REPLACING
BOOKS WITH FILES
by Thota Srinivas
An Insight into why Files and Folders are to be prioritized.
Consider the unrewarding targets a student faces these
days………………….
1.Purchase of too many books for every subject.
2.Proper
maintenance of these books throughout the term.
3.Unwarrantable
and unavoidable written work.
4.Doing
the written work promptly and appropriately.
5.Timely
submission of books for correction.
6.Pressure
in terms of handwriting and presentation .
7.Above all,switching
over and using all the books for revision during exams and tests.
As the student needs to
focus on all these things he apparently undermines the importance of ‘LEARNING-THROUGH-WRITING’ and
‘ THINKING-WHILE-WRITING’
The students are usually
instructed to maintain the following books for the extensive and Intensive written
purposes…
1. Fair Notes…………… for writing
the hard words, meanings and Question and answers of the lessons from the
Course Reader.
2. Literature Note book…………….. for writing the hard words, meanings
and Question and answers of the lessons from the Literature Reader.
3. Grammar Note book………………for writing grammar explanations and
exercises
4. Work book………………………..for working out Grammar Exercises
5. Course Reader……………for lessons and working out Vocabulary and
grammar exercises
6.Writing Skills Note book………………..for writing creative writing
exercises like….letter writing, paragraph writing, Notice writing etc….
Apart from the above, the
students receive…………………
7. Work sheets emphasizing a comprehensive approach.( grammar-writing
skills-vocabulary-comprehension)
8. Project Work targeting the creative, language and writing skills of
the students.
Ironically………
·
All the above books and tasks are
unable to help the students in improving their handwriting .
·
In spite of working out
grammar exercises in Course Reader, Workbook and grammar Note book, the
students still have a problem with grammar
·
The "Questions
and Answers" tasks are
not successful in helping the students in answering the extrapolative and
Inferential-based Questions nor are enabling
them to think logically and beyond the literal meaning.
·
Written work on ‘Hard words’ and
Meanings is not helping them to improve their vocabulary and spelling ability.
· Writing skills of the students
are too pathetic( The students cannot even draft a Leave letter properly nor
can write a paragraph on their own)
·
The students’ reading and
comprehending ability is too weak (They tend to answer closed questions and
fail to answer open questions)
·
In spite of fascinating language
used in all the Course and Literature Lessons, the student still uses
mother-tongue-influenced language.
·
In spite of the pronunciation
tips given in the books, the students still have a problem with pronunciation,
intonation and accent.
·
The language activities
(Listening-based and spoken-based) after every lesson are not enabling the
students in enhancing their language skills.
The problem is not with the
Teaching materials as all most every book these days is enriched with varied
information suitable to the students of different types of intelligence.
All the exercises target the
improvement of listening-speaking-reading and writing skills of the students.
The lessons, which are the works
of well-known writers, poets and authors, have fair language with rich
vocabulary.
The problem is not with the
student as he gives what he
gets. A student can either work like a robot or a scientist. It depends on how
his energy is channelized or moulded and how the information
is presented to him.
The problem is not with the
teacher as he/she is engrossed in using his/her intellectual ability to reach
the targets assigned in terms of completing the syllabus, supplying the
information, rectifying the mistakes, and enabling the students follow the
instructions promptly and appropriately.
The problem is ……………with the
methods, techniques, approaches followed by the teacher in the classroom in
presenting the information and making the students do the tasks associated with
the language and the lessons.
The students shall derive benefits if the teacher
can take up the role of an amicable guide and facilitator rather than a hard
task-master.
(Proof: Children get repelled by traditional
food but if the mother can think of garnishing it differently, the children
shall definitely get fascinated to it.)
Using Files and Folders is one such system
which assures us of effective procedures within the class room.
The
merits of using files………….
1.Reduces the burden of
maintaining Note books consistently.
2.Reduces the burden in
the satchel and on the shoulders of the
students.
3.The student can no
longer have an excuse of forgetting the books or losing the books.
4.As the work shall be less-and-effective, the
student can concentrate on fair handwriting
and neat presentation.
5.As everything the student
writes on the paper is assessment-based, they shall remain as an evidence of continuous and comprehensive
evaluation.
6.The work in the files is
the collection of student’s work in various skills so it shall act as a Perfect
Portfolio.
7.The worksheets,
assignments and Cycle-test sheets can also be enclosed in this file.
8.The file can give a
comprehensive work evidence of the student throughout the term.
9. It can also be an
evidence of the guidance given by the teacher in moulding the student.
10.The files and the
papers shall be under the custody of the teacher so a problem of losing or misplacing them shall never arise.
The
procedure of using the files………………..
1.PAPER-1
(VOCABULARY & SPELLING) :The student takes a test in
spelling and vocabulary even before the lesson is taught so that he becomes
familiar in understanding and using
them. The word limit can be 10 to 20 depending upon the class.
2.PAPER-2
(COMPREHENSION ):
To test the comprehension of the students, the teacher can come up
with gap-filling exercises or questions such as……….
·
HOTS-based questions
·
Open Questions
·
Contextual Questions
·
Logical Questions
·
Inferential Questions
·
Lateral-thinking based Questions
The discussion and writing
process goes simultaneously. This activity can even enhance the thought process
and writing skills of the student if handled in an organized manner.
3.PAPER-3
(CREATIVE WRITING ): Any written aspect related to
creative writing such as letter writing,
Note-making, paraphrasing …… can be made to be written under our
guidance and supervision instead of giving a sample and asking them to follow it. Teaching and assessment goes
hand-in-hand.
4.PAPER-4
(SPOKEN ENGLISH): The teacher can emphasize some
of the interesting and peculiar sentences or phrases from the lesson and
encourage the students to use them in
their interaction and communication with others. A written work on this
can be enclosed in the file.
Note:
The number of leaves to be used depends on the number of bits we deal and the
exercises we make them do. So every lesson might use about 3 to 5 sheets of paper.
The teacher can follow
Paint-brush technique in testing the spelling and vocabulary ability of the
students.(i.e., conducting a spelling
and vocabulary test orally or written of the previous lessons)
4.
For grammar……………
Written work is limited to Work book and Course Reader. In case the
teacher plans to give more practice, a grammar assignment can be designed or
these grammar bits can be
made a part of the work sheet.
5.
For extra practice in Writing skills………………… the
teacher can design an assignment or can make these a part of the worksheet.
6.Report
on Activity: If the teacher conducts
an activity , a concise report about the same can be made to be written in a
sheet of paper . Grades of the students who exhibit extraordinary ability can
be recorded in the same. This sheet can be enclosed in the File.
7.
Reporting ability : If the teacher observes the note-worthy ability of any student in any aspect of the language, a
precise report on the same can be drafted and enclosed in the file.
8.Any
piece of interesting work the student does every now and
then whether under guidance or on motivation , whether in the class or at home,
whether directly or indirectly connected to the language or the lessons he is
learning in English can be enclosed in
the file.
9.
Grammar Assignments: The teacher can design
assignments based on Digi class or board work or print work regarding complex
grammar bits. These can be enclosed after evaluation in the file.
10.
As worksheets are already a part of
the workbook, the teacher can design special worksheets relating to reading
comprehension or writing skills. These can also be Digi-class
based or board work based or print based.
11.
If the teacher intends to give a worksheet to reinforce the preparation for the
Cycle test, such a worksheet can be planned before a cycle test but evaluated
before the cycle test and enclosed in the file.
12.
The teacher can take the help of graphic
organizers, flow charts , mind maps , illustrations and pictures in
designing a worksheet or a grammar assignment or a cycle test .
-by Thota Srinivas
