The original song...

Some of you may not have seen the 'School Chale Hum' Ad that used to come on TV in India, about education to all. Here is the youtube link to this great short film.

When going gets tough...

I had to do a tight-rope walk in giving Maths sums in the class. Give simple problems and fast-learners get impatient. Give tough problems and slow-learners are lost. Soon the class would end in disarray. This went on for a while till I got the idea of - "Star" problem !

Start with simple problem that everyone can solve, and make it progressively difficult. At the end comes the Star-problem, which is challenging. Fast-learners look forward to the star-sum. Slow-learner don't need to do the Star-sum, instead get this additional time to catch-up with the back-log of sums. This made the class-room much quiet and organized.

A teacher-friend however suggested that I do the star-sum in the middle of the period. And give a problem that every one can solve at the end of the class. Why ? because it's important to leave children with positive feelings in the end. This seem to work even better.

On a recent open-day at school, I heard from parents that kids seem increasingly enjoying maths. Much thanks to my teacher-friend.