When I stepped into my Pune apartment, I wasn’t just hit by the dust, bugs, and general mayhem. I was also struck with an almost reminiscent loneliness. I didn’t have reason to be truly lonely – I’d just spent 10 months in D.C. with my parents, whom I truly enjoyed living with as an adult,… Continue reading pest control: a memoir
exploring literature instruction in my classroom, part 3
This is the third post in a blog series attempting to explore the key premises that guided my choices while teaching literature and the resulting consequences for my classroom. Three: Students need to practice being literary critics themselves. Ultimately, students sitting for the Cambridge A Levels will need to take a stance on a text… Continue reading exploring literature instruction in my classroom, part 3
exploring literature instruction in my classroom, part 2
This is the second post in a blog series attempting to explore the key premises that guided my choices while teaching literature and the resulting consequences for my classroom. Two: There is no value in having an unsubstantiated opinion. When I first taught literature, my emphasis in instruction was teaching students to argue first, justify… Continue reading exploring literature instruction in my classroom, part 2
exploring literature instruction in my classroom, part 1
In my first two years at Avasara, I taught English literature to our first graduating class. I am still learning and understanding the demands of the curriculum and the needs of our students and how to successfully bridge the two. However, the most important choices I made to build critical reading and analytical writing skills… Continue reading exploring literature instruction in my classroom, part 1
coaching is empowering: two teachers on being coached
I co-wrote this piece with my colleague and friend Aishwarya. We discuss our experiences and learnings about coaching from our perspectives as teachers. Find Aishwarya at https://teachingtenets.wordpress.com/. Sruti: It is unambiguously true that we have grown as teachers since we started teaching five and seven years ago, respectively. I believe the growth has been because… Continue reading coaching is empowering: two teachers on being coached
book review: girls on the edge
I believe that reading broadly on gender, poverty, caste, and India is crucial to my understanding of the students I teach. While it cannot replace talking to students, visiting their homes, and otherwise prioritising collecting data on the individual children in front of me, these readings are an indispensable part of my professional learning. This… Continue reading book review: girls on the edge
teaching english and learning hindi
This blog post was featured on Two Writing Teachers here. When I walked into the 6th grade classroom, I had Atwell’s workshop model in my mind, but I had never done it. I’d read In the Middle, in parts, and Lessons that Change Writers, in its entirety, but in my Teach for India classroom I… Continue reading teaching english and learning hindi
