The right teacher can make a 'boring subject' fascinating+ 35
+ GenWise Residential Program | Upcoming Events
Quote of the Week
“I did not study science at school until I was 13, when I was totally turned on by a seemingly dreary old teacher who suddenly, unannounced, manufactured a huge explosion in the middle of a totally boring monologue. From then on, all of his class wanted to make explosions.” –Robert Winston, Scientist and Doctor
Hi, this is the GenWise team– we bring out this newsletter to help parents and educators to complement the work of formal schools and associated systems. We can help our children thrive in these complex times only by exchanging ideas and insights and collaborating on this. We are also a founder-member of the Gifted India Network– if you are interested in issues related to gifted education and talent development, an easy way to keep updated about talks, programs and resources is to join the Gifted India Network telegram channel (https://t.me/GiftedIndia).
In this week’s main post ‘The right teacher can make a ‘boring subject’ fascinating’, we feature a twitter thread by GenWise mentor, Navin Kabra, in which he shares his views about what makes a student find a subject ‘boring’ or ‘interesting’. Our residential winter program starting Dec 18, 2021 features 4 great teachers who can make students fall in love with specific subjects, and learning in general. Students from schools around the country are attending the program including Oberoi International (Mumbai), Jamnabai Narsee (Mumbai), Arya Vidya Mandir (Mumbai), Modern High School for Girls (Kolkata), KC High (Chennai), Greenwood High (Bengaluru), and APL Global (Chennai). Scroll below for more information.
You are invited to be an early member and beta-tester of the GenWise Club (ages 13-90), a community of interested students, parents, and educators. Check out this link for more about the club and how to join it. It is open to all in the current beta phase.
Join this conversation on learning, by commenting on our posts, or joining our club community for more regular and closer interactions.
Contents
The right teacher can make a ‘boring subject’ fascinating
GenWise Residential Program, Dec 2021
Upcoming External Events
The right teacher can make a ‘boring subject’ fascinating
This week we share an interesting twitter thread by GenWise mentor, Navin Kabra, in which he shares his views about what makes a student find a subject ‘boring’ or ‘interesting’. He shares the experience of how his son’s attitude towards history changed as the result of one experience with a great teacher.
Click below to read the entire thread- it links to other threads and posts- there’s one on how the right youtube channel can convert a boring subject into a fascinating one (with recommendations of some channels), there’s another on whether students should take a gap year and if so, what they should do in that year.
Share your views by commenting below, or on twitter in direct response to Navin’s thread.
GenWise Residential Program, Dec 2021
We are running a 2-week residential program from Dec 18-30, 2021 at the Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence in Bangalore for children currently in Grade 8, 9 or 10. The recommended duration is 2 weeks, though participants are free to choose either week. 2 course options are offered each week as listed below. Ei ASSET Talent Search (ATS) Gold, Silver and Bronze scholars are eligible for the advanced courses. If you do not have ATS scores but are interested in the advanced courses, contact us. For more details and to register, visit the program page.
Our residential programs are much more than the ‘academic enrichment component’ the above courses represent. The benefits of attending a GenWise Residential Program are highlighted here. GenWise co-founder, Vishnu Agnihotri, has also shared his personal take in a previous edition of this newsletter titled ‘The Magic of Residential Programs for Children’.
We have very high standards in ensuring the safety of children. Several young athletes (age 9 and upwards) have been staying at the Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence Residences for the last few months- a child-friendly facility with strong COVID protocols for all residents and visitors. We are actively tracking developments regarding the Omicron variant. We also consulted with Infectious Disease experts and have put together a robust protocol for managing our program this month.
Upcoming External Events
To Paint the Lily (mathematically) is part of the Kaapi with Kuriosity series and is scheduled on Sun, Dec 12, from 7 to 8 PM IST. The speaker, L Mahadevan is de Valpine Professor of Applied Mathematics, Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Professor of Physics, Harvard University.
Prof. Mahadevan says this in the session blurb-
A walk in the garden reveals a remarkable diversity of living forms, leading Darwin to exclaim that they “might drive even the sanest man mad.” I will argue that there is perhaps a method in the madness, that comes into focus by combining the lenses of biology, mathematics and physics. Along the way, I hope to convince you that the everyday world is a rich source of mystery and magic that gradually leads to mathematics – the mundane provides a perennial path towards the sublime!
You can register for the session here.
Northwestern CTD Online Courses
-Physics of Roller Coasters (Grades 5-6)
-Forensic Science: Blood Evidence (Grades 7-8)
Both courses are scheduled on Sat, Dec 18, 2021 from 7- 1030 PM IST
Links to register for both courses are available here. You will need to create a MyCTD account to register.