Mindfulness exercise

S. Janneker Lawrence Daniel,

Assistant Professor of English.

Last week research was published showing that headteachers are concerned about pupils’ mental health. Of the 1,131 headteachers spoken to by the school leaders’ network The Key, four in five said they were worried about pupils suffering from an anxiety disorder. Self-harming, depression and eating disorders were also cited as areas of concern.

One of the techniques that has been found to help young people manage these issues is mindfulness – a form of meditation that involves breathing techniques to help people focus on the present moment. Increasingly, academics are looking at how the method can be used to support students in school. In an upcoming book shared with us, Dr Stan Kutcher, Dr Mark Weist and Yifeng Wei talk about the impact mindfulness can have.

They write: “Both targeted and universal [mindfulness] interventions have been shown to have a significant impact on mental health problems in the young.

“For example, the MiSP.b programme has had a clear impact. The young people who participated in the programme reported fewer depressive symptoms post-treatment and at follow-up, along with lower stress and greater well-being.”

We’ll be looking at the effect mindfulness can have on children’s mental health in the live chat, as well as discussing other benefits, such as boosting concentration and academic achievement. And we’ll be sharing lots of ideas for how you can introduce the technique – from getting students to pause and close their eyes for two minutes each day to setting up hour long classes where parents come along too. As well as talking about how the meditation technique can be used with students, we’ll be exploring ways it can support teachers with their wellbeing.

Courtesy: wingedpost

Einstein's opinion

Here is a piece of Einstein's mind. Let's ponder over it. 

Ms Rubini Meganathan,

Assistant Professor,

Department of Civil Engineering.

Teaching is a Noble profession

Ms Anitha B

Assistant Professor

Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Teaching is a noble profession. The teacher is a respected person. In ancient India, a Teacher had a place of respect next to one’s mother and father. In those days, men of wisdom with unlimited knowledge were teachers. Students used to go in search of such teachers to get educated. ‘Guru’ as the teachers were then called was very much respected by society. ‘Guru’ enjoyed a lot of respect even with the king of the land. Education was then limited to a few.

In courser of time, education was democratized. Education was open for all irrespective of caste, class, creed or place of birth. There arose a need for many schools and also for many teachers. We have now all kinds of teachers teaching from pre-primary level to the university level. Among all teachers, who is an ideal teacher? All teachers may not be ideal teachers. However, there are many ideal teachers even today. They are a class of their own.

An ideal teacher to be so called should possess a few special abilities. The students love their teacher as their hero. They would like to follow every word that the teacher says and every action that he does. The influence of such a teacher on the students is so much that whatever he says is considered as truth, and whatever he does is considered to be perfect.

An ideal teacher should, therefore, have a good personality and abundant knowledge. He should know the psychology of students and also their individual problems. Knowledge is ever growing and so an ideal teacher should always prepare his lessons before he enters the class.

An ideal teacher is confident in his class. His voice is clear. What he says should have clarity. If he has knowledge of allied subjects, it would also help him to teach better. He is punctual, neatly dressed and disciplined. His character is perfect and spotless.

An ideal teacher should consider himself as a parent to his students. Every student is to be looked after with affection. He should pay attention to a backward student as he does to a bright one. An ideal teacher joins his students in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities too. He plays with them, sings with them and is always friendly. The students consider an ideal teacher a friend, philosopher and guide.

An ideal teacher is also sociable. His dealings with other teachers and parents are always cordial. He is happy and also makes others happy.

Teaching is a professional job. It requires technical knowledge of teaching. An ideal teacher is well trained for his job and is scientific in teaching and evaluation.

An ideal teacher is devoted to his work. Only those with an aptitude for teaching would prove to be ideal teacher. It is said that a nation’s future is shaped in its classrooms, and the man who shapes it is the teacher. A school teacher is said to be worth a thousand preachers.

An ideal teacher gets credit and respect for himself, for his school and for his country. Ideal teachers are honored in our country with national awards and State awards on the Teachers’ Day’.

Source: http://www.preservearticles.com/201104095179/an-ideal-teacher-essay.html

What does a Great Teacher do?

S. Janneker Lawrence Daniel,

Assistant Professor of English,

Dhanalakshmi College of Engineering.

Always wanted to be a Great Teacher and be appreciated globally, but didn't know how to become one??? We will show you the way. 

Courtesy: http://instagram.com/jannekerlawrence,https://www.facebook.com/janneker.lawrence

Fun with Mathematics

Mr. Ganesan Chelladurai,

Associate Professor,

Department of Mathematics.

Have you ever been amazed by the sheer brilliance of numbers? The magic of numbers is a mystery that many try to unravel. A few succeed in the process. The following is an example of mathematical wizardry. Enjoy it. 

A picture is worth a thousand words

Mr. Ganesh Raja
Assistant Professor
Dhanalakshmi College of Engineering

The Driving Force

 The Driving Force

  S. Janneker Lawrence Daniel,

Assistant Professor of English,

Dhanalakshmi College of Engineering.

What is it that drives you? Are you driven by the thirst for power? Do you lust after anything that gives you the authority to mow down people with your actions and words? How do people treat you when you are not present in a room? What do they talk about you when you leave a room? What gives you the energy to come for work everyday? Is it the financial monster threatening to gulp you and your family? If so, is that the only thing that makes you creep into an institution and drag your body to merely 'work'? are you a cadaver or a vibrant and dynamic leader at work? Or perhaps it is the unavailability of job elsewhere that makes you to join the many millions around the world who opt for an easy job with many perks, one of them being vacation for a month or two every year. If this is the case, then there would be no driving force behind the individual. This is one sorry case that can be rectified. Edification of the person concerned is still a possibility, though it requires the presence of a facilitator who can do the job required efficiently. The most hopeless situation is where people come to a work spot without a care, and care two hoots about their improvement and the development of their institution. They do not change when they are told, reminded and coaxed. They pretend to change when they are threatened. They are incorrigible. Well...that sums up everything. They have no driving force and they demotivate them who breeze into an institution and scatter them away in a whirlwind out of proportion. 

 

Courtesy:

English Mania - The Power of Seven

R. Edin Brow

Assistant Professor in English 

Dhanalakshmi College of Engineering

 The following sentence contains 7 identical words in a row and still makes sense:

"It is true for all that that that that that that that refers to is not the same that that that that refers to."

(= It is true for all that, that that "that" which that "that" refers to is not the same "that" which that "that" refers to.)

It	is	true	for	all	that	that	that	that	that	that	that
					pronoun	conjunction	determiner	noun	relative pronoun	determiner	noun
							(adjective)	"that"	which	(adjective)	"that"

refers	to	is	not	the	same	that	that	that	that	refers	to.
						noun	relative pronoun	determiner	noun
						"that"	which	(adjective)	"that"

A sentence with a similar pattern, which may help to unravel the above, is:

It is true, despite everything you say, that this word which this word refers to is not the same word which this word refers to.

Or, if you insist on being really correct:

It is true, despite everything you say, that this word to which this word refers is not the same word to which this word refers.

Enrich Your Vocabulary:

1. Mania : an excessive enthusiasm or desire; an obsession.

2. Identical : similar in every detail; exactly alike.

3. Unravel: investigate and solve or explain (something complicated or puzzling).

                      "They were attempting to unravel the cause of death."

4. Determiner: a modifying word that determines the kind of reference a noun or noun group has,  for example: a, the, every.

  

Courtesy: http://www.englishclub.com/ref/esl/Power_Of_Seven/Seven_Thats_2948.htm

Immortal

Want to be remembered for ever by the generations to come? What does it take on your side to be remembered? Let's have your comments. We have posted one.

Courtesy:

Creativity at its best!

Creativity used as a method of a gentle reminder to insist on punctuality. A must see for every staff member. Enjoy!

Let us know if you have made the students in your class do similar activities on occasions. 

How to Make Work Fun???

How to Make Work Fun???

Dr. Duraiswamy Srinivasan,

VP-Admin,

Dhanalakshmi College of Engineering.

Injecting fun in work means more than just offering fancy perks and swanky office space.

As I look at the “workscape” today, I ask one question: Where’s the fun?

Many people are working extraordinary hours to keep their jobs or help their organization survive. But how can talent managers turn that labor into fun?

First, what is the difference between work and fun? Work is doing something you wouldn’t mind letting someone else do, like cleaning out the garage. Fun, meanwhile, is something that has an intrinsic reward.

If you love your job, you don’t mind putting in extra effort or time. If you dislike your job, you don’t look forward to going to work, doing the work or staying late.

So how do some companies transform work into fun?

We all read about Google and Facebook and the great perks people who work there enjoy. But not every company can afford that. I submit that the free lunch, movies, dry cleaning and football aren’t what make it fun.

If you want to know what makes work fun, here are two well-researched approaches.

In Frederick Herzberg’s 1959 book, “The Motivation to Work,” he found six factors to be motivating. They are achievement, recognition, the work, responsibility, advancement opportunity and growth potential. Some call it the “five factor theory,” but there were actually six in the original research.

I knew Fred. He told me his theory was often misconstrued. The opposite of motivation is not demotivation but simply lack of motivation. It’s like retiring on the job, as he put it. The company just doesn’t get any extra effort or commitment because the work isn’t intrinsically rewarding. It isn’t fun.

More recently Amy Lyman, co-founder of the Great Place to Work Institute, told me they have found five factors that make a great workplace —

credibility,

respect,

fairness,

pride and

camaraderie.

This is topped off by the magic factor, trust.

As Bob Levering, the organization’s other co-founder, summed up, it is fun to work there.
Nowhere in these two lists do I see free lunch, games or the things we read about at places like Facebook and Google. My experience in walking around the fun companies shows that what makes work fun are most of the factors in the research presented here.

How can it be fun to sit at a computer writing code until your fingertips have blisters and your eyes bug out? Yet when I watch the people, I see them smiling, laughing and crunching their way through 50-hour weeks. Where’s the fun?

It comes from two factors. One is they really like the work and they feel achievement. Second, they can turn to a co-worker and share something interesting about the work. This is the camaraderie spirit.

But can you find as much interest in a rubber gasket factory? Maybe it’s not as exciting as new computer apps, yet where would we be without gaskets? Machines can’t function without gaskets. The point: A company doesn’t exist unless it fulfills a need, and it is up to management to keep that vision in front of the workforce.

Here’s an opposite example. Ten years ago Yahoo Inc. was an exciting place to work. It was among the leading search engines. People wanted to work there. But in the past five years management lost its way and the company lost market share. People who used to work from home and be very productive slowly lost their motivation.

When Marissa Mayer came in as CEO, she saw what was happening and significantly reduced the work-from-home option. She had to get control before she could turn Yahoo around and make it a fun place to work again.

At the end of the day, the lesson is: If you want a great company, you have to make it a great place to work. The basic elements of that are a shared vision, a trust-based atmosphere and, of course, interesting work.

Rather than concentrating on free lunches and dry cleaning, focus on the elements that make the workscape a place that can be fun and intrinsically rewarding.

Jac Fitz-enz is founder and CEO of the Human Capital Source and The Predictive Initiative. He can be reached at editor@talentmgt.com.

Communication is an Art

An Art of Excellence by Sarah Kay 

SARAH KAY is a New Yorker, a poetry writer and reader, a spoken word poetry teacher.  A performing poet since she was 14 years old, Sarah Kay is the founder of Project VOICE, an organization that uses spoken word poetry as a literacy and empowerment tool.

"If I should have a daughter, instead of Mom, she's gonna call me Point B ... " began spoken word poet Sarah Kay, in a talk that inspired two standing ovations at TED2011. She tells the story of her metamorphosis — from a wide-eyed teenager soaking in verse at New York's Bowery Poetry Club to a teacher connecting kids with the power of self-expression through Project V.O.I.C.E. — and gives two breathtaking performances of "B" and "Hiroshima."

Her Famous Quotes:

“I want [my daughter] to look at the world through the underside of a glass-bottom boat, to look through a microscope at the galaxies that exist on the pinpoint of a human mind.”

“When you open your hands to catch and wind up with only blisters and bruises; when you step out of the phone booth and try to fly and the very people you want to save are the ones standing on your cape; when your boots will fill with rain, and you'll be up to your knees in disappointment. And those are the very days you have all the more reason to say thank you. Because there's nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it's sent away.”

Note:
Readers and Viewers please leave you comments in the blog. Your Comments are Appreciated!!!!!!!

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. 

Visit http://www.ted.com/talks/sarah_kay_if_i_should_have_a_daughter

Posted by
R. Edin Brow
Assistant Professor of English
Dhanalakshmi College of Engineering