The CRDC, the brainchild of the management, was launched in June 2008. The first year has been a very eventful journey.  We began with tiny steps, grew stronger and learnt along the way; with a firm focus on our vision - ‘Building the Podar brand of qualitative education.’

The success of our endeavour propels us to launch this newsletter in an effort to link together the teachers, parents and us.

This, the first newsletter, features highlights of the programmes conducted by the department. The future newsletters would feature articles from students and teachers under the CRDC umbrella. You may visit our website www.podar.org for further details. Alternatively you can mail us at crdc@podar.net.

Parents, we would love to have you write in and let us know if you have any suggestions. Your interaction is valuable to us and helps to spur us on the course that we have charted. Unfortunately, we will not be able to address grievances since that is not within the purview of this department.

Someone once said, ‘Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it.’ Let us help one another to paint a self portrait we can be proud of.

We look forward to a fruitful year ahead as one family.

Keeping in mind that the school is the first social system a child is exposed to outside of his home; we decided to make the transition smoother by empowering both the teacher and the child through the primary years.

Teachers were trained in the finer art of helping students adjust to school environment, learn study patterns, build self esteem and make learning fun.

Making learning fun involved the use of flash cards, sight words, stories, music, puppets etc.

The versatility of the newspapers was exploited to use it as a tool in teaching.

A workshop for parents was based on self discovery, discussion, reflection and introspection of their roles as parents.

Technical training was provided to equip teachers with the appropriate skills for making effective use of the ICT for teaching and evaluation purposes.

After receiving feedback from the teachers, workshops on making teaching aids have been planned for the future.

Mathematics arises from many different kinds of ‘problems’ - with learners’ attitudes, understanding concepts and their applications. To change this mental mind set a number of modules were planned by the CRDC team.

The first module highlighted the importance of the subject and the ways in which the teacher could help build positive attitude towards it.

It focused on the foundations of teaching mathematics, problem handling together with mathematical thinking which focused on the Madeline Hunter model.

It also dealt with the history of mathematical symbols along with their correct usage and the introduction of mathematical operations in the early years through activity based lessons.

The teachers’ aids and tools competence was augmented in areas relating to use of ICT, and songs to teach concept as well as hands on activities.

The next two modules aimed at improving lesson planning and teaching activities through designing worksheets and setting question papers. Input from teachers was incorporated into the worksheet modules.

Project ideas in mathematics for middle school were discussed. The format of the project and criteria for evaluation of the same were explained.

Taking into account the future needs of the different schools, the second half of the training programmes will be formulated coupled with extension activities.

Bill Beattie once said ‘The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think.’

We at the CRDC department devised a workshop keeping this in mind and the importance of integrating science with all other subjects.

The workshop on ‘The aims of teaching science’ dealt with the importance of stimulating a child’s curiosity, in finding out the what, whys and wherefores of the world we live in. It helped teachers understand why students should appreciate how science affects their future on a personal, national and global level.

It also spoke of the importance of correlating science with different subject domains in a seamlessly smooth and natural manner. It focused on the Gestalt principle, that the whole is more meaningful than its parts. Knowledge should be interconnected as a whole so that no subject is taught in isolation.

In keeping with one of our beliefs, that teaching is an ongoing process, CRDC embarked on a series of workshops and seminars aimed at enhancing the teaching-learning process of English as a subject.

Various modules were conducted, with a two pronged strategy to enhance the teaching-learning process. One was to augment the teaching skills required in specific areas, such as creative writing and correspondence, appreciation of poetry, exploiting the text and improving grammar coupled with building basic micro-skills of teaching. The other was to complement teaching methods by building good communication and leadership qualities among teachers.

The module for creative writing and correspondence gave the teachers insights on brainstorming techniques, format, content and vocabulary building exercises. Input on how to conduct lessons on the various types of essays and letters was also a part of this module.

Subject – Verb agreement which is the sore thumb of grammar included rules, drill work and exercises as well as follow up material, with a view to improve the spoken and written word.

Poetry appreciation which poses quite a dilemma to most teachers, took the teachers on a literary journey to explore the nuances of poetry. This was to help teachers to inculcate in the learner the love for poetry and understand word web-weaves.

Exploitation of the text dealt with various techniques to be employed by the teacher to open up prose to the students in a creative and enjoyable manner. Games and activities were a part of this module.

Micro-skills focused on the skill of questioning as tool in the hands of the teacher to stimulate application, analysis and evaluation of information.

Soft skills were introduced to the teachers to develop their emotional quotient and enhance the quality of manpower working within the PODAR group.

The diversity of Indian languages and the linguistic background of a person influences his spoken English. The CRDC believes that formulating a programme to suit specific requirements of the teachers, will help them neutralize the regional accent.

The training began with lectures and practice sessions in the form of exercises and drills. Some audio material was left behind at the end of the programme to ensure constant listening practice.

Language being a habit formation poses difficulties for the learners and needs be acknowledged. The first module was an orientation lecture involving topics like English as a second language and the importance of correct pronunciation. Here, the discrepancy between the spelling system and the pronunciation system in English was discussed. The final part of the orientation aimed at building a positive learner attitude towards the English language.

The next two modules dealt with the vowels and consonants in English language; English sounds absent in the learners’ first language were introduced. A distinction between these English sounds and the sounds of their respective mother tongues substituting them, were established. Various techniques were used to explain the correct pronunciation of these English sounds.

Classes with students focused on an interactive method which could serve as a guideline for the teachers to draw ideas and implement the same in their future lessons.

The future training modules will work at improving syllable stress.

It gives us great pleasure to share our experiences regarding your interaction with us.
We were impressed by the inspiring tips given to us to develop our teaching skills. They were a real boost to move us in the right direction. It goes without saying that we implementing your valuable suggestions in our daily classes.
Our approach towards teaching has certainly been energised and uplifted.  We are confident that your perfect and precise guidelines will enable us to implement strategies on the path to become noble teachers.
Thank you very much for the positive energy you left behind for the achievement of our goal.

The academic scenario of our school system is much greener because of the CRDC.

The practising teachers were given the academic freedom and guidance within the general frame of learning, to design the curriculum suited to our modern mind set.

This was done in a way in which the spirit of education would not be tampered with by the mere mechanics of teaching-learning and testing.

The Work Sheets, ppt prepared, Question papers moderated and the tips given to organize ‘The Prefect Investiture Ceremony’ & ‘Hindi’ were resourceful.

The curriculum research is the process of all round improvement of an institution.

The dynamics of school improvement involve a process of change at the individual level.

Teachers lie at the heart of the educational process and the greater the importance attached to education as a whole, the higher is the priority that must be accorded to the teachers responsible for that education.

We look forward to the CRDC Team of Podar School providing us more appropriate structures, methods and processes to improve the holistic educational system of our institution.

"The CRDC is a thoughtful arrangement from the Podar management.  It is meant to maximise teachers' competencies, optimise curriculum resources, and provide for the Podar Group schools a common curricular laboratory where educational initiatives could be conceived, developed, and disseminated.  With greater understanding of roles and responsibilities of all concerned and fine tuning of systems and practices, the CRDC could help the Podar group schools achieve the goal of becoming 'the First Choice Schools of Discerning Public.'  The potential of CRDC is immense and the benefits need to be received."

Congrats! I am sure your inaugural Newsletter will voice the concerns of the teaching-learning process comprehensively and address the key factors too that have been disturbing the stakeholders. Whatever work that went on from your files and team members was indeed noteworthy. It gave a fillip to the academic staff and I had seen them interacting with your trainers pro-actively. What amazed me was the ease with which your team members moved in between the instructional work and knowledge workers. As and when they ended their feedback session, I found them coming up with specific teaching tips, observations and suggestions that were quite vital to the promotion of quality instruction. Kudos to all of you!