tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77452217945888430512012-01-29T20:08:26.514+05:30Welcome to my blog. It's a simple platform on which I like to share my views related to K-12 education (and sometimes on general non-political issues). Hope you find the blog interesting. Thanks.Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.comBlogger871100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-6545521158725595382012-01-29T19:46:00.001+05:302012-01-29T19:47:33.600+05:30

Recently I came across a news report about Apple's new author support software.  The information seems to be very encouraging to a wide range of professionals including K-12 teachers, managers and authors. However when looking at the apps available for free download at the website, I think that a lot more needs to  be done by Apple to make it fully useful.   If  used properly, the support can

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-3109467250877597562012-01-28T20:33:00.001+05:302012-01-29T19:56:22.787+05:30

Peter Minter taught Design Technology and I taught Physics in a Southern African school. We were members of a multinational team of teachers (from Australia to Zimbabwe). Peter was a very softspoken person; his wife Pam was a homemaker. They too resided in the staff quarters. Sometimes when Minters went on outings I had the pleasure of feeding the fishes in their aquarium. As we were of the same

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When we have long weekends or holidays, it is not usually easy to go for outings and  enjoy communicating with nature in highly polluted places such as Chennai where I live.  This is one of the reasons why I have always liked to live in villages (or towns such as those in which I worked during my tenure in Africa many years back). This evening, I just recalled an enjoyable visit to the gigantic 

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Today being republic day, I took leave from my office.  During lunch, I came across Sir Richard Attenborough's award winning movie `Gandhi' in which Ben  Kingsley acts as charismatic Bapuji. It was a touching movie. Although I have never seen Gandhiji, I belong to a generation in which national leaders continued to be respected for right reasons. When we look back into all the years since

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-55548574152823261812012-01-22T19:04:00.004+05:302012-01-22T19:09:40.806+05:30

Day before yesterday, as I was sipping tea during the office teabreak, I happened to read a news report on the financial situation of Eastman Kodak Limited. Though I and numerous photography enthusiasts like me may not have anything do with the company, the report took me back to my middle school days when my father gave a kodak box camera as a compensation to the assistance which I rendered when

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-15555238490446259212012-01-15T21:52:00.004+05:302012-01-15T22:11:42.222+05:30

If you turn the pages of K-12 curriculum documents of many coutries, you can find a close knit connection between their culture, arts and the school curriculum. With the absense of value education and arts periods in many of our schools, it is not only important to develop quality curricula but also lesson materials connected to our Indian culture, traditions and art forms across subjects. I had

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-29964032456615734372012-01-08T19:55:00.002+05:302012-01-15T22:20:35.046+05:30

I'm glad that I can spend some time on my blog (as I am typing my post), after  many days. Live programme of the Global Music Festival organised by L Subramanian (one of the most accomplished violinists at a global level) and held at Bangalore last night and a media news report  about the official visit of Mrs Kamla Persad Bissessar, Indian origin PM of Trinidad, were some of the interesting 

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-4460690325451388232011-12-25T20:15:00.004+05:302012-01-10T07:48:42.624+05:30

Hello friends. After several days, I could find time to write this evening. In one of my posts I had mentioned as to how I used to receive FM broadcasting stations from distant transmitters by fiddling around my TV and radio-receiver antennae, when working in Southern Africa. Thanks to my Nikon TW2, I could get a snapshot, as shown below, of how such a fiddling actually looked like. (Please

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-72610711967169900952011-12-11T19:49:00.001+05:302011-12-11T19:52:14.407+05:30

Total lunar eclipse, which took place from 6.16 to 9.48 PM last night was an important astronomical and spiritual event to Hindus. 

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-36587445818175860212011-12-04T21:47:00.000+05:302011-12-04T21:47:17.052+05:30

After several weeks, I had time to perform Shaaligraama Pooja to my heart's content this morning. Even this very exeperience is difficult to  express in words. I think that such is the divine power of Shree Hari.  

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-90597199293349458932011-11-29T13:01:00.003+05:302012-01-10T07:49:16.642+05:30

Though we are flooded  with education technology tools to help us reach children in their classrooms, appropriate fiction has always been an effective tool in classroom interactions. The role of science fiction  as an effective aid in teaching abrstact concepts is rather well known. I remember having used films such as `Fantastic Voyage' based on the popular novel of the same name by the Russian

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-46135574441083073632011-11-26T19:53:00.007+05:302011-11-27T11:48:20.051+05:30

This afternoon I happened to watch 'Gyan Dharshan' programme telecast by the Educational Broadcasting Division of our National TV. It was a Samskrit language class for high school students. Though I am not well versed in the language, I like the language very much and follow the contents to whatever extent possible, because the language evokes a spiritual feeling in me.   As any good classroom,

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-64473730166141230422011-11-20T19:27:00.001+05:302011-11-20T19:30:45.998+05:30

After several weeks, I happened to bump in to a softrock music material on the internet a few minutes back and read some write-up on Mary Hopkins, one of my favourite singers. The write-up took me back on a nostalgic journey through the late '60s  to Mary's melodious rendering of Those were the days. It was released in 1968 and remained among top ten hits for several weeks in BBC's `Top Tweny'

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-39963021788986658352011-11-13T19:20:00.007+05:302011-11-13T19:41:32.804+05:30

However fluent we may be in English, some times it so happens that we don't get the right word when we communicate to others. Many of us encounter this problem when we are out of touch with the language. This difficulty is more pronounced if we don't read regularly.  If you talk to youngsters of today, you can easily find that they are relatively far more precise in what they want to say or

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-76419616669736550352011-11-09T20:22:00.001+05:302011-11-09T21:59:06.402+05:30

I have always liked many of the songs written and sung by The Beatles.Their music had a profound influence on tens of thousands of youngsters in the '60s. I was one among them. This evening, I happened to read an interesting interview by George Harrison about Krishna Consciousness. 

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-79446526371422316242011-11-09T19:57:00.004+05:302011-11-10T22:03:18.864+05:30

I have been using yahoo mail for many years and the social networking site facebook for a few years. While it is beyond any shadow of doubt that such sites are very useful, they cause problems, at times. Like most people of my age, I was brought up by strict parents who always expected a high level of discipline from their children. This has had a profound influence on my mindset. Naturally, I

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-65862187518895073472011-10-29T20:31:00.007+05:302011-11-29T12:40:34.478+05:30

When I watch some good programmes in English on TV, I am sometimes unable to follow what the speaker says. Probably you have had the same experience. I think that the difficulty is due to two reasons: (i) speaking without pauses at the right time and (ii) using inappropriately perceived accents (fake accents).   I think that we can communicate very effectively by speaking slowly (in terms of

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-73164211840644743692011-10-26T22:16:00.012+05:302011-10-28T20:29:59.453+05:30

Today is a very important day in the Hindu calender. It is the second day of Deepavali festival. Every year, today is celebrated by Hindus as Naraka Chaturdashi. The incident took place in the Yuga before our present kali Yugaa. That Yuga is known as Dwaapara Yugaa.  Shree Mahaa Vishnu is worshipped with particular reference to His Avataar as Shree Krishna. On this day, late in the evening,

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-71128434869412072602011-10-20T22:29:00.018+05:302011-11-03T22:24:10.404+05:30

In some of my earlier posts, I had mentioned about games and sports scenario in our K-12 schools. This evening there was a very interesting panel discussion on `NDTV Hindu' TV Channel involving a parent, a student, vice principal of a well known international school in the city (Chennai) and Sanjay Pinto, the moderator. [I have always liked Sanjay's programmes]. The discussion centered on the `

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-74654442614305013372011-10-16T20:20:00.013+05:302011-10-22T22:11:52.618+05:30

Surinam is a country in South America with a large East Indian population, the history of which dates back to a few centuries when indentured labourers from the subcontinent were recruited to work in sugar plantations in the country, after slavery was abolished in the US and neighbouring countries in the West Indies. A very interesting dialect of Hindi known as `Sarnami Hindi' is spoken widely 

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-52350058988275167632011-10-14T19:53:00.004+05:302011-10-23T22:14:19.030+05:30

Let us enjoy watching another nice video of yesterday's royal wedding in Bhutan, from Channel News Asia, which I used to watch daily when I worked in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  This is one of my most favourite TV channels.

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-41768168109927621302011-10-14T19:38:00.003+05:302011-10-23T22:29:33.012+05:30

"Held for molesting step-daughter: TAMBARAM: Pallavaram police have arrested a 42-year-old man on  charges of molesting his step-daughter.." so goes a news report on page 5 of today's Chennai edition of THE HINDU newspaper. Such incidents are unfortunately seen to be increasingly common. I just don't understand as to how people can behave so badly. Whenever I happen to see any dad embracing his

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-25049568525069701672011-10-13T20:22:00.027+05:302011-10-28T22:25:25.220+05:30

There is a country just neghbouring India in the north east. It is beautiful in terms of landscape, natural resources, nice people and national economy indicators such as Gross National Happiness. Its government takes careful steps in retaining the country's traditional values and in prevening many problems which we see in many developing countries including India. Today, Jigme Khesar Namgyel

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-51071736977170600752011-10-10T20:29:00.006+05:302011-10-11T19:40:52.425+05:30

Yesterday was the death anniversary of John Lennon of the The Beatles. Like tens of thousands youngsters during the '60s and '70s, I was also attracted by their softrock music (though I didn't like lyrics of many of their songs). It was interesting to read about them (George Harrison's association with ISKCON and his meeting with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Paul McCartney's skill in handling his sitar

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-66892769900052789272011-10-08T20:15:00.050+05:302011-11-02T20:33:40.564+05:30

Every year, 5 October is celebrated as World Teachers' Day (exactly a month after the day is celebrated in India). In ancient India, teachers were a revered lot as they were role models for youngsters to emulate in the communities which they served for. But over the years, things changed, particularly in the past few decades. People of my generation began our first day at school only when we

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-16737642718456243102011-09-30T22:29:00.055+05:302011-11-02T21:10:21.088+05:30

In one of my earlier posts, I had written about how I  used to enjoy shortwave listening. This post is somewhat related to this hobby. Like most Indians, I used to be very homesick when I worked abroad in the '80s and '90s. Thanks to my SONY ICF-7600DA receiver. It gave me a very good company. Besides, it could easily be charged by using my car battery even during my outings without any problem.

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-53797161846053838292011-09-29T22:35:00.008+05:302011-09-29T22:54:49.519+05:30

We all know that stories are not only interesting to children but also to people of all age groups. I have found stories to be very effective in teaching value sytems as well as lesson concepts in subjects across pre K - 12 curriculum. I have also used stories in teacher development workshops and board meetings successfully. In this post, let me present a short story which I had written when 

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Usually I don't watch movies unless they are classical or contain value based themes. In the past weekend, when searching for a good TV programme, I came across a seemingly good Malayalam movie. By the time I had bumped on the movie, I guess, it was running half way. In the movie, Tilkan plays the role of a wealthy man, who is arrested for a crime which he never committed, by a police officer who

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-87108230794946018362011-09-28T09:27:00.008+05:302011-10-08T21:52:43.957+05:30

According to Hindu calender, today marks the beginning of Nava raathri festival with its great spiritual and religious significance. This annual festival ends on Vijaya Dashami  occuring on 6 October. In my boyhood, like in all brahmin households, we used to celebrate this annual festival with great joy, by having `kolu' (display of dolls). On such occassions, it was a custom for all members in

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-86453544597409066842011-09-22T09:21:00.010+05:302011-09-24T22:35:15.602+05:30

Tamilnadu Government is on the move to provide free laptops and cash incentives to all students in government run and government aided schools, according to a recent newspaper report. Though it seems to be very encouraging, if we look a little deep into our school systems, we can easily find that the move is not far sighted because of many reasons, some of which are as follows: All schools do not

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-57146849259700478252011-09-20T19:37:00.007+05:302011-09-20T19:58:03.702+05:30

All good people know that they need to convey only good things to children. However, sometimes, we may convey something without meaning it. Here is where choice of words is of paramount importance, whether it is oral or written communication.  This morning when I was reading today's edition of the daily newspaper 'THE HINDU', I browsed through the pages of `YOUNG WORLD', the newspaper's

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-71996193856745416942011-09-10T22:27:00.006+05:302011-09-11T09:30:00.130+05:30

According to Vedic scriptures, wherever Shree Raamaa's name is chanted with devotion, Shree Raama Bhaktha Hanumaan would be present. One recent evidence of this fact is described in this wonderful article.

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-75954080489859218542011-09-07T09:59:00.016+05:302011-09-13T20:25:52.149+05:30

Two news items in this morning's newspaper caught my attention. The first one about India's defeating South Korea in the Asian Trophy match and the other one about Ms Jayalalitha's announcement of a proposed Centre of Excellence in Sports for school students in the 10-14 age range. I remember my own school days, nearly 5 decades back, when school children used to play football, khabhadi, etc. in

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-17646246954977350012011-09-02T22:15:00.019+05:302011-10-30T21:58:04.423+05:30

Today seemed to be just another day in the calender as I was checking my emails: inboxes flooded with junkmails and invitations from social networking vultures, which I promptly delete, as soon as I see them in the list. This time it was a bit different. There was an invitation from a young lady from facebook. I accepted her invitation as she seemed to be my student in late '90s. I and my

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-63384174455042050942011-09-02T11:14:00.006+05:302011-09-30T19:10:34.636+05:30

This morning I had some time to read a newsletter from a Hindu Organisation based in Trinidad. It contains a very meaningful poem written by someone in Trinidad, located tens of thousands of kilometers from India. The poem echoes thoughts of many of us, who wish that our youngsters do not lose grip of our cultural heritage. [Though the decay of cultural values is very obvious in today's younger

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-80787222515796969292011-08-26T20:29:00.003+05:302011-08-27T22:06:19.548+05:30

As I don't own a TV in Gujarat, it is a welcome change for me to watch good programmes (spiritual and classical) on TV back home. It's great that such programmes are aired. Coming to TV commercials, I don't really understand as to the relevance of high speed commercials as a viable marketing strategy. Today, in BBC World, there was a commercial from a datacard manufacturing company.  The

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-31563158986225296832011-08-25T14:08:00.006+05:302011-08-26T20:39:35.272+05:30

Yesterday, I flew home on a few days' leave from my work in Gujarat. Like in past January, this time  too it was a pleasant travel to Ahmedabad airport, thanks to Manojbhai, the calltaxi  operator, and from there to Madras, thanks to cordial staff of Indigo Airlines at the airport and on board the flight. The only problem which I faced surfaced at Madras airport, where the trolleys work only 

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-36371356285096544062011-06-16T21:41:00.004+05:302011-08-05T22:12:24.797+05:30

after moksha of chandra grahana (end of lunar eclipse phenomenon), i had sometime to spare before my daily Sandhya Vandhana etc. listening to my favourite hindu classical songs this morning. i could go on a highly ecstatic spiritual journey led by renowned classical singers such as k j jesudas and sudha raghunathan and bhajan exponents such as vittaldas and anup jalota. thanks to my notebook and 

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-89491281881338760092011-06-14T22:17:00.005+05:302011-08-06T22:03:06.195+05:30

this evening after office, i had enough time to visit `crosswords', my favourite bookshop and buy `dancing in cambodia and other essays' by the acclaimed writer amitav ghosh. though before buying any book, i usually read as many reviews as possible or atleast preview the contents at random, i couldn't do the excercise for this book. but still, the book attracted my attention.  as someone who

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-69700208087538172802011-05-15T22:00:00.007+05:302012-01-22T19:15:31.073+05:30

It is a common belief that private companies are better than public sector undertakings.  A few years back, soon after buying a fully automatic washing machine for our house, I found the filter giving frequent problems, despite regular cleaning. Recently, soon after buying a brand new split AC with some advance features for our house, I came to know that there was a fault in the unit. What makes

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-63352220329809055072011-05-01T10:51:00.008+05:302011-08-13T22:26:00.090+05:30

As we all know, canned fruit juice is a popular consumer item today. Just like most other household items, fruit juice cans can be used very effectively in teaching a range of K-8 mathematics and science concepts. When I was a teacher, I used to get throw away cans collected by my students so that they can use them when learning lessons. Usually, our textbooks explain concepts such as `Moment (

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-80148908068956985782011-04-23T13:53:00.020+05:302011-08-13T22:25:09.607+05:30

In my post on April 18, I mentioned the importance of outdoor games to children. I am sure that you would agree with my point of view. When we were children, we used to go out in the evenings and play simple games such as hide and seek. During summer, when the whether was very hot, we used to get ourseves involved in hobbies such as making cardboard houses. Later, I had the pleasure of

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-37064218537368278142011-04-22T11:30:00.008+05:302012-01-22T19:43:11.601+05:30

When I was glancing through the pages of this morning's edition of Times of India, I was delighted to see a full page ad released by the manufacturers of `Zodiac', one of the first branded shirts in the Indian market. [Ofcourse, even in the '60s, there were a few other very good shirt stores such as `Chellarams' in Madras. Chellarams was my favourite store and my dad used to take me there

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-27786209631817806592011-04-19T21:59:00.009+05:302011-04-21T21:52:56.591+05:30

Whenever I travel, I take my notebook and datacard with me, so that I can watch my favourite TV programmes (some of which may not be available in the conventional TV at the venue where I stay). Recently I derived the joy of listening to the melodious voice of Sri Shashidhara Kote and the spiritually enlightening explanation by Sri Gururaj Karajagi, in their programme `Daasa Vani' on Sri Sankara

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-1576826337537498412011-04-18T13:52:00.003+05:302011-04-22T22:08:44.884+05:30

People of my age know very well as to the immense benefits which children can derive by playing outdoor games. Today, most of our towns and cities do not have adequate space for outdoor activities at all. Children seem to be addicted to TV (watching counter educative programmes) or to computer and video games. Very often, parents seem to encourage such trends.  I am not saying that virtual

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-77890177742023272392011-04-09T18:32:00.013+05:302011-08-05T22:28:51.716+05:30

Good stories have always been an effective teaching resource in classrooms.  Our textbooks need to contain as many good stories as possible. Though I have used stories in my own teaching, it was not until I began working in `Chandamama' (a children's magazine from Chennai) for a few months, that I ever thought of writing one.  One of my career responsibilities at Chandamama was to write short

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-70247027571998973172011-04-04T20:22:00.003+05:302011-04-05T22:05:23.199+05:30

It was nice to watch India winning the world cup after 28 years.  We have had internationally acclaimed sports persons in games such as lawn tennis, chess and athletics. It will be nice if the abovmentioned games as well as games such as hockey, football, long jump and table tennis are also given importance, besides cricket.  Many of these games are very cost effective and can easily be promoted

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-19182189508711473262011-03-31T21:14:00.017+05:302011-08-20T21:30:51.324+05:30

As an Indian who was born and brought up in a bilingual parentage and lives in a region in which people speak a language that is different from what we speak in my home, I have had the pleasure of experiencing the nuances of nearly eight Indian languages and a bit of French and German, besides English. In my boyhood, I studied in government schools where the medium of instruction was not English.

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-69921212906752406752011-03-29T13:57:00.007+05:302011-10-21T19:51:48.092+05:30

As my job involves quality assurance, I make it a point to verify the authenticity of reference sources, which content developers use when developing lesson modules. Oddly enough, it is not uncommon to come across factual and conceptual mistakes in K-12 textbooks. Hence, editors and other professionals involved in quality assurance search for authentic reference materials.   A few weeks back,

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-68403118723127073962011-03-28T19:19:00.029+05:302011-10-22T23:09:50.069+05:30

In my post on 1 January, I had mentioned as to how delighted I was in getting back to my hobbies of SWL and DXing using my short wave receiver after many years.  But now I realise that these two hobbies are no more fascinating due to more effective modes of broadcasting during the past few decades.  I remember with nostalgia as to how useful was my simple SW/MW receiver when I was working in 

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-30332432237350797132011-03-28T11:55:00.004+05:302011-03-30T12:01:53.441+05:30

Yesterday, after a long time, I had time to visit youtube and watch recordings of my favourite soft rock singers.   It was nice to watch The Beatles singing "Michelle", the lyrics of which came to my help when I was learning French at the Alliance Francais, Gaborone. I think that songs by singers such as Mark Knopfler are a musical treat at times. When it comes to music, I remember my good friend

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-76258987685791034162011-02-27T13:59:00.028+05:302011-04-19T22:38:50.033+05:30

A few weeks back, as part of my work, I had to develop some formative assessment questions with solutions, to go with elearning modules related to Standard 12 physics curriculum prescribed by the Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi.  As textbooks related to this curriculum are published by another central government agnecy known as National Council of Educational Research and

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-55043145729381514172011-01-15T15:16:00.004+05:302011-04-04T22:13:20.170+05:30

When  we were young, it was customary for mothers and grandmothers to tell value based stories to their children so that they developed as good human beings. We were also taught to respect secularism. Besides parents, schools were also involved in teaching values to children. When working as a teacher, I had always included stories to teach values and curricular concepts to my students.   I have

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-42775065316602442032011-01-13T22:05:00.009+05:302011-04-10T22:12:50.611+05:30

Yesterday I flew down from Ahmedabad to Chennai on a week's leave so as to spend Makara Shankraanthi back home in Chennai. Though my flight was at 1155 AM, I was at Sardar Vallabhai Patel International airport before 9 itself, thanks to my travel agent and the call taxi guy.  It was a pleaseant sunny morning.  The A C system at the airport was very much within tolerance limits unlike in many

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-81584214146074111002011-01-01T20:45:00.010+05:302011-10-20T20:31:15.780+05:30

After nearly 20 years, I returned to my hobby of DXing last week, thanks to the simple radio receiver that I managed to buy from a small radio shop in town, after trying to buy one in speciality outlets in modern malls in Chennai and here in Gujarat.  I had two very good receivers, one analogue and one digital, with nearly 13 bands in the FM, AM and SW range. When the gadgets fell down on two

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-7701017822875167762010-10-31T20:38:00.001+05:302010-10-31T20:39:41.847+05:30

Hello ladies and gentlemen. I am sorry that I am still unable to blog as freuqently as I wish.  At my workplace, all of us work on Saturdays too to get the processes speeded up a bit so that our company can meet consumer deadlines.  I hope to  get back to blogging atleast once a month, after November.  Thanks. 

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-84953008520140541752010-09-28T20:35:00.018+05:302011-08-20T21:58:02.772+05:30

Thanks for bearing with my delay in writing another post since my arrival in my new workplace in Gujarat. Though Sunday is a holiday from work, I don’t have much time as I used to have in Chennai, as I spend the day in cooking and taking the much needed rest from a week's work.  I shall try to be as prompt as possible in blogging. I was waiting for my flight to Ahmedabad on 13th morning at

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-68430577808400540972010-09-08T21:27:00.009+05:302011-08-22T22:16:25.454+05:30

Thanks for following my blog.  I may not be as regular in writing a new post until after I get settled in my new placement in an Elearning Company in Gujarat (India).  I look forward to joining an exciting team there. In the meantime, please send in your feedback on my posts. See you in a few weeks' time. Thanks once again. 

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-83798587531945578312010-09-05T20:16:00.006+05:302011-04-10T21:54:41.947+05:30

This afternoon, the airwaves around our apartment, carried something exceptional: sound of a melodious song `Naan pesa ninaithadellaam nee pesa vendum ..' from one of the Tamil films released way back in '60s. [Although I am not particularly keen in films or film music, I do relish the sounds from the TV of my neighbour.  He could be about 10 years older than me and seems to like old film songs,

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-40031062802381703722010-09-05T18:58:00.031+05:302011-09-14T20:50:37.183+05:30

This morning, Sreejith Karthikeyan sent the following message on facebook: "I found guidance, friendship, discipline and love, everything in one person. And that person is you. “Happy Teachers Day”. He is a brilliant software engineer and a very well behaved youngman in his late ‘20s with a Master’s in Information Technology, from Kollam in Kerala. He and I were colleagues at a Digital K-12

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-54526653259615410822010-09-03T20:51:00.015+05:302011-08-20T21:39:39.705+05:30

It is nearly a year since I returned home after a year's stay in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (where I worked at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports). This morning when I went out for some shopping, I could not help comparing the road conditions of Chennai (where I live), Phnom Penh (where I was based) and Kho Kong (a Cambodian fishing town, which I used to visit frequently on work).  

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-677563248805595182010-08-30T19:53:00.011+05:302011-08-20T21:42:16.629+05:30

As I type this post, the weather is cool with some drizzling outside my window in Chennai.  A few minutes back, as I was browsing the Net, I came across a wonderful website related to Ethiopia.  The photographs and posts reminded me of my stay in Ethiopia in 1982-83 when I had the pleasure of teaching physics in Ethiopian High Schools.  I remembered my frequent visits to Addis Ababa, a fabulous

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-19411805369606414532010-08-12T19:45:00.019+05:302011-10-22T10:17:04.435+05:30

Good friends are rare.  I sometimes nostalgically remember my very good friends.  Jos Kottuthundiyil is one such friend. He and I were colleagues in a school in Bhutan more than 30 years back.  We were also neighbours in the teachers' quarters.  He was a very softspoken gentleman and an excellent writer.  More importantly a friend, who had the courage to tell his friends, if they were wrong.  

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-13280677227309396002010-07-30T15:26:00.015+05:302011-08-20T21:46:36.454+05:30

Hitherto, I have thought that our newspapers don’t carry much content on development issues such as education, poverty reduction and livelihood except as conventional news items. Past Sunday’s edition of THE HINDU OPEN PAGE changed my point of view. It carried a very interesting and thought provoking article Can't they teach them how to deal with life's problems?. The article stirred up a

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-74011018714098068112010-07-28T14:50:00.007+05:302010-08-12T21:34:06.098+05:30

"Finally realising his dream project, Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday launched a $35 computing device that will be made available to ‘learners’ right from primary schools to universities..." So goes a news report in today's edition of the Indian Express.  While it is understandably a great idea, I have never been able to find the actual manufacturer or seller's

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-90465993832051491072010-07-25T21:45:00.016+05:302010-08-17T13:36:37.596+05:30

Yesterday’s edition of New York Times carried a very important news item.  The news item reflects what the State Government Departments of School Education in the US expect from teachers.  Although there are dedicated Principals who expect high standards of discipline from teachers, their voices are sometimes not heard by School Governing Boards.  If any teacher deliberately makes mistakes that

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-21034475315786105592010-07-19T22:39:00.002+05:302010-07-21T09:18:45.412+05:30

In a BBC World TV programme known as `Africa Game Plan' telecast at 9 PM IST on 10 July, Mr Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations said "Institutions are more important than individuals". (The programme included Desmond Tutu, Graca Machel and Lakhdar Brahimi as well. These veterans spoke about what lies ahead in Africa after the World Cup). I wish decision makers in our K-12

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-9799989610752197222010-07-19T12:20:00.005+05:302010-08-12T21:29:45.401+05:30

As a teacher, I had always liked to use innovative methods (my own or those used by other colleagues in the global village). I remember how my students enjoyed learning English whenever I used good soft rock songs from the ‘60s. I used them to teach vocabulary as well as to assess their comprehension levels. My students found them comfortable (or I explained to them about the utility value of

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-31609819971838435042010-07-18T20:16:00.010+05:302010-07-23T20:50:12.351+05:30

This time let me take a brake from discussing issues on education and share some thoughts on the metamorphosis of english language and its tools of communication, during the past few decades. As humans we are all aware of the importance of communication, for which languages are fundamental. I was brought up in a bilingual parentage in which English was being used as an additional lingua franca

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-12768646127174655512010-07-18T14:58:00.017+05:302011-04-10T22:49:43.619+05:30

When I used to work in schools, children always liked me. I think it is easy for me to treat all children like my own, because I don't have my own children. I think that most of us inherit good values from our parents and teachers (although later on some of these values are lost due to external influences). Teachers' role is crucially important in today's consumerist culture in which children are

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-90255217796108660032010-07-13T22:08:00.014+05:302011-04-10T22:42:01.450+05:30

Today is Tuesday. My morning newspaper (THE HINDU) came with the weekly supplement `YOUNG WORLD’. Although the contents in the weekly column `HeyMath’ were child-friendly and challenging from the mathematics point of view, I have my own reservations about the level of English in the `Brain Teaser’ problems. Following are excepts from the list of problems: c. Two different candles are lit… d. A

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-80622686682930028892010-07-10T18:46:00.015+05:302011-04-04T22:41:50.872+05:30

Usually during lunch, I watch my favorite TV programs. One such is `Heritage Heroes’ telecast by BBC World on Saturdays. This afternoon’s episode featured local communities that have begun to renovate their ancient monuments or centuries old buildings. There were examples from Nepal (Kathmandu Valley), New Orleans and Saudi Arabia. Any person seeing the program will be impressed by the passion

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-17050123269274140952010-07-04T09:30:00.030+05:302011-04-02T11:44:51.389+05:30

Everyday, a young boy, about 12 years of age, delivers my morning newspaper. He comes without much fuzz, places the paper at the gate, and bicycles away. When we look at him, he casts a pleasant smile. This morning, when I paid the monthly bill, he gave me the receipt. The receipt contained the newspaper agent’s name and his phone number as well, in very neat handwriting, which is a rarity, in `

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-14233198125301253082010-07-03T14:34:00.012+05:302010-08-17T13:48:18.231+05:30

This morning’s edition of THE HINDU carries a report “More Corporation Schools to start English medium sections” on page 3. According to the report, 25 schools began introducing English medium sections and 15 schools will be doing so this year. This is a commendable move. We all know that today’s parents prefer sending their children to private schools to government or corporation schools.

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-40141637920512302782010-06-15T22:15:00.054+05:302011-04-10T22:47:10.628+05:30

Past Sunday's edition of THE HINDU (Newspaper published from Chennai) carried two very down to earth and thought provoking articles: "The six myths about Engineering you should know" by Arun Karuppaswamy (in the OPEN PAGE column) and "RETHINKING EDUCATION When less is more" by Aruna Sankaranarayanan (in the MAGAZINE section). Both articles seemed exceptional to me. Arun Karuppaswamy lists 6

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-13288535264675622812010-05-25T18:03:00.008+05:302010-08-15T21:47:26.972+05:30

I read an article “Public-private partnership in education” by Prof. Jandhyala B G Tilak of the National University of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi, in this morning's edition of "THE HINDU" (published from Chennai). The writer explains the new model and analyses the possible pros and cons of the Public private partnership in education as proposed in our Eleventh Five Year

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-56551790225723277722010-05-04T19:38:00.013+05:302011-04-10T23:00:48.347+05:30

I remember reading Aunty Wendy’s column `Young Folks’ League’ (in the Illustrated Weekly of India) and stories in the then very popular Tamil monthly `Kannan’, during my childhood days in the ‘60s. The contents were highly educative as they were written in very simple language.  Hence children enjoyed reading them to the core.    Today, many newspapers publish supplements for children. One such

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-44516345435664553052010-04-23T22:25:00.010+05:302010-07-09T19:31:25.390+05:30

On 18 April, there was an interesting report on how Microsoft India and a Bangalore based firm Education Innovative Concepts have come up with trend setting technological breakthroughs by developing their `Windows Multipoint Server (WMS)' and `NextPC', respectively, toward a common goal:  To take the benefits of Computer Aided Curriculm to more number of children at about 50% of the cost that is

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-49734240209073295512010-01-21T19:57:00.005+05:302010-01-22T14:40:20.078+05:30

A few days back, I was taken aback to find my profile in http://www.linkua.com/panamalai-r-guruprasad-tutoring_11421C.htm when I was academic-browsing. The web developers have illegally used my name and profile to advertise online tutoring of English, without my knowledge. In my 34 years of professional experience, I have never liked to offer private tutoring, coaching classes, online classes etc

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-24303724413400817402009-12-23T19:10:00.022+05:302010-07-21T09:31:33.587+05:30

I happened to read a newspaper report “Quality Council of India introduces accreditation standard for schools” in THE HINDU dated 22 December 2009.  I gather that one school in Chennai has gained accreditation of the QCI and many others schools would follow. It is good that some agency has come forward to monitor and evaluate quality standards in our schools.  But then, how effective is this

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-12561169303038132802009-12-03T16:29:00.020+05:302011-04-11T09:47:28.047+05:30

What do we need to implement quality curriculum in a given school situation? This article attempts to answer the question to some extent.  As a mentor, I used to present math lesson problems as follows to teachers and ask them to solve them by imagining them to be children: 1. Two pens cost Rs 27 each and two pencils, Rs 13 each. How will you find the total cost?2. How will you use the number

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-74341581162555467312009-11-27T22:28:00.007+05:302010-07-09T18:50:40.263+05:30

Traditionally, all over the world, schools rely on textbook publishers to achieve syllabus requirements. Hence, the greatest responsibility of delivering quality education vests with textbook publishers. Even in countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, some school curricula did not last long because they were not adaptable in classrooms or they were not based on sound

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-25991951890667596222009-09-14T19:15:00.016+05:302011-04-08T12:34:59.903+05:30

“In the year 5555Your arms are hanging limp at your side,Your legs got nothing to do,Some machine’s doing that for you.” So sang Denny Zager and Rick Evans in their 1969 hit song “In the Year 2525”. As one who was born in the middle of the past century, I guess, late ‘60s bring nostalgic memories to people who belong to my generation: I was a teenager doing my Physics major freshman year at a

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-51440539799820162162009-09-14T18:40:00.017+05:302011-04-19T22:56:43.177+05:30

A few months back, I read the following classroom joke on the web:  Middle school science teacher: What is germination? Pupil: It is the process in which a person becomes a citizen of Germany. As teachers, all of us have studied Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives in our teacher training programs before entering the profession. In many countries, the taxonomy is used in all the three

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-75621582692097274102009-09-14T18:16:00.005+05:302009-12-02T22:30:06.462+05:30

Recently there have been media reports that Class X Public Examinations conducted by Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi, are going to be optional in its affiliate schools with effect from 2010. Instead of making Class X examinations optional, emphasis should be on more important issues like school quality, curricular load and better assessment methods in the Board exams. Although

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-54370674884359534142008-08-20T13:07:00.008+05:302010-07-09T19:28:01.719+05:30

From my experience in K-12 systems and education publishing, I think that the most important requirement to reach curricular objectives, in countries like India, where I come from, is to change the manner in which most textbooks are written, as textbooks are the most influential resource. During my tenure in K-12 Publishing, whenever I explained as to what it meant to write a good textbook and

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7745221794588843051.post-88009461373568902802008-08-19T19:39:00.009+05:302011-07-03T14:47:51.281+05:30

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to my blog.

Panamalai R Guruprasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918792424881120359noreply@blogger.com0