D.O 6 - 28 November - Group Discussions start with a bang...!

For the second year Phil & Tamil students it was a new kind of initiation- the class, with its four dynamic groups assembled at the Exams Hall Gallery and kick started their Group Discussion. Each group was seen engrossed deeply in the topic allotted for them.

For the First year PBT & Zoo, we had Dictionary time and Newspaper quiz.
Mar-Apr : 176
Nov-Dec : 110
May-Jun : 90
Jan-Feb : 50
Sep-Oct :40
Jul-Aug : 39

For Second B.A literature, it was Arrangement, in Rhetoric. Gave six topics for the first six, three girls and three boys, to speak on, in the next Rhetoric class.

4 D.O - Monday, 27 November - Things Fall Apart - analysis

In Phil/Tam Class, students brought their daily newspaper and dictionary along, and we had a nice time with Quick Word Reading, and Newspaper quiz. Then, today's vocabulary of ten words was given. I also told them that the C.A might have a vocabulary component in it.
Group A : 120
Group C : 100
Group B : 60
Group - D : 30

In IIIB.A English, many participated in the analysis of Chapter II of Things Fall Apart. I told them that 50 marks in C.A will hereafter be allotted to class interactions. The class was exhorted to read Chapter III before the start of the next class.

3 D.O - Friday, 24 November 2006

Completed the Text on Civilisation, for I yr PBT /Zoo class. Had a language time, followed by quiz time. Points tally is:
Jan - Feb : 20
Mar - Apr : 20
Sep - Oct : 30
Nov - Dec : 20

In the Literature class, had a discussion on the various adventures which we come across in literature, and students responded with enthusiasm. A lot of adventurous novels were discussed. Completed with discussion, Chapter 1 of A Passage to India.

2 D.O - 23 November - Discussion on Culture...

Had a good discussion, if not the best, on culture, with the Third B.A English Students. Many came out with good inputs.. I was happy that some had really done their homework well. Almost the whole of the class had turned up with their texts, which was very heartening. Completed Chapter I, with an introduction. More discussions will follow. I asked students to give a reading of Chapter II, and come up with their ideas in the next class.
Introduced Jane Goodal's text for II Phil/Tam.
Completed the text "What to listen for in Music" for Experience of Literature class.

1 D.O - Wednesday, 22 November - Handwriting practice begins...

Gave Handwriting practice for the II Philosophy/Tamil Students, in which everyone participated with great enthusiasm. Later, asked the ones who are good at acting to meet me around 1.30 in the Staff Room, and to my surprise almost a dozen students turned up. I was enthused by the turnout. Gave each of them a copy of the small play to be enacted in class shortly. Also, fixed up a good time for practice.
In the Rhetoric Class, initiated the students into Definition of Rhetoric, and its five broad divisions. Also, reminded them about the three golden rules in my class which are to be effected from this current semester itself.
Explained to them the first division of Rhetoric, namely INVENTION.

In the name of LANGUAGE WORKSHOPS... Just a RUN FOR hard earned money... Nothing less, nothing more...!

Yesterday i was asked to attend a ELT workshop at a famous COUNCIL, which promotes it. Participants, mostly drawn from all parts of the State were there, and the program started punctually at 2 sharp... But that was the only sharp element in it... Three hours of elemental kidding for College Professors...to say the least... And at the end of this elemental kidding, we were poorer by 300 bucks... they had made at least half a lakh rupees for a single session. This set me wondering whether the whole exercise was just a money spinner, or was it a case of sheer callousness on the part of the organisers to take English language professors for granted?
Elementary school teachers would have profitted by the exercise to an extent.. but surely not at our level... I mean, the key speaker missed out on this fact...
Now this sets my mind thinking on whether programs like this really mean anything to us... without proper planning and proper resource persons the whole thing becomes nothing but a farce... and a lack of precious time and money for the participants...

Another sore spot of the day was that, most of the delegates were in their early thirties or late twenties… and the resource person, a lady was also in her early thirties… There was just one respectable senior professor amongst us, who was the victim of haughty onslaughts of the resource person. She was making fun of him time and again for no fault of his, which he took in his stride magnanimously, much to the consternation of most of the delegates. The way the resource person conducted herself in this situation was in very bad taste...It kept us wondering on whether such workshops are worth attending, in the near future, cos a respectable professor’s reputation goes for a six, in the eyes of compatriots and colleagues, by a resource person.

Why is culture with a Capital 'C' for the Africans alone...? (III B.A English...)

The Africans are supposedly the only people who use the word Culture with an upper case "C"... Why is it so? Is it just for the heck of it, or is there a method in their 'madness'.?
Try to relate your thoughts with Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart.

Three Golden Rules for Literature Classes... Reason and Scope...

This semester, after much interactions with friends, like-minded colleagues, students, and class representatives, i hit upon three golden rules for the Literature classes, which has met with great success for the past four years in our General English classes.
Now, the three Golden Rules framed thus, are:

Golden Rule No.1. Always come to class in time. Late comers will on no account be entertained, so don’t try to convince the teacher by giving any kind of excuse.

Golden Rule No.2. Passport is essential for entry into class. Without your text book (passport), entry is denied.

Golden Rule No.3. If the concentration of one student gets distracted because of you, you are out. And once you are out, that implies that you are out for the whole of that particular semester.
The scope of these rules in Literature classes, as i see it, are meant to make the students enjoy the spirit of the class, preserving its good old ethos.

Still, i throw the forum open for discussion...