In India, Cow is treated as holy, and worshiped as mother. And mother & women are considered highly dispensable. 05-05

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In India, Cow is treated as holy, and worshiped as mother. And mother & women are considered highly dispensable.

News and reports of atrocities on women are considered as the only high value news worthy inputs by  both electronic & print media (& social media too). They even beat high value inputs like IPL & cinema. And of course they are contributing heavily in making the otherwise worthless politicians eloquent & speech worthy.

And thanks to the wrong mongers, (or these the animals in mangers), there is surfeit of these high value inputs.

It is a common sight to see the sinners in the garb of sages (politicians) indulge in endless discussions. The pointing of fingers at other political parties,the holier than thou attitudes are nauseating, but there is no escape.

I am not happy calling these programs high value inputs. But I am speaking the truth.  The prime time,non prime time & other slots are occupied by these high value inputs.

Is there a news channel, that can come forward & boldly state that, yes we will not exploit some one's pain & misfortune of our financial bottom lines.

None I think at least in India.

Do these seemingly endless debates & discussions yield any outcome ???

Does this activity take the country near any solution???

Does it contribute to a more secure environment for the omen???

What happens after these interactions???

ANOTHER ASSAULT ON WOMEN

And.......

The cycle repeats.

Shyam

Now the article,

The article is written by a woman, The language may be shocking by Indian Standards, just matter of fact by american standards, but very realistic by every standard.

Please read the article HERE

Understanding the Vocabulary of Silence 03-17

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Contrary to what the age old idiom that says “The squeaky wheel gets the grease”,

It is “The Silence” That creates the maximum understanding and impact.

One who doesn't understand any language (that you speak) perfectly understands the vocabulary of silence. 

The syllables of Silence  reverberate more effectively than the Decibel of noise.

Those who have a gift of words preserve & sparingly use them as a prized possession. Silence in itself is a complete vocabulary, & communication medium that conveys everything that needs to conveyed in an impact creating manner.

The most important message your silence conveys is your special identity and status. People recognise that “You are somebody, not anybody or nobody”. Thereafter every spoken word assumes extra importance. Every word you speak delivers extra value. The yearning always is more for what is less available & this applies to every spoken word coming from you. A silent man when he speaks, every word carries extra weight. People stop their activity listen very attentively, savour every word and implement seriously the advice or instructions.

The compelling unwelcome habit of giving advice mostly generic, mostly unsolicited often causes more harm than any benefit to the person in problems. The most important help you can render to anyone is to listen patiently to his problem. Once you listen to him, the other person feels light and relieved. The fog of self-doubt slowly disappears. The person starts working for a solution with a renewed energy & vigor  & more often than not, finds a solution for his problems. The solution to the problem often is lurking very near, but the disturbed mind set often comes in the way of recognizing it.

In this condition, an ounce of help is more beneficial than a pound of advice. An audience in silence is more comforting than the spoken word.

Your telling him, “Come on, you can do it”, looks farcical & artificial & may even irritate the person. Whereas your act of silent audience gives him a feeling that you have understood the gravity of the problem, & also makes him understand that he is in the best position to solve it. You have thus not only increased his self-confidence, you have re- ignited his thinking process. No wonder you will find him/her coming back to you again & again for solution.

Silence as a tool for business!!!

Silence can also be used to close the Business deals positively. After scientifically & rationally pitching for the product and stating the price, a calculated pause, a few moments of silence often adds value to your business call.

Your silence allows the customer to evaluate your pitch peacefully & rationally without distraction, A rational evaluation often helps in increasing the customer’s interest in your pitch and the product. 

Try it, if you haven’t & if you have & succeeded, please share your experience in the comments section.

But Why, Why, Why this discussion on silence?    

  

 Silence is the most valuable asset the almighty has created for us. Modern humans have lost touch with their inner "true self". Silence and stillness are a means to recovering happiness and contentment. 

In the modern world silence has practically ceased to exist. The human race has stamped its authority over the planet Earth not just by covering its surface with concrete and destroying its plant and animal life, but also by burying the natural sounds of the Earth beneath a cacophony of man-made noise. We live our lives against the background of this cacophony, with the jagged mechanical sounds of urban-industrial society continually assaulting our ears.

Is Silence then our greatest friend??

Yes indeed In reality silence is one of our greatest friends, and can—if it's allowed to reveal itself to us—have a powerfully beneficial effect on us. Inner silence & peace often allow us to converse with our true inner self. The inner self the metaphysical self often guides the physical self into a rational & meaningful thought process creating mindfulness. This leads to actions that contagiously create a sense of wellbeing everywhere.

However this simple but high-end conversation is a rare occurrence these days, given the compulsions of time, stress, professional commitments. These are the internal noises that constantly disturb the mind & the thinking process. Add to this the external man made noises emanating from the vehicles, the electronic gadgets & other accessories that human being has become addicted to. 

With all this noise & disturbances, is it possible to have the ambiance that is required for this conversation?

But yes whenever this happens it creates a massive therapeutic effect for the human being. It brings a sense of being firmly rooted in ourselves, of being truly who we are. We also have a sense of being truly where we are, realising that before we were only half-present, and everything we see around us seems intensely real and alive, as if our perceptions have become much more acute.

But above all, we experience a profound sense of inner peace and natural happiness. The nature of consciousness-in-itself (which means the consciousness inside us and the consciousness which pervades the whole universe) is bliss. Getting into contact with the pure consciousness inside us enables us, therefore, to experience this bliss. Indeed, it could be said that it's only when we do this that we can experience true happiness.

The importance of silence in our lives can never be explained enough or satisfactorily. While words communicate & convey, silence communicates & impacts.

In the Symphony of silence, is the extravagance of austerity.

And Finally,

Is it possible to remain silent, when the discussion is on Silence?

Please come out with your valuable inputs insights.

I am eagerly waiting for them.

Best Wishes,

Shyam.

IN CONVERSATION WITH SELF... 02-08

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In conversation with self…

The inner self, in dialogue with the mortal self 

Good and noble thoughts normally and naturally come from pious people and they spread it too. A normal human being finds this interesting, likes & appreciates it.

However, when it comes to implementing it in real life, people often think that, those who preach these are at a higher pedestal of enlightenment hence can implement it. They feel that it is not possible for normal individual to lead such a life.

Hence we have the classic example of preachers preaching for generations together & still not being able to bring transformation in the lives of normal people.

We continue to have two classes of people, and a process of degeneration of values in both the classes is prominently visible.

Life is a churning process (Atma Manthan), which produces both Amrit (Nectar) & Halahalam (Poison).

Those who  consume only Amrit can talk about good deeds and how it gets you satisfaction & salvation. But to think that only these people can spread noble thoughts and influence people to better & enlightened life is not correct.

Those who have consumed Halahalam (evil side of life),overcome it successfully, and transformed themselves from evil to good, are in a better position to convince people to give up the evil & take to noble ways of life. They give the confidence that, it is possible for a very normal individual to lift his life a few notches up with some serious efforts.

The conviction to give up bad for good (forever), thread the noble path comes from the experience and inspiration from this people.

So do we need more people who have lead a sinful life & then transformed themselves to nobler ways????

Yes we do…

This is in no way promotion or encouragement for evil or sinners, but a suggestion that those give up evil deeds can help bring transformation in others, or even prevent others from taking a path of sin.

People who have been through this transformation carry more conviction in their words when they speak than the ones who haven’t seen the other side of life.

What is Happiness???

Happiness is not something that can be sought & got. Happiness or unhappiness are by-products of your deeds. There cannot be any specific tasks or deeds that you can do, to get happiness.

More often than not, it is the pursuit of happiness that is the cause of unhappiness.

WHAT IS HAPPINESS???

Happiness is a feeling you get when the inner self speaks or exults. And there is no mechanism to make this happen.

Often a physical debit in terms of time, energy, or money for an individual results in a substantial credit for the soul. As with human beings, soul is also looking at the credit side & exults when it happens. AND THAT IS HAPPINESS.

When someone looks only at the credit side, he is termed selfish. In the same context,

Can soul also be termed selfish???

The credit that the inner-self gets is at the expense of huge debit to the mortal self.

Is it reasonable, & justifiable??

Is the inner self selling the product “Happiness” for a price???

Well one argument could be

 When the soul is working or making you to work for its own self-gratification it may not be correct, however since the end result is good deeds or good attitude, it can be excused for being selfish.

I know the purists will dismiss me & my argument, rationalist will debate & dissent affirmative nodding of heads in between. I welcome all shades of views and opinions, because I know, everything will result in great knowledge dissemination & that what I am looking to.

Shyam

How to Put Metacognition in Process for Teachers 02-07

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How to Put Metacognition in Process for Teachers

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit



Teaching someone a skill is not the same as helping motivate them to understand and use it. 

Metacognition is a process of varying approaches thinking about and using different learning styles to enable the teacher to teach better. It is for the teachers who are already in the profession and teaching. 

The process involves honing the teaching skills to go far beyond lecture. This process is to increase the depth in your imparting, so that absorption, assimilation, analysis, recall, and creative applications, production, synthesis, are improved at the students level. 

The programme is conceived, designed, monitored, delivered and evaluated with different depth, and intensity; so, it should have specific customization, categorization and focus. The stress should be on applying the five senses to expand into about ten unique intelligences not just three traditional categories (written language, mathematics and non-verbal/visual IQ) but more...

Steps

Recognize the key points of Metacognition: 



Think "multiple representations" for critical thinking -- not just words, but learning experiences through a set of activities that help students think about their learning:[1] Metacognitive experiences are student's experiences that involve one's current, on-going cognitive endeavor -- using the process of thinking in learning situations. Metacognitive skills include planning the approach to a learning task, checking on comprehension, evaluating progress on a task and maintaining motivation to see a task to completion to become aware of distracting stimuli -- both internal and external -- and so to sustain effort over time.

Metacognition -- student will use prior knowledge to plan a strategy for successful learning, in steps to problem solve, using necessary tools, reflecting on, monitoring and evaluating your results, and modifying your approach as needed.

Seek "linguistic intelligence" (word smart): 

Deal with improving the language for imparting knowledge, accurate word use, selection of phrases, and pauses (such as wait time for student reaction and to answer questions) in oral and written forms, where strategies like thinking aloud while performing a task include self-questioning, such as:

Planning - 

What do I already know about this topic?

 How have I solved problems like this before? 

What should I do first? 

Monitoring - 

What should I look for in this reading?

 How should I proceed? 

What information is important to remember? Evaluating -

 What did I learn? Did I get the results I expected? 

What could I have done differently? 

Can I apply this way of thinking to other problems or situations? 

Is there anything I don’t understand—any gaps in my knowledge? 

Do I need to go back through the task to fill in any gaps in understanding?

Evaluate "logical intelligence" (reasoning smart):

Answer a question using a plan and steps -- show comprehension by explaining the concept, applying it, example:

Plan an essay: brainstorm, listing related bits pro and con; 

Make concept maps, flow charts, semantic webs, use bubbles containing your words and connect bubbles with "kite-strings" to other relevant words in their bubbles. Make connections of your thoughts and knowledge, possibly by using a simple frame of thinking, such as:

1.Read the essay question; 

2.Identify the theme or topic of the essay;

 (3)brainstorm and choose your best ideas; 

(4) use five paragraphs;

 (5) the first paragraph states your theme and introduction;

(6) develop the body using three paragraphs of evidence and discussion: examples, comparison, contrast, etc. and 

(7) state a conclusion in a final paragraph. 

(8) Also, if this involves research, state your sources in the format used by your teacher, school or a standard writing manual/handbook.

Apply "mathematical intelligence" (number/geometric/abstract smart): use analytical logic, using many and varied graphical and verbal representations to:

Describe, draw, use graphs, setup Cartesian coordinates, apply geometry, use color, measure, diagram, use mapping;

Collect data, organize, find patterns and report using: logic, arithmetic, number systems, mathematical operations, algebraic relations, creating a function, sets, statistics, central tendencies (mean, median, mode), chance and probability;

Evaluate mathematical information: solve the word/story problem using a plan, steps -- explain, apply the plan to solve the problem.

Project "spatial intelligence" (visually smart): instruct students to use their abilities to create two- and three-dimensional pictures (in the mind) for the concrete or abstract subject to apply and transfer it using:

Multiple views/viewpoints to assemble 2-dimensional views: front, back, top, footprint, sides/faces;

Graphical variations, visualizing (realizing), simultaneous information (visual plane and space);

Perspective in 3-dimensional space: visualize depth, think of a focal point, realize there is convergence (a disappearing point), rather than mechanical parallel representations, in the distance/background toward the horizon;
Order, flow, steps, sequencing, presenting sequential information.

Use Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence ("body smart"): physical action and interaction, physical stimulus and robust body activities are the best pathways to help them learn. Acting out learning as much as possible, activities to walk around when they are learning.

Role play as planets, moon, sun, etc., as atoms: electrons, nucleus, neutrons, protons and more by drawing and taping an atom, the nucleus and its orbits on the floor. Let your child move around on it to learn the role of all of the particles. Place objects within their sight and reach.

Use hand gestures, body action, miming of information, etc.,

Display and use the world globe, math shapes such as cube, pyramid, cone, etc. Use manipulative objects: construction sets, Legos, modeling clay, science experiments, props to use in dramatizations, outdoors gear (work shoes, bags to collect rocks, leaves, feathers, plants, flowers, etc.), storage for keeping the specimens they collect, sports equipment, puzzles, dance music,...
Model mathematic skills, addition and subtraction -- give young learners boxes and a set of plastic cubes, have them move them around in the boxes, to illustrate it.

Dimensions (length, width, area, volumes), teach them hand gestures that signify what they are. For example an area of a triangle (1/2 breadth x height) has 3 hand gestures - for 1/2 use one hand sideways to cut the other hand's palm in half, for breadth put your palms together and move them apart horizontally, for height put your hands together one on top of the other and move them apart vertically.

Science -- role play a butterfly's lifecycle from caterpillar to cocoon to butterfly

Experiments, use materials and projects to learn science, mathematics, manipulatives (using objects), etc. -- Conduct science experiments - home chemistry, simple physics etc.

Geography -- Teach your child some dance moves from other countries. Have your child make up hand gestures for various geological formations that they have to learn about

History -- Help your child make a drama about the Indian independence movement and play all the characters

Play silent charades to learn about various historical occurrences
Practice musical intelligence ("music smart"). Use songs, percussion, clapping, singing geometry, rapping math facts, play music during art and other quiet activities.

Communicate using "interpersonal intelligence" (people smart): deal with the skills of classroom management, just a few rules, with many procedures and establishing a rapport and mutual trust with the students for hassle free interaction.

Know your "intra-personal intelligence" (be self smart): get on useful terms with oneself (self-motivate, plan, start/take initiative, be industrious/follow-through, finish, report out).

Help "naturalist intelligence" (nature smart): motivate through the ability to work and apply geo-science, the natural environment, to teach using nature, nature trails, field trips, plants in the windows, a school garden, planting trees, etc.

Do a formative assessment: decide and plan lessons with the needed complexes of understanding and transmission skills to reach the trainees before structuring the quality and quantity of the training. This will position the trainer and the trainee on the same wave length.
Understanding can be facilitated, when participants are engaged and applying the learning in real world problems, relevant situations, and labs, experiments, and involved with "Eureka!" experiences. The impact is necessarily different from the intellectual experience created when originally delivering the concept.


Tips

Training can be through videos, role plays, case study experiments, training exercises, which is processed with ‘understanding’ in mind, which is not a simple analysis of what happened in the experiment or video or exercise, which is what participants tend to explain, but it also deals with how this learning can be applied in their own classroom and teaching processes.
This training should enable you to have a clear focus and facilitate your handling of multiple portfolios with equal efficiency. It should help students to overcome inhibition, indecision, procrastination. This training should improve the students overall productivity and delivery levels.

The faculty members after learning and applying such training should be confident to face two challenges and manage the student and whole class behavior: 

(1) The challenge of initiative and 

(2) The challenge of restraint.

Warnings

There cannot be a uniform training for all grades and cadres of teachers.
The depth and intensity of the training should vary based on the five intelligences levels of the teachers.
The training will not bear fruit if it is not backed by sustenance programme, robust monitoring and evaluation systems for the progress achieved.
Don't settle for doing a job, but motivate yourself far beyond work and pay calculations.

Things You'll Need

Plan: actualize your inclination to improve, working toward using methods of the best teachers.
Mission: clarity in purpose and confidence in yourself, your abilities & patience to transform your methods in a natural way.
Optimal standards: goals for quality of education to understand comprehensively, reproduce learners, achieve results/transfer knowledge and concepts without dilution.

Video

Teaching matters Metacognition

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Put Metacognition in Process for Teachers. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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Do Street smarts outsmart the Book smarts??? 0-07

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Do Street smarts outsmart the Book smarts???

This is more an attempt to ignite & incite a discussion than an article.

To present an age old argument, by street smarts of course

“Street smarts are paid to gain practical experience, while book smarts pay to gain bookish experience.”

Book smarts retort,

All the strategies that the street smarts implement and gain valuable experience and money are formulated by the book smarts from the knowledge attained from the books, classrooms, & guest lectures delivered by the peers. A better formulated strategy gets better outputs and optimization with the same degree of implementation compared to a poorly formulated strategy. And all this adds to better bottom lines which again results in better earnings for everyone.

So who is anchoring whom??

The perfect answer to this question has eluded the mankind since eternity and will continue to do so for eternity.

If you ask for my opinion on this, I would say, Yes, No, May be, Perhaps. If you have as definitive an opinion as I have (or even otherwise) please share your opinion on this.

Back to the Topic, let us a take detailed look.

Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Bill Gates, are great examples of people who didn’t have colleges degrees, but the enterprises they created are counted among the top organizations in the corporate world in terms of turnover, technology and Innovation.

The irony is the technology developed by these people is part of the curriculum, the book smarts study to earn their degrees.

Bill Gates didn’t need a degree to create Microsoft. He doesn’t need one to eradicate malaria from India & many African countries.

On the other side, there are many entrepreneurs who have built great business empires on the basis of their education. Warren Buffet immediately comes to mind. In the software field Vinod Khosla,  Guy Kawasaki,  Vivek Wadhwa & many more have leveraged their education to build their brands.

Picture changed dramatically after the 90s. Google, Facebook and many other less known organizations started as university projects and were successfully transitioned into great & successful organizations. There are large numbers of start-ups in USA doing extraordinarily well which will soon transition into great organizations. These are some of the great contributions from the booksmarts.

In India too, many of the early organization were started as family businesses by people with very basic or no education. For the Birlas, I think Aditya Birla Grandson of G D Birla was the first among the family to have specialised education. Same is the case with Shri.Rams, Bajaj, Kirloskars, & many others. Dhiru Bhai Ambani is an excellent example of street smart who has worked his way up with his business acumen. However all these organization are now managed by people who have specialised education. Specially the junior Ambanis   Anil & Mukesh are Wharton & Stanford Alumna

Today’s scenario is totally different. You need to be a book smart to start a business or even get a job at the entry level. Having said that,

It has to be acknowledged that, it is not easy for the parents, to bear the cost of education for their children. Recession ridden economies in USA & Europe have left the parents with not enough to spare for the education. Student loans are still available, but the depressing job market doesn’t give much confidence. This has resulted in the huge increase in school & college dropout rates. These students are taking up any available job for meagre remuneration. And these huge dropouts are  inadvertently add to the number of street smarts. This seriously affects the resource available for research and innovation.

For close to two centuries United States has been leading the world in Technology & Innovation. Its more than 300 Nobel Prizes are a testimony to it. However the present situation doesn’t bode a bright future for the country. You can also view the video interaction of Bill Gates with Thomas Freidman who co-authored the book “That used to be us” for more information on American School dropouts. View Video

However not all blame can be put on the educational institutions. With the grants from the Government drying up, the institutions are putting the costs on the parents. One of the Universities had to close their computer  science department to meet the situation arising out of the sudden cut in grants from the Governor.

Parents and students are not savvy enough to calculate these before admitting their children in B/Grad schools. We have done humble, (though inadequate) efforts to present data about the colleges, their ranks, their job potential and ROI on our Knowledge-Korridor  blog. Parents and students can visit the website and view the necessary information, & analyse the institutions before admitting their wards.
Please also read
For Newly Minted M.B.A.s, a Smaller Paycheck Awaits

The Shakespearean situation of “To be or Not to be” in education needs an immediate action from the Government. Though President Obama is concerned about this and promised funds for education, not much is expected to flow in the immediate future.

As someone wisely said,

The education crossword puzzle has a missing piece.

Who will provide it is a Billion Dollar Question.

Best wishes,

Shyam 

Leadership is beyond Clichés & Rhetoric’s

Leadership is beyond clichés & rhetoric’s, it has more to do with Professional Ethics and Human Values that win you hearts and bring Transformations. More

Academic Institutions Share a place a place with Harvard,Wharton,MIT,Stanford, and other top Globally Acclaimed Institutions. 10-26

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Academic Institutions Share a place with Harvard,Wharton,MIT,Stanford, and other top Globally Acclaimed Institutions.

Secure a place for yourself among the Galaxy of top Institutions on Knowledge-Korridor and it is absolutely free.

You need to be an Institutions with Innovative Ideas in Content and Curriculum. Plus you need to have respectable Global Ranking from a renowned ranking source like US News,The Economist, others.You size location and age are immaterial to us.If you have Interesting Content,Investigative Articles or Analytical Case Studies, we will put you where you actually belong, 

In the company of great Institutions on Knowledge-Korridor. We don't pay for the content, it has to be free.

Please read further Here 

When work is virtual, Why should physical presence be insisted upon?

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Work from Home or at home at work place

I do understand that work from home is not possible when you are working in a manufacturing unit or you are doing a work which requires your physical presence at the work place.However if you are working out of your laptop, and the organisation is in a position to offer you the facility of home login, then I feel the work is more important than the workplace. Several multinational organizations operating in India have realized this, implemented it and found appreciable increase in productivity levels for the same man-hours and the efforts. 

Please read the complete article Here

Let us Build Ladders out of Poverty for the needy

Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love —Martin Luther King

Let's help Build Ladders out of Poverty for the less privileged fellow human beings.

Helping Build Ladders out of poverty means extending an arm of help, love and compassion to make people self reliant financially and psychologically. We just need to replace their ignorance with some skills set,which they will use to build ladders to self sustainability and prosperity. If you feel you need organizational and financial backing for this work. You will be waiting all your life in expectation of support but actually not doing anything. Only thing you need to start is "you". The rest will automatically fall in line. Please Read The Complete Article

How to Succeed as a Square Peg in Round Hole

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The continuous advent of new technology and the emanation of technology from the Asian and other countries have created a situation where cross cultural work environment has become common place.

Though work place is no worship place, people carry certain cultures, customs, mannerism and behavior patterns which have their roots in the upbringing specific to the regions. This makes the people of one region culturally and socially misfit in other regions.
They finally end up as “Square pegs in round holes”.


This usually happens internationally, but in vast and diverse countries like India & China, it can happen in different regions within the country. More.....