TED Talks week by Shivam House

TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a global set of conferences run by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, under the slogan “Ideas Worth Spreading”. It offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world’s most inspired thinkers, and an opportunity to curious souls to engage with ideas and each other. They address a wide range of topics within the research and practice of science, culture and academic topics, often through storytelling. The speakers are given about 18 minutes to present their ideas in the most innovative and engaging ways they can. Speakers range from Malcolm Gladwell, Al Gore, Gordon Brown, Bill Gates, Mike Rowe, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and many Nobel Prize winners etc…Shivam House had the opportunity to explore and spread the awareness of some of the most happening and cutting edge technology of the world with all. The house stands by a strong belief that ideas can influence and inspire a change in attitudes, lives and finally, the world. Some of the videos shown to children were as mentioned below:

Children were astounded to see the videos and listened to the talks with utmost curiosity. Every day after listening to these talks they expressed their curiosity by asking a lot of questions to their teachers in the class. They were inspired and promised to explore the site ted.com to watch more videos and get more information of things happening around the world.

Incidentally, it was a matter of honour for the house that 8th October, Wednesday, marked the 82nd anniversary of the Indian Air Force. On this day, all were introduced briefly to the history and achievements of this glorious establishment and some videos were shown that highlighted the contribution and might of the Indian Air Force.

Thus, students’ awareness, thinking capacity and imagination grew many folds.

Written by: Shivam House Team

Spell – Bee Bash at AVM

The 21st century is full of technology that is designed to help us communicate. However, some of this technology may in fact contribute to poor communication skills. Think of Twitter – while it’s a great way to provide short updates and notices, the 140-character limit means that people frequently abbreviate their words. Because our brains are designed to recognize and comprehend patterns, v r abl 2 undrstnd msgs&wrds w/o all the ltrs in them, lk this 4 exmpl!!!!!!!!!!!
This issue is particularly important for children these days, who are growing up surrounded by this new form of abbreviated communication. There’s no doubt, though, that teaching children how to correctly spell words, and how to train them to continue to improve their spelling, is a critical part for teachers from the earliest grades onwards. But students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir are made aware of the fact that how poor vocabulary and misspelled words have alarming and detrimental effect on communication; With this wakefulness they recently participated in the World Spelling Day 2012 held on 5th March 2012, which is designed with a purpose to help the school going children to improve their spelling, enhance their vocabulary, understand phonetics and perfect their grammar.

Test of English is an integral part of most competitive examinations and recruitment processes world over. The English Department of AVM is effortful to enable the students on various aspects including comprehension, vocabulary, verbal analogy, sentence skills, grammar usage and the World Spelling Day proved to a medium to inculcate the same.

The World Spelling Day competition is not just a great opportunity for students to have fun but it can also improve students’ core skills. Over the last three years, students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir have shown good improvement in speed and accuracy in the World Spelling Day games, making it a powerful way to improve and develop their effective communication skills, comprehension and usage of words that will help to fulfill their quest for academic knowledge.

For the World Spelling Day 2012, students were given their own personal online games login ID which was supportive to match up with other students of similar age from various parts of the world to face live challenges. Students earned points for correct answers, with their tally growing as the challenge continues. The games were open to students aged 4years to 18years. 

Sahishnu Patel (age group 14-18) who was the Indian Ambassador for the World Education Games 2012 stood 89th in the world and 4th in India.
All spelling tests of World Spelling Day were coupled with typing drills. Students were to complete the test by spell and typing every word correctly. This world level spelling competition is meant to create an awareness of the necessity to spell and pronounce words correctly; it also develops enthusiasm amongst students to learn new words.
ALL THE BEST to the students for the upcoming final exams with an expectation that poor grades due to spelling mistakes is a far off reality for them now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Mega Math Mania at AVM

Many of us think why sweat calculating in the mind, when we have easy tools like calculators handy? Though we all have cars, we run jog and walk for physical exercise. Similarly, Mental Calculation is a mental exercise for the brain. Research has proven that there is a direct relation between numbers and brain stimulation and development.

Here, at Atmiya Vidya Mandir, the students took another opportunity participating in the World Maths Day 2012, an event which runs as a global challenge set to trigger calculation frenzy amongst children and teenage competitors. WMD is a mathematical puzzle contest where a sound knowledge of mathematics together with speedy calculations is essential to solve problems. AVM students appeared in this competition for the third time in a row, in the last three years.
Results of the World Maths Day 2012
Team
Name
Age Group
World Rank
Archimedes9
9 To 11
8th
Newton6
6 To 8
8th
Ramanujan3
3 To 5
12th
Fibonacci9
9 To 11
24th
Aryabhatta1
1 and 2
40th

Prashant Gupta (age group 11-13) of Class 8A stood 87th worldwide and 11th in India.

Set to take place from 6-8th March, this worldwide competition had seen 5.5 million children competing from around the world from over 200 countries and territories. It was a worth seeing scene in the computer labs of the school that children typing or striking the right key finding it just a means and not an end; it is their computing and calculating skill which leads to an efficient and quick solution. The technical skill helps children to strengthen and improve their mathematical competence in calculating with speed, and of course accuracy.

The motivation behind this Mathmania is to provide a platform for the students to delve into unfamiliar areas and learn new ways in a fun and recreational context. The Mathematics Department of the school has a wonderful team of dedicated teachers like Prabhumagna Sir, Swayam Madam, Deepika Madam, Suhani Madam, Bhavna Madam, and Mrugesh Sir who created this opportunity as a great way for kids to show off their new math skills and share their passion for math and learning with other students.

The participation in this competition was with a purpose of allowing our students to gain valuable experiences through the process of competition and evaluation and to develop their talents and have a platform for their God-given abilities.

AVM’s wonder becomes Indian Ambassador for 2012 World Education Games

It is a matter of pride for Atmiya Vidya Mandir that one of our students Sahishnu Patel has been selected as an Indian Ambassador for the upcoming 2012 World Education Games.
It is also a great pleasure for us that Krapi from Sarvanaman Vidya Mandir also got selected as another of the total three Indian Ambassadors for this event.
Congratulations to them on this achievement, at the same time, best wishes to all the participants all over the world for the competition in March 2012.
Memories of the WMD 2011 awards distribution ceremony at Atmiya Vidya Mandir have been published on the official World Education Games blog: http://blog.worldeducationgames.com/?p=4174

World Maths Day & World Spelling Day Award Ceremony – 2011

On 9th July, Atmiya Vidya Mandir celebrated, the much awaited, World Maths Day & World Spelling Day Award Ceremony. The award ceremony was organized by Australian e-Learning company 3P Learning.

In 2011, World Maths Day (WMD) was joined by World Spelling Day (WSD). World Spelling Day, the latest event as part of the World Education Games, was organized by the creative team behind Mathletics, Spellodrome and World Maths Day. In his review, Genevieve Darnley, Director of the World Education Games, said, “Anyone can play; this event is for all spellers, not just the experts. This is an exciting way to get involved in literacy, and unite the world in learning.”

Students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir participated in both the events and made their mark in the International Arena, where 1,298,234 students and 22,785 schools from 212 countries had participated in WMD; and 509,500 students and 19,215 schools from 212 countries had participated in WSD.

In WMD, four out of nine teams held 2nd, 3rd, 7th & 10th rank in the world; whereas the other five teams held 14th, 22nd, 27th, 32nd & 33rd ranks in the world. Therefore, we had four teams in the first 10 ranks and nine teams in the first 50 ranks in the world.

Similarly, in the WSD, four out of eight teams held 1st, 2nd, 6th & 8th rank in the world; whereas the other four teams held 13th, 22nd, 36th & 43rd ranks in the world. Therefore, we had four teams in the first 10 ranks and 8 teams in the first 50 ranks in the world.

To honour the champions and motivate the students, Mr. D N Dhanuka, the CEO and Director of Mathletics, India, Mr. Vikrant Agarwal, the Marketing Manager of Mathletics, India and Mr. Pradeep Nair, the Business Manager of Mathletics, India had come as the representatives of the Australian e-Learning company 3P Learning. We also had Pujya Sinha Sir, who is the Principal of Delhi Public School, Harni, Baroda and very renowned educationist, to honour and motivate the students. Pujya Fuvaji was also present with us to honour, bless and motivate the students.

The award ceremony began with the poojan of Thakorji and a devotional bhajan (Rabindra Sangeet) sung by the students of grade 5 to 10. Then, the chief guests were welcomed by offering garlands and bouquets.

In his address to the students, Dhanuka Sir said that the philosophy behind the World Education Games was to get students around the world as excited about math and spelling as they were about sport. Moreover, the World Spelling Day aspired to encourage students of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to have a go at spelling in a fun, interactive and accessible way.

Mr. Agarwal exclaimed that World Spelling Day and UNICEF have joined forces to harness the potential of the event and help give children around the world access to quality learning. He expressed his happiness for the students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir for scoring the first rank in the world in the age group 14 to 18.

The Champions and the participants received their awards and certificates, amidst huge rounds of applauds and music, from the chief guests, Mr. Dhanuka, Mr. Agarwal, Mr. Nair, Pujya Sinha Sir, Pujya Fuvaji and Pujya Haresh Sir. The students also had the opportunity to get a group picture with the chief guests.

Thereafter, Pujya Sinha Sir addressed the students saying that success goes to those who believe that they can succeed. He motivated the students by sharing the real life incidences of successful people.

The award ceremony ended with the vote of thanks presented by the Principal, Dr. Vijay Patel. He gave very special thanks to the 3P learning team for all their endeavours in organizing WMD & WSD, as both these events roused the interest of the students in Math and English. He said that the students learnt the cubes and cube roots from 2 to 25 in order to win; which was a very difficult task to accomplish in the classroom. Besides, WSD generated the awareness in students about the significance of spellings. He exclaimed that because of the WSD, the English vocabulary of the students also increased by many folds. Eventually, he thanked the Math and English teachers and the students for their hard work.

Everybody was excited and motivated to bring more laurels the next year.

Written by: Paras Sir

The use of Technology in Teaching

I was watching a football show the other day and the pundits on the show were debating on the use of technology on the football pitch. The topic caught my attention instantly as there were major debates on the same issue in cricket as well.

One of the gentleman on the show strongly supported the use of technology and criticized the referees who at times make the wrong decisions and grab the headline on tabloids the next day. The other gentleman voted against it by citing the fact that human touch is required on the football pitch as it adds excitement and add uncertainty in the game which is required. He also argued that to many referals for the TV umpire can break the continuity of the game.
That discussion got me thinking on the use of technology in the field of teaching. In last year i along with my colleagues have been on the road for training on teaching. During that we had the privilege of meeting and talking to scholar teachers and trainers in the field of education. And it was evident that there were 2 different views on the use of technology in teaching.
I thought it would be very interesting and important for me to analyze these views as a teacher. One of the views and which is very widely popular all over is to support and encourage the use of technology. Use of videos, presentations, animations as teaching aids while teaching students. I can not help but give my thumps up for this. The reason being i always felt being a student that listening to an audio or watching a video always helps to understand the concept better. I can go on and write whole lot of statements supporting this view, but before i do that let me put across the other view.
The other view which of course does not encourage the use of technology in great extent. This view is mainly from the management perspective. The management of the schools are ready to splash money to bring these technologies to their schools and make their school a better place for students. But at the same time what they don’t want is their teachers’ lake of preparations for the teaching different topics. They think that playing a video or showing a presentation will make it very easy for the teachers and they won’t work harder. One of the other concerns is that teachers become very dependent on technology and which cannot be a good thing.
Again a very valid point from management perspective. Both the views are very strong and have points to be considered like those football pundits on the TV show. But here is what i am thinking.
I think we need to strike a right balance to use the technology very effectively for the benefit of the students. At the end of the day teaching learning process is more about the learners than it is about the teachers. Having said that i would also like to see the use of traditional chalk and talk method being used in the class room. It is very important that students and teachers make that connection during the process and i think chalk and talk method can provide that opportunity to both sets.
Instead of replacing black(white boards) with projectors and LCDs, i would like to use them as a supplement to the black board teaching. The concepts which are difficult should be taught using these technological teaching aids. I think this way we can keep the management happy without affecting the quality of teaching with the technological advancements around.
Coming back to the use of technology in sports, i strongly believe that we should use technology but to empower the umpires or the referees on the field and not to replace them.
What do you guys say?:)

Are kids Safe Online?

How many parents, teachers and mentors are worried when they see their little ones surfing online on their own?

Yes, very much…. would be the answer of all.

Then the very next question that would come to their mind would be: how can we help the children learn what is right and good for them and have a control over what they can do online?

Bewildered by the same question, Kidzui was formed. Kidzui is a web browser built for children, which is easy to use with access to large set of diverse online content and activities. Above all, the basic version of this web browser is FREE !!!!! for all.

This is not just any other product which was created to build a fortune, but a serious product because it was built with input from a diverse team of teachers and parents who went online and found the best content around for kids. The best part is that the parents and the teachers can approve the content that they want their kids to enjoy and this can be done easily without applying the buggy filters that block content. So give it a try and make learning fun for your kids.

There are some other popular sites like these which are worth attention of everyone who takes education seriously and are as follows:

www.4kids.org
: Videos, Games and a lot of information for both kids and teachers.
www.4teachers.org A wide variety of easy to use resources for teachers.
www.totlol.com This is a video site powered by google which has loads of content for children.
www.dimdima.com Excellent Moral based stories and more..
Nortel LearnIT A very good site with interesting resources for teachers and kids.
Oracle Think Quest Education Foundation Worth visiting… Students can create projects online.
Teachers Tap Professional Development Resources for Educators.

Enjoy and Keep Sharing !!!!!!!!!!!