Sarus Cranes Spotted at the Sultanpur National Park

While going through my photographs that were taken at the Sultanpur National Park a few kilometres from my home in Gurgaon, I came across a few more snaps of a couple of Sarus Cranes that were good to share. I had not known that they existed because they had been in a lot that I had overlooked. I guess, this is what happens when you get to take too many photographs of the same bird. Nevertheless, the intimacy and the courtship ritual displayed in the photographs are worth a relook. The Sarus Crane, Antigone antigone is a large non-migratory bird found in the South Asian continent and Australia. These are incidentally huge birds reaching a height of five feet eleven inches! Their red head contrasting with their grey bodies makes for a study in natural aesthetics. These handsome birds have been the subjects of many medieval paintings. I saw recently a painting of a pair of Sarus Cranes with an inscription in what I believe was Urdu or perhaps Farsi at my uncle's home recently. These birds, unfortunately, are facing extinction, what with a lopsided contest with human beings for space. Sarus Cranes are revered in Indian Mythology and they are revered and respected by people in India.

Sarus Cranes mate for life and their fidelity is a lesson for everyone! I was able to somehow edge very close to them moving through the thick grass, and when we came face to face, I wonder who was more surprised the cranes or me! Immediately on spotting me, the cranes started to do an odd kind of dance. The male, I presume because of his height and size began to dance aggressively in what could be either an act of aggression or perhaps a show of his love for his lady, that too in front of me.

Sarus Cranes pairs imitate each other's movements and they make the same kind of sounds as if singing a duet! I wouldn't, of course, claim that they have a melodious voice; they create a ruckus when they sing and it is startling enough! I guess because of their size they have little to fear!

The male is the more dominant of the pair, and he is the one who leads, whether it is in dancing or making a move or even initiating the song!

As you might see, the female of the pair is smaller and more delicate than the male! She seems to be the more passive of the two and seems to be happy to follow her mate's orders! The Sarus Crane pair build up their nests on a pile of twigs and stubble close to the water level. The nest is protected at all times and though the eggs and the hatchlings are perhaps most vulnerable till they gain in size. As you can see from the snaps, Sarus Cranes are to be found in wetlands, and paddy fields and their diet consists of whatever they can forage from the shallow water bed and the undergrowth. Their diet consists of roots, tubers, insects and crustaceans. These birds can be found in wetlands and marshes all over the northern part of India.

I can only hope that conservationists and Government organisations take definite steps to protect this species from total extinction. The dwindling number of wetlands in the country is a matter of concern. Today wetlands and marshlands are being drained out to make space for building projects. Whatever wetlands exist as protected spaces, continue to be threatened by the very fact that water runoff from rains has been severely cut off by building projects that come up around protected wetlands. If we don't take up immediate steps to conserve our wetlands, then surely all that will remain of these majestic birds are these photographs!

For more:

https://rodrickwrites.blogspot.com/2018/02/courtship-ritual-of-sarus-cranes.html

Tackling Disruption in Education

Education is evolving and it is changing at a very fast rate indeed! One of the greatest challenges for educators today is how to handle this change that is disruptive in nature. It is an accepted fact that digital disruption is a fact that has to be accepted. Educators cannot afford to be secure in their belief that they are experts in their fields whether it is in their subject areas, or for that effect, teaching strategies. Rightly enough, students will have done research in the lesson before coming in for the class, and different classes of the same grade will require varied teaching strategies. While student-directed learning is a safe bet in some cases, in others, the teacher needs to take up a more direct role. With digital learning becoming a reality, one needs to be open to the immense possibilities for collaboration, and research work. The opportunity for online learning and online learning portals, one needs to keep working on strategies and learning modules that can continue to offer something new to the learners. It is indeed a challenge to be one step ahead of the learners, however, it should not be a matter of disgrace to accept being told about new discoveries and new things that one might not have been aware of.

How then, does an Educator Tackle Disruption in Education?

Be a lifetime learner!

One cannot, as an educator be confident about being a master of one's subject. What was learned in school and college will have lost its edge because of the very fact that education is evolving at a very fast rate. To keep up with the pace of development in education, one needs to be a constant learner. One needs to research about new discoveries in the subject and also learn about new strategies in education that integrate digital learning. One needs to be tech-savvy, and one needs to develop appropriate research skills. Collaborate with other educators and discuss new strategies with them. Share lesson ideas and be prepared to learn from others. Share resources, internet links and share your failures and victories with them. Be open to learning new things, new ways to make the lesson interesting. Join Pinterest and share pins.

Use Technology in class!

Don't hesitate to carry your laptop into class. Fall back on it to research the latest in class. Most progressive experiential schools equip their classrooms with a projector and a wifi connection. When a class becomes a little tedious, show the students a video linked to the subject being taught. In order to use technology effectively, the educator will have to be able to fall back on necessary resources, internet links that he can use to make the class more interesting.

Mix teaching strategies experiment with those that work the best in class!

Never ever use the same strategy throughout the teaching period. A class discussion should be followed by a written task which in turn should be followed by some kind of a formative assessment, not necessarily a pen and paper test. Have a brain-storming session, and then follow it with some time for the students to note down their observations. Give the students in each group separate stanzas of a poem, ask them to annotate the stanza and then deliver a presentation. Alternately, tell them to draw a mind-map or diagramme with labels on a chart and then tell them to put up their posters in a sequence on the display board. Organise a learning walk so that the students get to see what the other groups have written. For literature lessons, students can be encouraged to do a role play or a present a skit on the poem or short story.

Be prepared for the unexpected!

You are excited about using a new strategy or have an exciting video you want to show the class, but then the wifi is not working, or worse of all, the students are zoned out since they have already attended so many classes; they are simply drained out! It could also be that it has started to rain and the weather is really nice! It could also be that you are not feeling so good yourself and have a headache. In such a case, you might as well ask the class to work on a mindmap on the green-board based on the big idea of the lesson without actually starting the lesson. Or you could even ask the class to play a guessing game. Do anything as long as it is connected directly or indirectly with the lesson or topic of the day! Have a backup plan for a lesson that does not go as expected.

Anchor your lessons with the learning target or expectations for the day!

Irrespective of what happens in class, the learners should be aware of the expectations for the lesson. Learning Targets begin with 'I can...' statements. Learning targets can come in the beginning or for that effect in the middle of the lesson. Sometimes it would be a good idea to let students frame their own learning targets. In case these are too diverse, you can have a brief discussion and a vote for the best two or three learning outcomes that encapsulate the objective of the lesson for the day.

Give clear instructions to students (these include the class protocols for the day)!

Students should know what they are supposed to do in a particular class. The instructions for group work, processes, voice levels and discussion strategies should be made clear at the outset of the class. So, if each group is to enact a particular scene, then what is it that they are expected to depict, what is the big idea or the theme you want them to enact. If it is a presentation of a poem, then give specific stanzas to each group, number the group and give them a poetry analysis check-list.

When everything fails, become a student!

When everything fails, remember that you are more of a student than an instructional machine. Having the right attitude, accepting failure as an excuse to learn, having a growth mindset and accepting vulnerability will go a long way in making you achieve success. Learn to be authentic, if you don't have an answer for a particular question, it is alright to tell your learners that you don't have an answer just then, though you will come back with one later. Let each class be a learning for you. When nothing works then follow the Review, Revise, and Return strategies. Your teaching strategy might need reviewing or revising. In some cases, an older strategy might be more effective one than the exciting one you have just tried. Learn to experiment and adapt.

Demystifying Educational Jargon

Educationists all over the world love jargon, and for the poor initiate, this is rather confounding! However, one way out is to look at what these much-bandied terms do not mean! Excessive use of jargon is often rather intimidating, and when jargon is used without the accompanying glossary, it falls on deaf ears! When one uses jargon excessively, it is not only intimidating but also smacks of vanity and pride. So, in order to uncomplicate educational terminology, this is a list of what these terms should not mean!

1. Vision: The Head of the school is certainly not talking about Tunnel Vision! Tunnel Vision refers to what happens when the Boss has a vision for the Institution, College or School which does not match with ground reality! This is a Vision that is more of a fantastic dream that has not taken into consideration constraints and obstacles in the classroom. Tunnel Vision does not consider the learner and the teacher as the basic unit in a school around which pedagogy is woven. It is good to have dreams, but better still to have dreams that can fructify into reality!

2. Big Idea: For God's sake how do I know whether or not I will be in Hades or Nirvana five years from now! The reason behind the Big Idea is to have what is known as the enduring understanding of where one is headed, a future picture, finding relevance in what one is doing in school, and this includes not just students but also teachers. Students will, in any case, aspire to be teachers, lawyers, doctors and engineers, but then their teachers too will aspire to be Senior Teachers, Head-Teachers, Programme Leaders and even Principals. To answer the question about what Big Idea means, one should ask oneself what one is doing in a particular class and stream, why is one doing what one is doing, would it have any relevance five years from now?

3. P.D./SLP: Professional Development Programmes: The YUVA School Life Programme is a workshop for Government and Government school Teachers wherein refreshments, a certificate is given and you have to attend an eight-day workshop right before the Summer vacations. The fact is that Professional Development Programmes are a necessity for constant honing of teaching skills. However, having too many Professional Development programmes or in-service programmes might be a cause of excessive sleep.

4. BaLa: Don't paint the periodic table or the three laws of motion on the school building just for covering up the poor quality of the plaster. Nor is it about hiring an artist at an exorbitant amount, simply because he happens to be related to the Boss's. Rather, the idea of using the Building as a Learning Aid stems from the belief that looking at pictures, diagrammes, written principles, and theorems will embed themselves in the learners whenever they come across these images! Visual learning is powerful, so use your school building as a learning aid! This runs true, not just for Government schools but also Private schools!

5. Experiential Learning: This is certainly not about letting the cat amongst the rats! This is certainly not a situation where everyone is left wondering what all that brouhaha was all about. Experiential Learning doesn't do away with a Lesson Plan, Learning Targets or Learning Outcomes. Teachers in an Experiential set up are quite in control of the learning process, they are simply not mute spectators watching a free for all in the class! In fact, a lot of planning goes into each class involving Experiential Learning. Far from being a mute spectator, the Experiential Learning Teacher steps in wherever needed, he or she is a guide and in control of his or her ego. You, as a teacher don't step in with exasperation when your students fail to answer questions, you give them leading and probing questions so that the students themselves arrive at the answer. The students take pride in the learning process, they own the learning process, and it gives them immense joy.

6. Distributed Leadership: This is simply not a situation where the Boss doesn't want to stick his or her neck out in a dangerous situation, take for example a situation where the Principal of a school cowers inside his or her office when faced by a crowd of irate parents demanding a rollback back in discipline policies after having instructed the Coordinators and Programme Leaders to take the rap on the knuckles for him or her! Distributed Leadership in a school is about sharing of responsibilities for the larger good of the school. Discipline, Learning Walks, Training Sessions, and Meetings can be offloaded on to the able shoulders of capable Educationists.

7. Out of The Box Thinking: This is definitely not about doing anything but answering the question! Out of The Box, Thinking is about finding different ways to answer a question. It is not an excuse for deliberately hijacking the class by asking silly questions and getting into a discussion that is misleading, digressive, and meant to give the students and the teacher a chance to do anything but learn.

8. A Cool Teacher or A Good Teacher: This is definitely not someone who does anything but teach or guide students towards certain Learning Targets! This is also not about a teacher who bonds very well with students but has bad professional ethics. Nor is this a teacher who has poor knowledge of the subject but hides his or her professional inadequacies by being too friendly with students. A Good Teacher is one whom students initially love to hate but then love to worship at a later stage. This is a Professional who has a good command over the subject, is a friend of the students, but places importance on ethics, values, and timelines. He or she is as ready to tick off misdemeanours and wrongdoings as to show appreciation for exemplary work.

9. BYOD: Students do not Bring Their Own Devices to school to connect with friends, chat online, play games or research latest fashion trends. BYOD is about bringing in internet-enabled devices for the sake of doing collaborative work, researching important information, and attempting online tests, surveys and answering questionnaires. Unfortunately, well-meaning organisations are not able to regulate usage of internet on student-owned devices. Firewalls and filters are easily circumvented by students who are smarter than their teachers.

10. BYOB: Students Bring in Their own bottle, but this doesn't mean they don't have the sense not to keep drinking water in the class so that they have to go to the washroom frequently. While the drinking of water is an important right, this right is however misused for the wrong reasons. Their something rather childish and regressive about grown-up children picking up their water bottles and glugging up the contents of the bottle even as the sucking noises cut across the silence of a class that is working on a task. Wonder if the contents of the water bottles might not warrant a closer look to see whether it is indeed Aqua Pura!

11. Big Data: Folks, this term does frighten one so much! The Secret Police collected tonnes of Big Data on some of the dissidents in the Socialist countries. Big Brother is watching us. Does Big Data refer to a list of misdemeanours listed in that ubiquitous 'Pink Register'? No, Big Data refers to data that can be used effectively to improve student performance in academics. Big data refers to data that can help improve teaching processes and pedagogical practices. Big Data refers to Demographical data, examination/test performance scores, attendance percentages, a frequency of notebook submissions, performance scores across grades. It is on the basis of quantitative data that a teacher is able to provide predicted scores for students desirous of getting admissions in colleges abroad. Letters of Recommendation are based on qualitative data.

12. LOR. : Gracious me! This is a hate letter that a teacher gives to a student who needs to get admission in a college abroad. This is a love-hate letter that can make or ruin a student's chance of getting into MIT or Harvard, to make matters worse, a student doesn't get to see what his teacher has written since this is a confidential letter that is posted directly on a link sent by the college to the teacher. Fact: the Letter of Recommendation is an important letter from a teacher who has taught the student over a period of time stating that he knows the student and vouches for him as a student who will do well in college. Remember Einstein? His maths teacher gave him a Letter of Recommendation which helped him get into college to study maths.

Save our Wetlands!

The Black Necked Stork

This time when I last visited the Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary close to Garhi Harsaru, Haryana, I was able to spot quite a large number of birds, especially red-billed geese, Sarus cranes, and ducks, different species of ducks. What struck me the most, however, was a Black Necked creating some of the most elaborate stances, all angles and corners even as he fed on the lake. The silhouettes this fellow created were some of the most striking ones. I knew from the very moment that I clapped my eyes on him, I would aim for silhouettes. I have pasted a few of them below:

The Black Necked Stork seems to be a solitary bird that is happy in its own company. Looking at the next snap, one would wonder if the Black Stork might not also be a bit of a Narcissist! I guess the golden cast of the snap adds to the effect!

But then, Narcissism apart, one would certainly not deny the fact that this is one of the most majestic birds one might see. The stance, head held high, one foot at right angles to the torso, the proud head, and the general demeanour suggests that the Black Necked Stork is indeed, not to be trifled with!

Silver Dawn-A Poem

Stray fingers stretch into the sky, steel-skeleton structures,

Seeking warmth from the rising orb, fog and mist obscure

The morning air, and none to greet the rising sun! For

Where are they that  would stride or jog for cure or health

 In the morning air, but now hide from the Silver Dawn

That greets none but cold steel fingers of cell-phone towers?

The fresh air, the chirruping birds, the wetlands and forests

Are all gone like a dream rudely awakened, by the chink of

Golden, promises of development and progress! Alas! What

Have we done to our forests, and wetlands and fresh air?

Sold them out to corrupt officials and sick politicians who'd

Only want to line their own pockets despite their children's health!

The sun does rise in the morning, but none do greet it, people
Remain indoors, cowering beneath quilts and blankets breathing
Artificial, purified air, bottled air, tailor-made air, smelling of citrus
Fruits, or exotic flowers, that none do find in real life! A few, ashamed
To step outdoors for fear of being lynched for destroying the world cower
Indoors.  And all this while, the glorious sun does rise to greet none but:

Steel skeleton structures seeking warmth from the rising orb!

Alas! Those greedy officials and selfish politicians did sell off all our
Clean air and fresh water, and promises were thrown into the winds, in
The name of development, all they left us are concrete and steel atrocities
In the name of art, for development without care, is not but willful destruction Of resources! But then who'd sell air-purifiers and water-purifiers if not for
A Silver Dawn? They say it's good to have Silver Dawn to line the pockets of few!