Project स्वावलम्बन: Success Story

I requested Pinki didi for a picture and she confidently posed along with her
'self-earned' chocolate ice cream with a big winning smile :)

Project स्वावलम्बन: Success Story

Just a few weeks ago, she was attending sessions on digital literacy under 'Project स्वावलम्बन' where she and other didis were trying to play with their cell phones and learn a few tricks including how to use their cell phones for digital payments as well.

"भैया! आपको मैं Paytm पर पैसे भेज दूँ?"

 ...asked a familiar voice close behind me.

I turned and saw Pinki didi from our housekeeping staff.

It was quite impressive to see her getting ready to pay online with such confidence. Just a few weeks ago, she was attending sessions on digital literacy under 'Project स्वावलम्बन' where she and other didis were trying to play with their cell phones and learn a few tricks including how to use their cell phones for digital payments as well.

Even I sensed a 'surprised look' on Ashwani Baiya's face, behind the counter, who was perhaps not expecting an online transaction from her.

Though I could see Pinki didi struggling over her phone screen a little bit in the beginning, and my colleague guiding her with a few initial steps; in the meanwhile, Ashwani Baiya offered full discount on her purchase (one chocolate ice cream). 

Maybe he wanted to offer her a reward for her upgraded digital skills.

In a few seconds, we all heard Paytm machine announcing, "Payment received." ...and this announcement brought smiles to everyone's face as if we all witnessed something amazing.

I requested Pinki didi for a picture and she confidently posed along with her 'self-earned' chocolate ice cream with a big winning smile :) 

*'Project स्वावलम्बन' is a grant winning skill development project for socio-economic upliftment, financial empowerment and media literacy of the women housekeeping staff of UPES, supported by the U.S. Embassy India and Swechha India.

#ProjectSwavalamban #womenempowerment #digitalliteracy #digitalindia

Living Conversations: Blackboard Catalyst Award Winner, 2022

Today 'Living Conversations' stands as the only life skills course globally,that has received
Blackboard Catalyst Award in the 'Teaching & Learning' category.

Living Conversations: 
Blackboard Catalyst Award Winner, 2022

It was a 'dream-come-true-moment' when I received the news that 'Living Conversations' has won this year's Blackboard Catalyst Award for being a highly innovative lifeskills course with adaption of new delivery, pedagogical models, and tools for positively influencing the educational experience of learners.

I truly know how much this international recognition means to me, and to all the efforts I made to make 'Living Conversations' really a remarkable life skills course.

Needless to say, 'Living Conversations' did bring positive changes in the UPES student community in terms of their communication, confidence, and attitude. 

What makes this award more than an award is because of the following factors,

(i) Today 'Living Conversations' stands as the only life skills course globally, that has received Blackboard Catalyst Award in the 'Teaching & Learning' category.

(ii) 'Living Conversations' competed against 27 best universities globally including Johns Hopkins University, Texas Tech University, University of Illinois Chicago, King Faisal University (Saudi Arabia), Seneca College (Canada), Torrens University (Australia) to name a few. Full list is here.

(iii) And most importantly, this brings School for Life's 2nd Blackboard Award (Asia Pacific) in a row, and School of Liberal Studies' 1st Blackboard Award (Worldwide).

It was a 'dream-come-true-moment' when I received the news that 'Living Conversations' has won this year's Blackboard Catalyst Award for being a highly innovative #lifeskills course with adaption of new delivery, pedagogical models, and tools for positively influencing the educational experience of learners. 

2 years ago, as a course leader, I shouldered the responsibility of designing and developing a life skills course that could help students learn 21st century skills (like communication, collaboration, and confidence) and help them become the best versions of themselves. 

Please remember, this journey had started during the covid times when it was quite challenging to deliver life skills sessions physically due to the lockdown. Everything was to be offered in online mode. 

'Living Conversations' was supposed to be extremely engaging, interactive, and a youth-friendly course and it took me a considerable amount of time experimenting with, and fine-tuning the course content, course delivery plan, and course evaluation strategy. 

Today when I look back, I believe it was all worth it. On record, more than 90% of student community experienced a paradigm shift in their KSA (Knowledge, Skills, and Attitude). Almost all of them recommended this distinguishing life skills course to other learners. 

Several student success stories (national as well as international) based on their exceptional project-work (as performed under 'Living Conversations' course requirement) are the testimonials to the fact that 'Living Conversations' favorably impacted student experience and engagement. 

Best part is that the legacy of 'Living Conversations' continued even after the lockdown was over, and when classes started in f2f mode. Eventually, my experiences as a course leader and the brilliant success of 'Living Conversations' have taught me 3 most important academic lessons,

(1) One should plan and design a high quality, pedagogically sound, student-centered curriculum, based on the achievement of learning outcomes. 

(2) One should keep following up with the other course instructors to make sure that teaching is consistent and of high quality.

(3) And above all, one should maintain an oversight of students' growth with measurable results, to foster academic excellence.

Thank you Sharmila Katre for being an amazing guide, mentor, and 'teacher' and helping me build 'Living Conversations'.

Thank you Manisha Mohan for your trust and positive leadership that proved to be a game changer. 

Thanks a million Ritam Dutta, Pooja Khanna, Bitopi Dutta, Dr. Annapurna Parige Nippani, Rekha Verma, Dr Sakshi Chanana for being extraordinary course instructors and offering your best. You definitely made a difference! 

P.S. This year's Blackboard catalyst team award has given me a thousand times more 'sense of accomplishment' than my last year's blackboard 'solo' award.

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Power of Praise

I gifted my artwork to my British students in praise of their outstanding participation in the 'Generation UK-India programme'

Power of Praise

Do you know praise can have a powerful impact on your students? Research in psychology and neuroscience reveals praise can promote attention, performance, learning, and retention. 

Receiving praise releases dopamine - the neurotransmitter that drives our brain’s reward system. Dopamine releases feelings of enjoyment and reinforcement which motivates us to complete and continue doing certain tasks.

Teacher praise is one tool that can be a powerful motivator for students. As per Institute of Education Sciences, 'praise' as one of the top five most effective teaching practices. Surprisingly, research suggests that praise is underused.

To paraphrase, Daniel T Willingham, professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Virginia, “To motivate students – especially older students who are better able to appreciate the differences between what is said and what is meant – teachers need to praise that has been earned.” 

From the research on praise, a classroom rich in praise prepares brains for optimal performance and learning. Knowing what to praise your students for and when to give that praise is just as important as the praise itself. 

According to renowned cognitive psychologist Daniel Willingham, praise should be:

- Perceived as sincere, earned, and truthful

- Specific

- Personalized

- Focused on process

- Immediate

- Unexpected

How do you acknowledge a student for a good job he/she has done?

Praise can promote attention, performance, learning, and retention.

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Gaurav Misra: Brief Bio

Gaurav Misra: Brief Bio

Gaurav Misra is India’s 1st CTAUN recognized life skills educator. He is a Fulbright fellow, ‘Global Leader for Innovation and Knowledge’ scholar, and Blackboard Award winner.

Currently, he is associated with India’s one of the most groundbreaking educational initiatives, ‘School for Life’. He together with his team, teaches life skills to university students to help them become employable and economically developed.

He teaches leadership, team building, and the ability to communicate, along with volunteerism and community building. With a career span of more than a decade, dealing with youngsters from around 30 countries, he has taught, trained, and mentored about 15,000 youth globally and has conducted more than 100 ‘Train the Teacher’ programs.

In 2015, he was awarded Fulbright fellowship to teach and study at the University of Montana, USA; and was selected for the ‘Distinguished Service and Outreach Award’ for his outstanding service to the university campus and the Missoula community.

In 2016, he represented India as a youth leader at the UN Headquarters, New York. In 2019, he accomplished the multinational leadership program GLIK (Global Leader for Innovation and Knowledge) and worked on his award-winning skill development Capstone Project in 4 countries (Japan, USA, Singapore, and Thailand).

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My Journey So Far...

My Journey So Far...

To start with, I must acknowledge that I truly love my profession. I am following my heart and my profession is my calling. It is always exciting to see my students proceed towards betterment and their progress in life is the definition of my success. There is nothing more rewarding than to see them becoming confident with each passing day. There is nothing more pleasing than to receive those lovely words right from the bottom of their heart on some special days (be it my birthday or Teacher’s day). And, there is nothing more satisfying than to see their winning smiles with a job offer letter in their hands on their ‘Campus Placement Day’. Yes, I am a trainer cum coach cum teacher (I train, coach, and teach graduates and postgraduate students). I am always happy being surrounded with these young minds bubbling with energy and enthusiasm. As a matter of fact, my journey to the place where I am today has not been that easy.

I belong to a very humble background. My father worked as a clerk and his earnings were not sufficient enough to bear the cost of education of his three children (No doubt, those were tough times and they ended only after three of us started doing well in our respective careers). Being the eldest one, I had already decided to bear my educational expenses all by myself. I carried forward my education sometimes through school scholarships (as being a bright student since my childhood) and sometimes by doing some part-time jobs (like tutoring students very junior to me and even going door to door selling books as a salesman in later years). These early experiences of mine taught me not to give up in tough circumstances and helped me boost my confidence. And above all, my early days of struggle gave me a significant insight into the value of education since it came to me as a reward through sheer hard work.

I still remember how my father used to tell three of us the importance of English in one’s life. He used to see our report cards starting with our scores in English subject first. It was a ritual for all three of us to learn at least 5-7 new English words every day. He used to feel glad whenever any one of us would try speaking up in English even if it was incorrect. Today when I look back, I realize that my early brushes with English played a huge role for me to fall in love with this fascinating language. And for that I owe a lot to my visionary father. I was so much in awe of this language that I decided to do my post graduation in English and I managed to accomplish that. I think there was always a hunger in me to learn more and more. It was my zeal to become better that I never let any opportunity available get vanished. (Be it my online certifications from Coursera or my regular certifications from Infosys and Pearson; or be it my Training & Development diploma from Indian Society of Training & Development that I completed in the recent past).

I know that I put a great deal of hard work and took considerable amount of time to become a confident English speaker from a shy student with a Hindi medium background (and it took me years of efforts to learn and I am still learning). My bond with English language was so strong (which I felt later on) that even after completing my MBA in Human Recourse and starting a decent job as a Recruitment Manager in an IT firm for a year, I came back to ‘my first love’ once again. (And that was the best career decision ever for me so far. It seemed as if I discovered myself again.) I commenced afresh my career as a Communication Skills Trainer. Being a trainer, I felt fulfilled and enjoyed every bit of it. A major part of my profession was to assist my learners with their language skills. Most importantly, these students were would-be professionals in the corporate world. In fact, their ability to speak and write in flawless English is one of the most important parameters used by the employers in India and worldwide. Surprisingly, only a little over half of the five million odd graduates that India produces annually, are employable in any sector of the knowledge economy. Inadequate English is one of the key factors holding back students, especially those from smaller towns.

I know firsthand how it feels in a classroom of fifty-sixty students who can speak and write in English much better than you. My students too found English language a little frightening initially. This is why I went a step ahead and started conducting their extra ‘evening sessions’ to learn English without fear. I had to don many hats in my additional sessions. I acted as a motivator, facilitator, counselor, mentor and sometimes even as an entertainer too. I added interactive activities, communication games, student presentations, group discussions, role plays and other fun exercises to my regular teaching. And all this resulted in their active participation with great learning experiences both for them and for me. I have also been active through my professional blog to connect with my students and create awareness on the issue of employability for last several years. According to the reports, only 20% of the Indian population can speak in English, and only 4% would be considered fluent. I am also associated with a social service initiative (which is presently in its nascent stage) Project Utthan through which we give special emphasis on issues related to education and employability. 

Besides personal enrichment and professional growth, I aspire to take our social service initiative to the next level by reaching out to the maximum number of teachers and students in India and spread out the message loud, 

"Life skills are necessary for success in the twenty-first century, both for healthy communities and for prosperous employable entrepreneurs."

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Thank you, Blackboard!

It was an honor to receive 'Blackboard Award, 2021'.

 Thank you, Blackboard!

I remember when I started using Blackboard during lockdown; I had my own share of apprehensions if it would be effective enough to teach through this medium or not. Today, when I look back I can say this with all my confidence that Blackboard not only proved to be an effective teaching tool, but it also helped my students gain life skills tremendously well. Here are some significant student benefits, and Blackboard made them happen,   

1. All Course Content in One Place: Through Blackboard, it became quite easier to compile, collect and collate all my course-related material in one place. It was much easier for my students to access it anytime. This easy accessibility of the course content in Blackboard made my job quite a bit relaxed.

2.Discussion Forums and Mutual Learning: I have found ‘Discussion Forums’ quite fascinating as they not only allow students to post their reflections, but also offer them an opportunity to learn from one another. This feature truly inspires a sense of ‘learning community’.

3.Submissions and Grading: Blackboard has also served as an amazing platform for receiving students’ assignments and do the grading as per the instructor’s convenience. Additionally, any online quiz can be rescheduled for those students who have joined the course later.  

4.Student Success Stories: Off late, I have also been using ‘Gamification’ with my Blackboard classes. As a result, my students got so involved in the course curriculum, that they accomplished accolades at the international level too.

5.International Achievements: One student team got highlighted in the local and national newspapers all over the country, for taking an interview of Jacinda Ardern. Another student got selected by AIESEC, Indonesia as a leadership facilitator.

6.Blackboard Award, 2021: 'Blackboard Analytics' showed me some remarkable results in terms of student participation as well as student engagement. I could see my students attending these virtual classes with much zeal and excitement.  It was an honor to receive 'Blackboard Award, 2021'.

7.Training Workshops through Blackboard: Additionally, Blackboard has also been quite instrumental in conducting Entrepreneurship Development Program (TEDP) in association with NSTEDB (National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board), DST (Department of Science & Technology), and University of Petroleum and Energy Studies.

Long story short, Blackboard has not only been an outstanding tool to facilitate teaching and learning process quite effectively during the lockdown, but it has also added incredible value to students’ growth and development. Thank you, Blackboard! 

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Sage on the Stage OR Guide on the Side

"Teaching is a very noble profession that shapes the character, caliber, and future of an individual."

Sage on the Stage OR Guide on the Side

“A teacher is not someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the students to give their best in order to discover what they already know.” 

– Paulo Coelho 

Teachers should shift roles from a mere lecturer to an inspiring facilitator who provides resources, monitors progress and encourages students to problemsolving. 

Why is being a facilitator so important? It makes classroom material applicable to student's lives. It promotes self exploration. It enables students to ask questions, find the answers for themselves, and get involved in their own learning. 

As per Houston Chronicle, "Having a balance of traditional teaching as well as facilitation at all levels of education gives students a well-rounded educational experience." 

So, how do you become a good facilitator? According to Association for Talent Development (ATD), here are a few pointers to ponder, 

✅ Define success ahead of time, so classroom activities can be designed to help learners achieve a specific goal. 

✅ Prepare relentlessly for your class, including self-preparation, preparing the learning environment, and preparing the content. 

✅ Start your session with impact so that learners are excited, empowered, and involved from the beginning. 

✅ Keep learners engaged throughout the session by including a variety of learning experiences, such as questions, role-plays, practice exercises, and opportunities for learners to share their experiences and learn from one another.

✅ Remember, with the right tools, continuous learning and positive mindset, it is possible for us to turn into great facilitators in no time, facilitating learning in a fun and engaging way!

With the right tools, continuous learning and positive mindset,
it is possible for us to turn into great facilitators

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