News

DAY-1 (23rd May 2022)

 To empower and infuse fresh energy in the teachers, Faculty development program got kick started on 23rd May 2022. In the opening address by the Chairman, Dr.Mohan Manghnani, made all teachers comprehend the challenges that would emerge in new session. He also made every teacher to deliberate and focus on the solutions and emphasized on being role models for young students. New teachers and the existing staff were oriented with the amendments in the existing rules of the institution by HR, Ms. Sulochana and by Mr.Jayashankar, Head of Accounts Dept. The day’s program concluded with a sumptuous luncheon for all teachers.

DAY-2 (24th May 2022)

 Workshop on Creative Teaching Techniques and Communication Skills

Innovative teaching techniques augment and enrich the learning experiences in the classrooms. Diverging from the conventional teaching methodology is the need of the hour to build competencies at every level of schooling. Ms.Sheelu Rao,ACT

,Bangalore emphasized on the need and scope of various creative teaching techniques such as mind mapping, hot seating, snow balling and others which make learning more student- centric and long lasting.

Session on communication skills empowered all teachers to strengthen their competency levels. Resource person, Ms. Jayapriya, deliberated on various significant aspects of effective communication which are often neglected through engaging activities and role plays.

Workshop on Thinking Classrooms through questioning

Using questions to teach has been a cornerstone of education for centuries to assess students’ knowledge, promote comprehension, and stimulate critical thinking. Students learn to think in thoughtful classrooms where they enthusiastically grapple with important issues by considering multiple perspectives, developing informed opinions, and effectively communicating their opinions to others.

The insightful session by Ms. Chetana C H, senior faculty, ACT; focused on inquiry- based learning, in which students can exercise their thinking muscles on authentic

problems, providing an ideal structure for infusing reflective synthesis into curriculum content. It was aptly pointed how well-crafted questions lead to new insights, generate discussion, and promote the comprehensive exploration of subject matter. The workshop helped the teachers to understand the taxonomy of questions; providing strategies for formulating effective assessment tools, exploring practical considerations to enhance student engagement and promote active thinking.

Lower-order, convergent questions rely on students’ factual recall of prior knowledge while higher-order, divergent questions promote deep thinking, requiring students to analyse and evaluate concepts. Through eclectic activities it was further emphasised that, student-initiated questions increase higher-order learning by requiring them to analyse information, connect seemingly disparate concepts, and articulate their thoughts. Effective questions asked in a psychologically safe learning environment support student learning by probing for understanding, encouraging creativity, and enhancing confidence. The workshop acted as a beacon for our teachers to turn their classrooms into experiential learning environments.

Workshop on creating a vibrant classroom

A thought-provoking training session on creating vibrant classrooms was facilitated by Ms. Jayapriya, senior faculty, ACT. The speaker emphasized that a vibrant classroom environment refers to a place where students’ minds are intrinsically stimulated for learning by multi-modal means of learning each new concept and when opportunities for higher-order thinking/questioning are given a platform.The more students’ interests and senses are piqued, the more engaged they’ll become with the content being taught. It’s difficult for students to remain active in the learning process when content is uninteresting, appears irrelevant, or requires countless hours of filling out worksheets.

DAY-3 Teachers’ Conclave at ISKCON (25th May 2022)

On Wednesday, May 25th, the management of New Horizon Gurukul organised a visit to the ISKCON Temple, Bengaluru. The facilitators of New Horizon Gurukul got the opportunity to visit the temple for the Teacher’s Conclave after a two-year hiatus. The captivating darshan and the constant chanting of Hare Rama, Hare Krishna detached the staff from the outside world. The spiritual ambience filled the hearts with positivity.With a lively kirtan, the ISKCON teachers began the Teacher’s Conclave. The gathering was graced by the profound words of Prabhu Sathyasankalpa Dasa. Discussing the ‘Characteristics of a Great Teacher’, he gave examples of renowned gurus like Dronacharya and Narada to illustrate the importance of being a liberal and empathetic teacher.

Mr. Alok Bhimesh, Executive Director NIVE, spoke on the national and worldwide challenges encountered by the students. He discussed the importance of value-based education in keeping our youth grounded and connected to our cultural roots. He emphasised the need for character building in students, which is instilled by a value- based education. The staff had a lively and thoughtful discussion about it which was followed by annual report 2021-22 presentation by Ms. Yadhushaila, Senior Manager, NIVE.The programme was concluded by the principal of New Horizon Gurukul with a vote of thanks. A relishing and sumptuous lunch was served for the teachers at, The Higher Taste sattvic restaurant in ISKCON temple.

DAY 4 -Creative Teaching Strategies in subjects (26th May 2022)

Creative Teaching in English

 On the 26th of May, 2022, New Horizon Gurukul had organised a workshop on Creative Teaching of English for Grade 1 to 10 English Subject Teachers. Resource person ,Ms Sreedevi Warrior Adjunct Faculty at ACT, with her expertise enlightened the participants on the ways to integrate 4C’s (Collaboration, Communication, Creative Thinking & Critical Thinking) in teaching strategies.

Bloom’s Taxonomy and the different stages of thinking were emphasized. Having explained the three domains of learning i.e. Cognitive, Affective and Psycho Motor Domain, resource person, Ms Jayashree indulged the teachers in group learning and independent learning tasks the advanced graphic organisers.

Creative Teaching in Science

In a six hour-long workshop of creative teaching of science, various innovative strategies based on experiential learning and inquiry based learning were deliberated. Resource person, Ms Sheelu Rao shed light on the importance of student-centric approach with various engaging activities and analysis of simulations. 5 E approach and Inquiry based learning was the crux of the workshop. Various intricate details of creating enriching learning environments and relevant activities were discussed in detail. In the afternoon session, various activities engaged all participants to ponder over the science behind every pedagogical method to enhance the learning curve. From designing experiment variables to standard assessment techinques, the speaker made all science teachers to comprehend the basis of science learning with her unique way of delivery and presentation.

Creative Teaching in Maths

The need of a paradigm shift in the strategies used to teach Mathematics effectively was discussed with various activities in the workshop for all maths teachers. Resource person, Ms.Veena Mani deliberated on teaching through hands-on activities, which were very motivating and engaging as well as effective. It was very amazing indeed to see that a simple origami activity with newspaper can be used to teach concepts from simple ones like shapes to ratio, area and even irrational numbers. The afternoon session started with a treasure hunt, based on various concepts in Arithmetic. The do’s and don’ts for being able to create a thinking class were discussed with reasoning. The need for IBL (Inquiry based learning) to develop CTPS (critical thinking and problem solving) skills was emphasised. The session proved to be a “Thinking Classroom”.

Creative Teaching in Languages ( Kannada and Hindi)

In the workshops conducted for Hindi and Kannada, constructive approach in education was the prime focus. Various activities to enhance this method of learning and teaching were discussed . All sessions made the teacher participants get completely engaged and learn through collaborative methods.

DAY 5 –NEP 2020 and 21st Century Skills (27th May 2022)

Resource person Ms.Sheelu Rao took all participants to various aspects of National Education Policy. Various changes and implementation strategies at different levels of schooling were discussed in detail. The session left all teachers with a new leash of energy to move forward ushering in novel change in the education system.In the afternoon session, the need and significance of 21st century skills were discussed by Ms.Jayashri, ACT, Bangalore. With role plays, and heightened elements of humour she elaborated on the various 21st century skills that help students to adjust and adapt to fast evolving world.