A Report on

Program for Developing Profession Learning Community

11-May-2016 to 28-May-2016
Venue: Excel Public school (EPS), Mysore

Context: My takeaways on the PLC training

S. Lekha Nair

Day 1
Session 1:

My
understanding:

Topic: Introduction and setting the context for PLC program

Presenter: Principal
Principal shared this experience on the program he attended in IIT Chennai and
his Raichur Visits.
Present teachers of EPS shared their one-liners for EPS and new teachers
shared their contribution for the academic year 2016-2017.
The song I have a dream
Details of the PLC program
Sharing EPS vision and mission
EPS has already met the criteria for an ideal school.
My response to the question on contribution was I have come to EPS with a
clean slate to unlearn and relearn. To look at teaching in a new perspective.
The key phrase I digested were
1. Teachers should write their horoscope (position the stars) for next year
and aggressively work on it
2. Put my students in front of me to while writing lesson plans; follow
transformative pedagogy
3. Teacher is a gardener who nurtures the students (seeds) so that quality,
healthy plant which is useful to the environment till it disappears.
4. I should keep a smiling face; do not hug children; it is okay to pat or
touch their head.
5. Develop from actual understanding to proximal understanding
6. Align my goals to the goal of the organization such that I meet the
expectations set
7. The three important aspects of PLC that were stressed upon are
a. Intellectual growth
b. Individual action plan (regular, organize and systematic)
c. Becoming effective not efficient
Vision: EPS is a place of excellence, dedicated to empower the young learners
by providing a quality & contemporary educational program to develop their
full potential for a productive and responsible life and leadership in a
progressive nation.

Session 2:
My
understanding:

Mission: Create a unique environment for effective learning, with a creative

and effective integration of technology across the whole curriculum, to prepare
a generation of young men and women who are intellectually sharp, physically
sound, socially responsible, morally upright and emotionally balanced in a
happy, caring, secure and simulating environment.
Group Activity on presenting our thoughts on session 1
We kept on ideating and at the end, time was not sufficient to put across the
ideas effectively. My group created a Kannada song and a chart of a teachers
face in the center and key words around it.
My learnings:
1. Collaboration which include agree to disagree
2. Need to work on managing time
3. Need to work on stating ideas effectively as I found the final output could
be improved.
Ms. Gubain stated the intention behind the group activity as

Day 2
Session 1:

My
understanding:

Session 2:
My
understanding:

Adapt to situation
Develop new strategy
Building a rapport with teachers.

Topic: Teaching Learning PracticesEffective Planning

Presenter: Jayashree Ganeshan
Mutual negotiation;
Use Classroom Might such as Exit cards, Question box, Word walls, Flashcards,
Wow Box, concern box, suggestion box.
The activity that makes teacher to think why each subject in the curriculum is
important for the child.
Another activity on Why do we teach what we teach?
Spatial skills
Be inclusive when you create rules for the classroom; all rules should be in
simple present tense.
For example: We speak so we are heard; We listen so we are clear.
Using Classroom Mights such that each child is heard. The words in the Word
Wall should be in print font and clear.
According to me, this exercise (on importance of the subject; we took
vocational training) was a direction to relate subject to student life and that all
subjects together make the child understand the real world and have an
effective life.
The brainstorming on traffic rules, made me realize that one need to first list
the core of teaching especially the dependence and inter-dependence among
subjects.
Use Spatial skills when you cannot get the answer using logic. Both work
differently.
Activity on why do we teach?
Brain-button activity
When I prepare the lesson plans, I need to categorize information as
Good to know
o The dates and events come under this category. These are just
spices in food.
Important to Know and do
o Concepts and definitions
Core objective: These can be categorized as
o life skills (only person)
o relevance to life and (present situation)
o timeless values (future)
Again, our group used the topic vocational training and thought on the above
lines to frame questions that can be categorized as those that promote
practice (repetitions)

exploration (finding data)

Innovation (lead to core objective)
Reflection

The data was interpreted (very smoothly) using the color stick-it papers to have
a visual understanding on the categories of questions we framed. It was more
for practice and less for reflection, which again brings in the focus of framing
reflection based questions
One of the teams put this as an acronym as RIPE. Also while we give
presentation, we need to focus on the tone of the voice as it is an attention
grabber.

Day 3
Session 1:

My
understanding:

Session 2:

Overall, the activities had lot to pass on in terms of

collaboration,
time management,
flow of ideas,
concluding,
rehearsal and
Final presentation.
Topic: Teaching Learning PracticesEngaging Practices
Presenter: Jayashree Ganeshan
Tools and Activities to engage learners constructively;
Engaging through questions; Anecdotal Reports; Blooms taxonomy with an
example of two pens
The tools like word wall; Question box; Suggestion box; Exit questions; and
activities like dwell time (to promote thinking) can be used as effective
classroom management tools. The outcome of these activities is to observe
students and understand the fact rather than misinterpreting and judging
students.
Using speech bubble (using comic strips) is one of the wonderful ways to
promote creative thinking.
Blooms Levels (using 2 pens)
Recall: see -- recall and remember stored information (these are pens)
Understand: see + little more see -- put together and interpret (one is red and
another blue)
Application: use it -- make use of (used to write)
Analysis: observe and comparetaking part (one of the pens has short cap and
is tapering towards the bottom and the other has a long cap and is broader at
the bottom)
Synthesis: create from parts putting together (disassemble the parts and
discuss how else we can combine the two)
Evaluation: taking choices judging and assessing (assessing on qualities; eg.
Refill quality )
Outdoor activity of importance of giving and following instructions
Activity Weird creation; Q&A session to share experiences that help us revisit a
classroom activity that could have been taken differently.
Different fears; Mudra pranayama to help overcome stress and fatigue

My
understanding:

Activity of creating a weird creature individually and bring together its part and
writing a brief on what the creature can do. There were discussion on choosing
the parts among the two individual and reaching a consensus through mutual
negotiation. Reasoning and rationalizing played part in this activity. Teachers
should think on their feet and also outside the box is the learning I got.
A few aspects of creativity:
Fluency: (ease at which information can be recalled) and word
association (red stand for love as well as danger; perspective)
Elaboration: (creating sentences with the end word of previous
sentences
Flexibility: When bring together ideas, keep my mind flexible and
remove mental blocks.
Originality is another name for creativity
Types of fears
Fear of Failure
Fear of unknown

Cause
Excessive punishment
Excessive spoon feeding

Fear of rejection/
humiliation
Fear of social
disapproval

Lack of self-confidence,
low self esteem
Brainwashing into
obedience of seniors

Fear of Resource
myopia
Fear of starved
sensibilities

Lack of experience in
dealing with problems
Overspecialization in
single activity

Fear of rigidity

Lack of knowledge

Symptoms
Sticks to safe options
Give excuses to
failure
Excessive shyness
Lack of
independence in
judgment
Feeling of
helplessness
Feeling of dullness

Inability to learn and

change

Harmful effect
Wont take risk
Avoid path of
innovation, creativity
Reluctant in seeking
feedback
Resistance to
innovative idea
Slowdown in risk taking
Reduce curiosity or
openness to understand
others
Not flexible to others
views

Whenever I confront a fear, I categorize the fear into the above table.
Remediation was something missing in this table.
My lesson plans should have activities that foster multiple intelligence in
students.

Day 4
Session 1:
My
understanding:

Session 2:

My
understanding:

Topic: Teaching Learning PracticesFacilitation tips

Presenter: Jayashree Ganeshan
Activity on following instruction.
Model lesson plan
Activities are good, but I need to see how effective and engaging the activity is.
If it had collaboration, were students involved flexible to view other
perspective, did it had lot of trigger to open-up, did all team members involved
in it, were they multi-tasking etc.
Activities should cater to different learning styles. As a teacher, I need to
nurture all learning styles so that students become adaptable to any
environment.
The model lesson plan had critical thinking, societal thinking, reflective thinking
and creative thinking. I got to know how to pose questions to deal with the
different thinking.
KSAH (knowledge skill Attitude and habit)
Attitude of a teacher
The skill-will quadrant
Feedback
KSAH was compared to the ice-berg. The skill (what I can do) and knowledge
(what I know) take up the portion that we see above water. The others include
values (what I think is important), self-image (how do I see myself), traits (what
are my habits), and motives (what energizes me) which are the submerged part
that others dont see.
Am I ready to look at and beyond the obvious?

I
accept
others

I am
thankf
ul

I am
excite
d

I know
how I
feel

I work
with
others

As a
teach
er

I will
tell
the
truth

I
wonde
r

I will
not
give
up

I can
make
it
better

I know
I can

The skill-will quadrant helped me to visualize myself in the position in the

quadrant and work towards I can I will space.
Receiving feedback in the lighter vein is not to be resistance to feedback and
resistance comes because one feels that he/she is perfect.
Feedback should not be an opinion; it should be very objective and with clarity.

Use Rubric to give feedback. A taster to rubric was given. In rubric, I need to
concentrate on the process and effort and not on the product alone.
As an English teacher, the TedX talk helped me to understand how expressive a
story telling should be.

Day 5
Session 1 & 2:

My
understanding:

Topic: Teaching Learning PracticesResearch Skills

Presenter: Jayashree Ganeshan
Triggers giving to have a focused tour; Facilitator shared samples such that I
know what to look for and how to present
Team photo
Cart Race
Village visit
Presentation
Follow by discussion on feedback sheets
I felt very much part of this learning community and felt a long cherished
dream come true through the village visit.
I am bringing in the compassion factor from the village to my classroom.

Another eye opener was how people, untouched by technology, have the warm
feeling towards strangers whereas the people dwelling in cities look at things in
a skeptical way.
I was amazed by the presentation style of teachers were they stitched the
stories in no time with poem, dance, back ground videos, enacted the incidents
and on and on
I also learnt the importance of putting the information in mind maps such that

we can recall the incidents at ease.

Day 6
Session 1:
My
understanding:

Topic: Subject-group Discussion

Presenter: Principal and Subject coordinators
21st century learning skills; effective teacher.
Portfolio preparation-Dos and Donts
I am working on the how can I questions and be inclusive, intuitive and
humane. As a teacher, I have to pay attention to details (behavior of students,
visibility and audible, dressing sense, hair style and record ONLY FACTS with
evidence.
As teacher, I have to keep updating with current teaching software. Accept and
say I dont know if you are not clear. Adapt yourself to EPS and meet the
expectation.
My students thought should come up on the board instead of thought of famous
people.
Change should happen at the intuitive level (my thinking), then change at
implementation level (how can I implement) and change at institutional level
(how can I make this a practice)

Session 2:
My
understanding:

Ask student to find the effectiveness of my class.

Subject group activity and presentation
Preparing an action plan on the theme how am I going to use my experience in
maximizing learning in classroom. Had discussion with English language
teachers and coined a few activities that are practical, relevant and work with
evidence.
Goal: action plan for improving writing skills for middle school and high school
students
Core objectives: understand that writing is one of the important medium of
communication/expression.
Understand the importance of punctuation in daily life.
Activity: mind map
Listed a few activities on letter writing, e-mail writing; notice writing; report
writing; article writing; paragraph writing; story writing; journal writing,
dialogue writing; Travelogue; Picture description: Dwell time activity; Biosketch; Diary entry.
One period once a week exclusively for writing skills. These tasks can also be
considered for assessment. We will have this on every Friday and a separate
notebook will be used for creative writing.
Another important aspect I understood is follow instruction before jumping to
conclusion

Day 7
Session 1:
My
understanding:

Session 2:
My
understanding:

Topic: Constructivism
Presenter: Leena Pascal
About constructivism
My understanding on constructivism is to get into details through asking
questions; making connections, and thinking critically.
As a teacher, I should develop observation skills (what children do, their likes,
etc.) I need to deconstruct students behavior through these observable traits.
When students give negative comments or compare you with unpleasant
people, just SMILE
Use appreciation words. The trendy ones are Epic, Insane
Children should not be confined to a place for more than 1 hour. An average
students attention span is 20 min.
In constructivism, focus shifts from teacher to student. Teachers are facilitators
who just mediate prompts for students to get involved in the process of
learning. Do not confine students for more than an hour. Distribute attention to
all students and while correcting, use symbols and give feedback with
suggestions for improvement.
Role of a teacher and a student; nature of learning, classroom processes,
learning records, learning tools
I was astonished by the detailed knowledge the facilitator had; let it be any
subject
Allow children to make connections to the new words, this will help their
metacognition and then relate to higher values.
A few points that I need to devise while preparing lesson plans are
start from whole and then move into parts
Pursuit of students questions and interest are valued.
Build from what children already know
Dialogue method of learning
Teachers role is interactive rooted in negotiation.
Work primarily in group
Knowledge keep changing with our experiences
Assessment include student work, observation and point of view
I need to constantly ask myself Why am I doing what I am doing
Process is as important as product.
I got an insight into different tools like KWL chart (planning tool); sandwich
chart (for portfolio documentation), Persuasion chart; inverted triangle (focused
topic) and first principle (5W1H)

Day 8
Session 1:
My
understanding:

Topic: Constructivism
Presenter: Leena Pascal
Constructivism contd.
Improving vocabulary was the key take-away for me from this session.
Am I conveying the essence of the subject?
I need to decode the text as if I am peeling an onion.
Again the depth of knowledge and the connections Dr. Leena Pascal makes is
mind-blowing. As per my understanding Reading with connections is the key
to this expertise.

Session 2:
My
understanding:

Our subject group took up an activity on creating a chart work on Class 5

vocation and discussed on how we can take this poem constructively. We
explain how we can ask students to form groups and look around the different
people in the school campus, ask specific questions and come back with their
experience to share it in classroom.
Post sharing ask students questions like what is vocation?, what do you call
people who do not work? etc.
Even while doing this I should stick to the topic and do not get lost into big
facts.
Scope for implementation
I need to sink in with the concept first, and then make corrections to my own
subject ideas. If executed properly with collaboration, I can shrink the related
lessons.
While doing so, I need to think on timeframe, target, reduction, thinking
differently, and do thought experiments.
The mind mapping exercise gave an insight on the areas of improvement.
The tools like the great depression (for cause and effect), become a reading
detective, persuasion essay, what is the main idea?, Concept maps, all about,
distant scale were a few tools that I still need to explore for execution in
classrooms.

Day 9
Session 1&2:

My
understanding:

Topic: Innovation
Presenter: Prashanth and Chitra
Group-activity-one-line diagram without lifting the pen.
Group-activity-Look for connections
Group-activity-Make connections
When each teacher puts his/her impression on the student or when the
students compartmentalize the learning, it looks like the outcome of the initial
one-line diagram (garbage). But when teacher inter-links the subjects it looks
better as there is connectivity and we could produce a creative output
I will face constrains, but the smartness is how I build upon what is done.
STUDIO SCHOOLS are the future schools and the in-thing now. Our curriculum
too has good scope. The only thing that needs to be changed is the teaching
approach.
The Look for connections gave me an understanding of how we can relate the
topics on hand to different disciplines and it is really VAST.
The team work on Bhopal gas tragedy gave an understanding of how
manipulative the data is and requires a lot of critical thinking. As a language
teacher, I understood how importance is it to develop in childrennote-taking
skills, report writing, outlining and finding connecting sentences.
Note: the initial intro to this session by Principal included the usefulness of
creating a file of article. I have planned to start it this academic year.

Day 10
Session 1
and 2:
My
understandi
ng:

Topic: Innovation
Presenter: Prashanth and Chitra
Group-activity-Plastic is a boon or bane
Steps for Inter-disciplinary project
Group-activity-6th Mass extinction research and presentation
I took an extreme position when it came to the topic plastic, which is not the right
method, as there are no rights and wrongs. I should follow a dialogue method and
have interdisciplinary connect to increase perspective. I should look at things not in
isolation; instead have a holistic approach.
The key phrase for me was Knowledge is about making connections, connections
that fuels creativity which is nothing but cross-pollinating ideas.
The steps to create an inter-disciplinary project with strong connections to
curriculum are:
Decide a topic
Research and Brainstorm
Frame essential questions
Frame key questions
Frame objectives
Allocate responsibility
Decide an instructional sequence
Decide on timeline and milestones.
Resource planning-human and material
Establish student assessment
Document
Evaluate Design
I have got an insight into inter-disciplinary project with the R&D on 6 th Mass
extinction.
Awaiting the next meeting to take this further.

Curriculum
Curriculum
based

ProcessProcessdriven
driven

Interdisciplin
ary Project

Relevance
Relevance
&
evidence
& evidence
based

Linking
Linking
subjects
subjects

Day 11

Session 1:

My
understanding:

Topic: Innovative Activity Oriented Teaching-learning methodology and

effective teaching of English
Presenter: Latchoumy Mohan
Recap of Day 9 and 10 and relating it to Will-Skill quadrant.
A few points on unit plan and daily plan, and a general discussion on duties of
English teachers.
What is it to be a teacher--ground rules
During the day 9 and 10, there were shifts from I cant so I wont quadrant
(while choosing an uncertain topic such as 6 th mass extinction) to I want to but
I cant quadrant. Once the group started research and brainstorming, to some
extend I could enter the I can and I will quadrant.
KT by Reshma and Radha gave inputs on the format for unit plan which
included
1. Core objective (verbs that cannot be measured, such as appreciation)
and expected learning outcomes (related to LSRW, they are verbs with
evidence) which should be discussed with peer teachers and come to
consensus
2. Assessments and Assignment
3. Learning experience are good to know and important to know things and
deals with delivery of the content to class.
4. Reflections should be entered after the class to capture wow moments or
those which require further improvements; inter-connection with other
disciplines (which is a life skill; has relevance to life and timeless value)
English teachers should speak only in English
English teachers should politely correct other teachers if they find an
error.
English teachers should help other subject teachers if they have doubt
w.r.t English

Session 2:
My
understanding:

I will treat my students as my children.

I will not teach English through Kannada or other languages.
How to use cross-word and activity sheets to retain interest in children. This
should be an activity at least once a week. Two sample crosswords created as
home fun activities through the web link
http://edtools.mankindforward.com/crosswords/780635 ). I need to identify the
type of worksheets that benefit children the most.
Logical questions that enhance creative thinking should be initiated and
sustained in classroom.
Appreciate children and give the rewards which can be made by teachers using
sample specimen copies and chart paper. Show a picture and ask students to
describe the incident shown. (Descriptive writing)
How to take grammar classes (for lower classes)
Parts of speech should not be taught using the jargons like noun, verb instead
use naming, action, quantifying, describing words
Stress on the words that children should focus on.
Make use of online resources to create formative assessments.
Give print outs for exercising on the topic.

Day 12

Session 1:
My
understanding:

Session 2:
My
understanding:

Topic: Innovative Activity Oriented Teaching-learning methodology and

effective teaching of English
Presenter: Latchoumy Mohan
Teaching grammar
Activity on what kind of teacher you are? Followed by video on Mahitra
message. I cant and I can
The acronyms that help children remember the rules of grammar for positive,
comparative and superlative and conditional clauses
Transformation of sentences was vague to me. I need to work on those rules.
Another one I need to experiment is the biological clock.
Active and passive voice was clear.
Model Lessons-Prose and Poetry
Activity on use of waste materials.
The way she taught prose was awesome. This methodical approach will
definitely help in developing reading, listening, questions, responding skills at
one go
The poetry was majorly concentrated on the rhyming words, meaning of
difficult words, singular- plural. The main object of teaching poetry is for
entertainment.
She had all live examples to share that made the session more meaningful. This
also helped me to understand that my experiences and I as a person should be
the example for my students learning.

Day 13
Session 1:
My
understanding:

Session 2:
My
understanding:

Topic: General instructions + Unit Plan Preparation

Presenter: Principal and Subject coordinators
Principals message
Unit plan discussion with Reeshmi
General instruction included completion of portions term wise (1 st term-60%, 2nd
term: 20%, 3rd term: 20%)
Usage of ICT facilities; use the content in LMS; downloadable links intimation to
reach Dineesh at least a day in advance. You-tube access in class restricted.
Have alternate plans to carryout activities (in case if the system does not work)
Students should not know the log in credentials. No pen drives. No mobile
phone usage (can be used in staff room with the knowledge of heads)
Dress code re-discussed.
Subject coordinates decision on the unit plan is final.
Took up class 8 English chapter 1 to create unit plan. Did this individually post
discussion with coordinator as my partner was Reeshmi and she was guiding
other team members.
Unit plan discussion with Ubaid
He showed the different resources he refers while preparing unit plan. Through
discussion, we together worked on the core objective and expected learning
outcomes.

Day 14
Session 1:

My
understanding:

Topic: Unit Plan Preparation

Presenter: Principals message
Unit plan discussion with Ubaid
Unit plan discussion with Reeshmi
HM started with checks on any concern on unit plan preparation. She said it
should be in mutual negotiation, a dialogue and not a debate.
Through Principals message, I understood that when we have a mutual
negotiation, we come to a consensus, which does not mean that it is the end.
When applied in classroom scenario, revisit the areas that require
improvement, again through mutual negotiation. It is a continuous
improvement
Understood how to structure the unit plan from Ubaid. He connected the
activities to the core objectives very well.
After the unit plan review, Reeshmi showed her daily plan book to how she
jotted down the plan and how it sums up to the unit plan objectives.

Session 2:

Alumini visit
Unit plan discussion with Ubaid (contd)

My
understanding:

Had a feeler of coming out of the theater after watching three idiots
Being a science teacher, I always look for proof. The aluminis thoughts on and
experiences at EPS gave an excellent proof to the success of EPS, what EPS is
pursuing and what EPS stands for. That was the moment I saw the icing on the
cake for all the seminars attended from 11-May. Feeling blessed to be part of
this journey!

Day 15
Session 1:

My
understanding:

Session 2:
My
understanding:

Topic: Preparation for First day

Presenter: Headmistress, Principal and coordinators
Follow-up on our understanding of what EPS means for the first batch of
students.
Principal addressing class teachers
As a teacher, I should think what is that I should do to make children
independent learners, induce curiosity and make them independent thinkers.
EPS is all about collective excellence. The dos and donts for class teachers
were discussed upon.
Be consistent in your dealings. Policies are same for all. All parents are equally
important
Be honest. I will try to solve matters at my end and intimate Principal or HM if
there is any concern. If things do not fall in place, ask the parent to meet
Principal.
Classroom
Went to classroom 8B, checked the infrastructure. Operated the system.
Discussed with Jyoti (coordinator) on Physics unit plan.
First day preparation and activity discussion with Nisha, Haripriya, Shreja.

Day 16
Concluding
training day

Topic: Position Paper

Presenter: Prof. Ramanna

Session 1:

Talk by principal
Introduction to position paper
Reach the learner is the mantra. Evidence based performance.
As the expectations are set and I have a dotted path to reach the expectations
through the tools given in the training program, now I need to fill the gaps
through the experiences. Keep up the momentum

My
understanding:

Session 2:
My
understanding:

The underlying pedagogical approach in the position paper is Constructivism

The learning outcome: what a learner is expected to know, understand and be
able to do at the end of the learning experience. It is all about ASK attitude,
skill and knowledge which are related to the three domains cognitive, affective
and psychomotor.
Scaleup (Student center for active learning experience; Upside down
pedagogy.
Frist list the objectives and then work backward. Though we cannot make it for
the whole curriculum, at least make a beginning.
Rubrics, used to access co-scholastic activities (formative assessments), has
performance criteria, descriptors and scale.
Summary of SQAA (School Quality Assessment and Accreditation)
Features of SQAA
1. does not rank school
2. mandatory to have acceptable quality levels and
3. Respects the unique mission of the school.
The assessment team (external agencies) will follow the processextensive
documentation, gathering data, validating data against evidence, and rigorous
self-assessment. The core object is to set-up a continuous school improvement
plan
A schools quality depend on the learning outcomes; As teacher, I need to plan
whether my plans mainly align to the domains (1, 2, 6 and 7):
1. Scholastics process- 25%
2. Co-Scholastic- 15%
3. Infrastructure- 15%
4. Human Resources- 10%
5. Managerial Admin-10%
6. Leadership- 15%
7. Beneficiary satisfaction-10%
A School Accreditation Committee (SAC) need to be formed.