third session, which immediately followed the second one , children sat with the same partners who they worked on the Slitherlinks with. Once again, I would recommend reading this post on a computer/laptop or tablet with a big screen to appreciate the student work . Kakuro , in my opinion, was a more challenging puzzle than Slitherlink . It required fluency in mental addition and subtraction up to the number 45. Keeping this aspect in mind, I decided to explain the rules and model a puzzle for the kids. I gave each of them this sheet. Note the choice of puzzle - small numbers and sums that will not intimidate children and thus give them the mental space to familiarise themselves with the rules.

For our second session, my students walked into class to find these instructions on the board... Take a minute to read the board to understand how I tried to bring in core course elements in an aspect of class beyond the puzzles ( I would recommend reading this post on a computer/laptop or tablet with a big screen to appreciate the student work ).

No! Se tgsk oy ynxkegy gtj ck'rr hk yurbotm yusk kdiozotm vaffrky ubkx znoy iuaxyk zu cuxq ut jkbkruvotm uax rumoigr znotqotm yqorry. O nuvk zngz ck ngbk g mxkgz zosk jaxotm znk tkdz lkc ckkqy! :-) Tuc, znotq... cne joj O inuuyk znoy gy znk loxyz gizoboze ul znoy iuaxyk?

The ASSET Day Scholar Programme  (ADS) is a two-week long exploratory programme in Bangalore that began on April 18th, 2019. It is being conducted by Educational Initiatives Pvt. Ltd. - the company that I currently work with. Children, entering grades 6 and 7, are taking courses that are 6-10 hours in length on a plethora of subjects ranging from scientific enquiry to historical thinking. Students were selected for the programme based on their performance in the ASSET Talent Search examination - an annual talent identification test.