"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change," said John F. Kennedy. Change is dynamic and inevitable, and ironically the one thing which is constant in life. Still man is forever wary of it. We are not ready to accept any kind of change without some amount of opposition. When ABC announced at the beginning of its academic year 2006-2007, that text books would not be followed in the primary school, many an eyebrows were raised. A few skeptical smirks also came our way. Few thought it was not a good idea. While many forward thinking, enthusiastic parents applauded this welcome change.
To teach without text books seemed like a daunting task. One was a little nervous initially as to whether this would work. We were open minded enough to comprehend that it would not fail altogether as it was not an experiment being tried out for the first time ever. Teaching without text books have been tried and tested and is very successful in the western countries and some places in India too. But it was the first time for us, both teachers and learners. Like all challenges this one too was taken up enthusiastically by us. One thing was clear from the onset. To teach without text books the teacher would have to be thoroughly prepared with her lesson beforehand and should be armed with a lot of supplementary teaching aids. It meant more prep time, worked with a curriculum which was collected and adapted from a wide variety of sources. A curriculum which was a fine blend of the national and the global perspective, which incorporated activities related to the everyday lives of the pupils.
Hence on cue we stayed organized, read widely, planned and prioritized, added extra resources, made power point presentations, gave handouts and worksheets, created activities that would teach and reinforce. We would like to share some of these activities and projects which enhanced our teaching and learning experience.
