In fact, Ms. Prasad realized that if students could understand how landforms influence the lifestyle of people, their level of
understanding of the world around them would increase. This would lead to greater tolerance and promotion of
‘World Peace’.
Hence, it was of prime importance for that lesson to be taught effectively.
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Ms. Prasad explained the way she went about it. She started with the basic knowledge of difference in landform of the state of
West Bengal and asked her class to compare it to that of “West of Northern
Plains”. Her aim to bring them closer to the topic of the day --
‘Thar Desert’ was nearly achieved, as the students responded with
‘Desert’ being the landform of “West of Northern Plains”.
Tapping the past knowledge of students, she was successful at obtaining the correct answer i.e.
‘Sahara’ being the largest Desert. Here she brought the world in their classroom by showing multidimensional video clipping from Encarta 2001. Wherein, students in
her words “traversed across the desert”. To keep them focused a variety of questions were asked relating to the type of landform,
transport and water bodies. Finally, leading them to the main question –
“Name of a desert in their country”. |
This was followed by a slide-show. Where the students participated rather than being just viewers, as they were made to point out
the position of ‘Thar in the first-slide that showed the map of India. Terms like
oasis, sand dunes, and extreme climates were
discussed. Hyperlink in slides was used for reference, recall and revision.
Interesting links to economy of a desert were shown through presentation on
‘Camel Safari’. A synthesis was brought about by
asking them to explain as to why the ‘Camel is called Ship of the
Desert’. Cross syllabus relationship were discussed with topics
like tourism, handicrafts, marble, sandstone and other means of livelihood offered by the geography of a state. Science topics of
interest also sneaked in the geography classroom, when students were asked to reflect, as to why only cactus thrives in deserts.
Students were kept on their toes (and literally fingers), as some slides required them to type in related information like naming two
sandstones, two handicrafts etc.
Latest developments in the state, like the mention of Indira Gandhi Canal were also made. Starting here the scaffold was ready to
be showed by students. What followed ahead was a journey of research, teamwork, creative instincts, fun, organizational skills,
time management etc.
They were divided into ten groups with four boys each. Completion time of a fortnight and scoring guide was given. Assignment
involved lots of activities like composing poems on the Desert/Rajputs, devising crossword puzzles, finding out how Rajasthan got
its name, identifying the reason for its being a tourist attraction, describing the food, festivals, textiles, jewellery etc.All the above
had to be presented finally in the form of a newsletter.
Ms. Prasad didn’t stop with this. She persisted to satisfy the basic urge of a teacher to make sure the learning had really come
through. A quiz was conducted after the above activity. She was satisfied with the output received from students and gave credit to
the Technology Aided Learning style adopted for teaching the topic.
The Birla High School , Kolkata has separate labs for junior and senior sections. Other interesting provisions are computers on
trolleys for wheeling in to different classrooms for use. LCD projector, computerized library are also part of the advancing
methodologies. According to Ms. Prasad, the school provides a congenial atmosphere for fun-filled learning .The management and
heads encourage the teachers to keep abreast themselves with different methodologies. Hence, welcoming technology with open
arms ..
Most of the students hail from business family backgrounds. They use English as a medium of communication and select Hindi or
Bangla during vernacular classes. The school being in Kolkata brings alive the memories of Nobel laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore.
Kolkata also boasts of its architectural marvels like Victoria Memorial and Cathedral church. History comes alive on its Chitpur road
with monuments like Nakhoda Masjid and Jorashakho Thakur Bari surrounding it.
Many foreigners choose to reside in Sudder Street .One cannot forget to mention the hand pulled rickshaws, as during rains it
becomes the frequently used means of transport.
She shared a secret with us that all students might get after their parents to take them to Rajasthan or any other desert in the
coming vacations. Well, they should be prepared for sipping tea in kullars at Railway stations, they could also stumble upon the
‘Chokha system,’ the effective method adopted by Laporia and other villages of Rajasthan to trap rain water –
“the fuel of life”. Are
you and your students ready to alight on a new journey too?
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