If you can't meet God - Meet Teacher

It will be unfair to speak on length about teaching with my limited knowledge about how they impact us. I happened to visit this YouTube link where Madam Rubi C Theresa has brilliantly taught mathematics in a very simple way to the blessed students who could attend the lecture.

A sample video is attached herein and I am sure it will send chills down your spine and invoke great respect / reverence for this teacher.

Simple Multiplication Rule: How it can be taught in different ways.

For other videos please visit the YouTube and go through the other videos of Madam Rubi C Theresa:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkwAMzgCslGYHuo81YtjAaw

Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/rubi.catherinetheresa?pnref=story

Rather than me writing on teachers I thought the best I can do is to list down the quotes about teachers from thought inspiring men.

The best quotes on teachers:

Source: http://www.latintimes.com/16-famous-quotes-about-importance-teachers-266522

“Teachers can change lives with just the right mix of chalk and challenges.” ― Joyce Meyer.

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” ― William Arthur Ward.

“Good teachers know how to bring out the best in students.” ― Charles Kuralt.

“When you study great teachers... you will learn much more from their caring and hard work than from their style.” ― William Glasser.

“Education is the key to success in life, and teachers make a lasting impact in the lives of their students.” ― Solomon Ortiz.

“The older I got, the smarter my teachers became.” ― Ally Carter.

“What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches.” ― Karl A. Menninger.

“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” ― Henry Adams.

“You can't stop a teacher when they want to do something. They just do it.” ― J.D. Salinger.

“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.” ― Albert Einstein
.

“A teacher who loves learning earns the right and the ability to help others learn.” ― Ruth Beechick.

“Your role as a leader is even more important than you might imagine. You have the power to help people become winners.” ― Ken Blanchard.

“The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.” ― Mark Van Doren.

“True patience is grounded in wisdom & compassion.” ― Allan Lokos.

“Teachers, I believe, are the most responsible and important members of society because their professional efforts affect the fate of the earth.” ― Helen Caldicott

“The average teacher explains complexity; the gifted teacher reveals simplicity.” ― Robert Brault.

Let Data Report

A data infatuated world ignores the remuneration mankind has earned in the last 200 years. The reason being we are incapable to unite the dots for a long period i.e. 200 years.

There are few who witness these transformations through eyes of data. Thanks to these rare and less recognized people for dipping deep into the data from various sources. They transport our ignorance vide eye opening facts.

The few mentioned above is Max Roser and his web publication “Our World In Data” which “Explore the ongoing history of human civilization at the broadest level, through research and data visualization.”

The publication carried an article titled A history of global living conditions in 5 charts by Max Roser.

The article evidently spells out how Poverty, Literacy, Health, Freedom and Education have under gone a tectonic shift and we overlooked it. Instead we curse our present in all probable ways especially by canvassing it bleak.

The article explains why we missed it and I wish to reproduce that statement as is below whose exactness need not be questioned:

“……but I do think that the media is to blame for some part of this. This is because the media does not tell us how the world is changing, it tells us what in the world goes wrong.

One reason why the media focusses on things that go wrong is that the media focusses on single 

events and single events are often bad – look at the news: plane crashes, terrorism attacks, natural disasters, election outcomes that we are not happy with.

Positive developments on the other hand often happen very slowly and never make the headlines in the event-obsessed media.”

To enjoy the trek of growth we human beings have climbed please visit the site and read the article.

At a personal level visit to this site Our World In Data is a must.

References:

Article reference: https://ourworldindata.org/a-history-of-global-living-conditions-in-5-charts/

Article source: The Brower –Writing Worth Reading

Educated Hypocrites

“We are all hypocrites. We cannot see ourselves or judge ourselves the way we see and judge others.” 

― José Emilio Pacheco, Battles in the Desert & Other Stories

I suppose it is high time that Government should discontinue funding IITs and run it like private institution. Premium fees should be charged like Harvard, Stanford and use the proceeds for funding primary education in India.

Bright students should be provided scholarships and rest has to pay the tuition fees at Market rate.

Primary reason being there is no data available with respect to economic status of the students participating in these institutions.

This was taken up in this post based on the hunger strike undertaken by IIT Kharagpur students for increase in registration free from Rs.29,000 to Rs.37,000 (reported on December 21,2016). Also, to be noted that in April 2016 there was a protest for increase in fee from Rs.0.90 lakhs to Rs.2 lakhs.

They never fast when:

• These bright engineering graduates pay fees of one lakh on an average to IIT Coaching centers (Bansals, Resonance, Allen Careers etc.) or when there is increase in their fees.

• One of the students gets highest domestic package of Rs.42 lakhs and international package of Rs.1.54 crores (approx.) for 2016.

• They go to Harvard/Stanford/Princeton and pay hefty fees to them for higher qualifications.

• Thanks to this elite degree at a subsidized rate and their God Gifted Talent they rise up to become CEOs / CTOs of private organizations and obtain crores as salaries.

Remember, Mr. Sundar Pichai, Google CEO was paid USD 100 Million (Rs.667 crores) for 2015 and is expected to receive USD 200 Million for 2016.

Here I am reminded of Seneca:

“Greed’s worst point is its ingratitude”

“The bounty of nature is too little for the greedy person”

Many of the graduates from IITs will state that they return back to society by way of donation to their Institutions. For this charity which they state I like to remind them:

“There is nobody in this country who got rich on their own. Nobody. You built a factory out there - good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn't have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory... Now look. You built a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea - God bless! Keep a hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.”

― Elizabeth Warren

References:

http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/iit-kharagpur-students-sit-on-hunger-strike-against-fee-hike-116122100302_1.html

http://infocoverage.com/new-list-of-top-5-coaching-institutes-in-kota-with-fees-for-engineering-medical-exam-preparation/

http://www.thehindu.com/features/education/iitkharagpur-placements/article6654975.ece

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/technology/story/googles-ceo-sundar-pichai-made-rs-667-crores-in-2015/1/630570.html

http://www.azquotes.com/author/19765-Seneca_the_Younger/tag/greed

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/837135.Jos_Emilio_Pacheco

http://www.hindustantimes.com/education/iit-fee-hike-not-applicable-to-existing-students/story-8WZBipWDlvXXNhxxaafFhN.html

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/23389.Elizabeth_Warren

The White Elephant

Below headlines from various newspapers / magazines are giving subtle hints that cricket is losing its shine and its time to stop big investments in Cricket infrastructure:

·         Cricket Viewing Figures of the Ashes 2015 in Decline
·         Cricket in Britain is under threat from its own success
·         Cricket is losing the popularity contest
·         Numbers say it all: Cricket, India’s biggest religion, fast losing followers;
·         Have people in India started to shift to other sports from cricket?
·         Is cricket no longer the sought-after sport for advertisers in India?
·         Cricket losing popularity in India

Detailed story can be read in the links provided in references.

Under the shadow of signals instead of understanding them we are ignoring it. The reason being the “Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) has decided to renovate the Sardar Patel Stadium (also known as Motera Stadium) in Ahmedabad after which it will become the largest cricket stadium.” (From DNA newspaper).

The stadium will increase its capacity from 49,000 to 1,10,000 (overtaking Melbourne Cricket Ground which can hold 1,00,024 people).

Instead of having a Cricket stadium, Government should interfere and have a multi sports stadium erected in its place.

Further, under rotation policy a stadium like Wankhede in Mumbai is hosting cricket from 8th December 2016 after 3 years i.e. last test match was played on 16th November 2013 (Sachin Tendulkar farewell test).

There are 14 active stadiums where test cricket were played since 2006. Total 49 test matches were played in India since 2006 (excluding the test match between India and England started on 8th December 2016).

Year wise and ground wise data (For Test) is provided below:

	Year 2000
Cricket Grounds	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	15	16	Total
Punjab Cricket Association  IS Bindra Stadium	1		2		1			1	1	1	7
Eden Gardens		1			1	1	1	1		1	6
Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium			1		2		1		1		5
Feroz Shah Kotla		1	1			1		1	1		5
M Chinnaswamy Stadium		1	1		1		1		1		5
Sardar Patel Stadium			1	1	1		1				4
Wankhede Stadium	1					1	1	1			4
Green Park			1	1						1	3
MA Chidambaram Stadium			2					1			3
Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium					1		1	1			3
Holkar Cricket Stadium										1	1
Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy Cricket Stadium										1	1
Brabourne Stadium				1							1
Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium										1	1
Total	2	3	9	3	7	3	6	6	4	6	49

In case of One Day International (ODI) total 107 matches were played between 1st January 2006 and 9th December 2016 i.e. average of 11 ODIs per year. There are around 28 grounds where ODIs were played.

Year wise ODIs details is presented below:

Year	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	Total
Count	9	20	5	11	9	18	1	16	8	5	5	107

Also Gujarat Lions (IPL team) is eligible to play for 2016 and 2017 only.

The question is when will Motera get an opportunity to host a test match since India plays on an average 5 test matches and 11 ODIs in a year (2006-2016). 

Hope this investment does not turn out to be a white elephant.

References:

http://www.gamingzion.com/gamblingnews/cricket-viewing-figures-of-the-ashes-2015-in-decline-7977

http://www.newstatesman.com/staggers/2015/07/cricket-britain-under-threat-its-own-success

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/story/947713.html

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-04-20/news/61339546_1_india-s-test-cricket-indian-premier-league

https://www.quora.com/Have-people-in-India-started-to-shift-to-other-sports-from-cricket

http://www.news18.com/cricketnext/news/is-cricket-no-longer-the-sought-after-sport-for-advertisers-in-india-982203.html

http://www.espncricinfo.com/page2/content/story/537216.html

http://www.financialexpress.com/sports/lt-to-make-worlds-biggest-cricket-stadium-at-gujarats-motera-to-surpass-melbourne-cricket-ground/469402/

http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report-move-over-mcg-this-indian-cricket-stadium-is-going-to-become-the-largest-of-the-world-2281342

http://www.howstat.com/cricket/Statistics/Matches/MatchListCountry.asp?A=IND