To understand life is to understand ourselves, and that is both the beginning and the end of education."
-Jiddu Krishnamurthy
Education
I learnt algorithmic thinking and tenacity as a student of Computer Science and Engineering at M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology. I have a B. Ed. Degree from Savitribai Phule Pune University where I wrestled with the impossible dilemmas and contradictory dichotomies of teacher education in India for four long years.
Outside of these two formal degrees, all my education in teaching and learning has been auto-didactic. I use my students' needs as starting points in my exploration of areas in teaching and learning through books, papers, workshops, courses, and webinars. My teaching practice holds a better mirror than formal exams. My students' learning serves as an excellent evaluation of mine.
A huge part of my continuing education is pursuing experiences that enable me to introspect constantly, to understand my strengths, limitations, choices, traumas, biases, past, and, baggage. I am hyper-aware of who I bring to the classroom every day, and how it influences the learning experience of students.
This page offers an incomplete glimpse of my learning journey. I try to keep it as updated as I can.
Books
How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish
Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community by Alfie Kohn
The Reading Zone: How to Help Kids Become Skilled, Passionate, Habitual, Critical Readers by Nancie Atwell
Lessons that Change Writers by Nancie Atwell
The CAFE Book: Engaging All Students in Daily Literacy Assessment and Instruction by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser
Results Now: How We Can Achieve Unprecedented Improvements in Teaching and Learning by Michael J Schmoker
Naming the World: A Year of Poems and Lessons by Nancie Atwell
Teaching Stories by Judy Logan
The Explosive Child: A New Approach For Understanding And Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children by Ross Greene
Lost at School: Why Our Kids with Behavioral Challenges are Falling Through the Cracks and How We Can Help Them by Ross Greene
The Daily Five by Gail Boushey
The Writing Theif: Using Mentor Texts to Teach Writing by Ruth Culham
Systems to Transform Your Classroom and School by Nancie Atwell
Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading by Kylene Beers and Robert Probst
Side by Side: Essays on Teaching to Learn by Nancie Atwell
In the Middle: A Lifetime of Learning about Writing, Reading, and Adolescents by Nancie Atwell
Rethinking Rubrics in Writing Assessment by Maja Wilson
Daily Five: Fostering Literacy in the Elementary Grades by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser
Unshakeable by Angela Watson
There Are No Shortcuts by Rafe Esquith
The Together Teacher: Plan Ahead, Get Organized, and Save Time! by Maia Heyck-Merlin
The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher by Harry K Wong and Rosemary T Wong
Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It by Kelly Gallagher and Richard L Allington
A Handbook for Exploratory Action Research by Richard Smith and Paula Rebolledo
GNYS at Work: A Child Learns to Write and Read by Glenda Bissex
Teaching Day by Day: 180 Stories to Help You Along the Way by Donald H Graves
Workshop 4: The Teacher as Researcher by Thomas Newkirk
Knock at a Star: A Child's Introduction to Poetry by XJ Kennedy and Dorothy M Kennedy
The English Verb: An Exploration of Structure and Meaning by Michael Lewis
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan: Responding to Children with Special Needs - A Manual for Planning and Implementation of Inclusive Education in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
Meeting Special Needs in School - A Manual by Anita Julka
Rehabilitation CounciI of India's Guide on Learning Disabilities by Dr. Marita Adam, et al.
Spelling for Life: Uncovering the Simplicity and Science of Spelling by Lyn Stone
The Together Work-From-Home Teacher by Maia Heyck-Merlin
Equipped for Reading Success by David Kilpatrick
You Can't Say You Can't Play by Vivian Gussin Paley
Implementing the Lexical Approach by Michael Lewis
Partial Truths: A Memoir and Essays on Reading, Writing and Researching by Glenda Bissex
Don't Let Your Emotions Run Your Life for Teens: Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills for Helping Teens by Sheri Van Djik
The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Writing Systems by Florian Coulmas
History of Kannada Language by R. Narasimhacharya
ShriNandikeshakashika by Dr. K. S. Balasubramanian and Dr. T. V. Vasudeva
Historical and Comparative Linguistics by Raimo Anttilla
A Kannada-English Dictionary by Ferdinand Kittel
Language Course Planning by Brian North, Mila Angelova, Elzibieta Jarosz, and Richard Rossner
Threshold 1990 by J. A. van Ek and J. L. M. Trim
CEFR-informed Learning, Teaching and Assessment: A Practical Guide by Noriko Nagai, Gregory C. Birch, Jack V. Bower, and Maria Gabriela Schmidt
Closing the Reading Gap by Alex Quigley
Beginners by Peter Grundy and Alan Maley
Grammar Dictation by Ruth Wajnryb
Analytical Reading Inventory: Comprehensive Standards-Based Assessment for all Students including Gifted and Remedial
ಪದತ್ರಯ ಕನ್ನಡ ಮೊದಲನೇ ವ್ಯಾಕರಣ ಮತ್ತು ಕನ್ನಡ ವಾಕ್ಯರಚನಾಕ್ರಮ by Y. Subbarao
When the Body Says NO: The Cost of Hidden Stress by Gabor Mate
Talking Math with Your Kids by Christopher Danielson
Experiment with Fiction by Donald H. Graves
Understanding and Teaching Reading Comprehension: A Handbook by Jane Oakhill, Kate Cain, and Carsten Elbro
Explicit Instruction by Anita Archer
The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching: Seven Factors for Success by Jim Knight
READING for understanding: How Reading Apprenticeship Improves Disciplinary Learning in Secondary and College Classrooms by Ruth Schoenbach, Cynthia Greenleaf, and Lynn Murphy
let's read: A Linguistic Approach by Cynthia A. Barnhart and Robert K. Barnhart
Bilingualism and Special Education: Issues in Assessment and Pedagogy by Jim Cummins
READ: Getting Your Preschooler Ready to Read by Michelle Warrence-Schreiber
Comic Strip Conversations by Carol Gray
The Beginner’s English Book: For the Use of Adult Students by Mary. E. Nolin
Papers and Essays
Ruddell, Robert & Unrau, Norman. (2013). Reading as a meaning-construction process: The reader, the text, and the teacher.
“A Husband and Wife Talk about Enciso’s ‘Good/Bad Girls Read Together,’” English Education
Winograd, Peter. (1994). Developing Alternative Assessments: Six Problems Worth Solving (Reading Assessment). Reading Teacher.
How to Thrive in the Middle by Nancie Atwell (NCTE’s Voices from the Middle)
On Learning and Not Learning from Teaching by Glenda Bissex
What Children Show Us About Revision by Donald Graves
Growing Writers in the Classroom by Glenda Bissex, 1981
The Child as Teacher by Glenda Bissex
There’s nothing as practical as a good theory by Morgan Lewis
Collocation - encouraging learner independence by George Woolard
Pedagogy of the Distressed by Jane Tompkins
The Maker’s Eye by Donald M Murray
One Sentence at a Time: The Need for Explicit Instruction in Teaching Students to Write Well by Judith Hochman and Natalie Wexler
On Becoming Teacher Experts: What's a Teacher-Researcher? by Glenda Bissex
Making Sense of Syllables: A Phonological Explanation of a Pedagogical Problem by Gina Cooke
Short Writing Often - Not Long Writing Seldom by Anita Archer
How Words Cast Their Spell by R. Malatesha Joshi and Moats
Oral Drill versus Grammar Study by C. C. Crawford and Madie M. Royer
Making Sense of Reading Comprehension Assessments: Guidance for Evaluating Student Performance by Alyson A. Collins and Esther R. Lindström
What Makes Mathematics Play? by Sue Dockett and Bob Perry, both from Charles Sturt University
ಭಾಷೆ ಮತ್ತು ಭಾಷಾವಿಜ್ಞಾನದ ಕುರಿತು ತೀ. ನಂ. ಶ್ರೀ. ಅವರ ಈ ಕೆಳಗಿನ ಪ್ರಬಂಧಗಳು :
ಕುದುರೆ
ಮುನ್ನೀರು ಮುಂತಾಗಿ
ಎನಿತ್ತೆನಿತ್ತಂಬುಜಪತ್ರನೇತ್ರೆಯಾ
"ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ" ಎಂಬ ರೂಪವು ಅಸಾಧುವೆ?
"ಗೊಮ್ಮಟ" ಶಬ್ದದ ನಿಷ್ಪತ್ತಿ - ಒಂದು ಸೂಚನೆ
ಉಳ್ - ಒಳಗು
'ಇದೆ' 'ಇವೆ' ಮೊದಲಾದ ಕೆಲವು ಕ್ರಿಯಾರೂಪಗಳ ವಿಚಾರ
ಕನ್ನಡ ಭಾಷೆಯ "ಅ -" ಸ್ವನಗಳು
ಏನಿ - ಗಡಿo - ರೀ
ಅಮರವಾಣಿ
ಕನ್ನಡ - ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತ: ವಾದಭೂಮಿ
ಕನ್ನಡದ ಈಗಿನ ವ್ಯಾಪ್ತಿ
ಭಾಷೆಗಳು
ಆಕ್ಸ್ಫರ್ಡ್ ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ಡಿಕ್ಷನರಿ
Why do human languages have homophones? by Sean Trott & Benjamin Bergen
Early Reading Proficiency. Leading Indicator Spotlight by Lindsey Musen
Developmental lag versus deficit models of reading disability: A longitudinal, individual growth curves analysis. by Francis, David J. Shaywitz, Sally E. Stuebing, Karla K. Shaywitz, Bennett A. Fletcher, and Jack M.
Lessons (not) learned: The troubling similarities between learning styles and universal design for learning. by Boysen, G. A. (2021)
Considerations for Reading Intervention Upon Return to School by National Association of School Psychologists, Maryland, USA
Identifying Classwide Problems in Reading With Screening Data by Matthew K. Burns, Abbey C. Karich, Kathrin E. Maki, Alisha Anderson, Sandra M. Pulles, Annie Ittner, Jennifer McComas, and Lori Helman
Ten Maxims: What We've Learned So Far About How Children Learn To Read by Reid Lyon (May 2023)
Research Directions: Social Studies Texts Are Hard to Understand: Mediating Some of the Difficulties by Isabel L. Beck and Margaret G. McKeown
The RTI Learning Disabilities Screening and Evaluation Guide for Low- and Middle-Income Countries
The RTI School and Classroom Disabilities Inclusion Guide for Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Improving Science Reading Comprehension by Jill Canton Johnson and Lisa Martin-Hansen
Revising Social Studies Text from a Text-Processing Perspective: Evidence of Improved Comprehensibility by Isabel L. Beck, Margaret G. McKeown, Gale M. Sinatra and Jane A. Loxterman
Internships
October 2016: Participated in Nancie Atwell's CTL Intern Program "Grades 5-8 Writing and Reading Workshop"
December 2015: Participated in a week-long immersion program at Riverside School, Ahmedabad
Workshops, Courses and Trainings
December 2013: SURVIVING YOUR ROOKIE YEAR OF TEACHING by Match Education
November 2014: Scripting the Play instead of Playing the Script, a Forum Theatre Workshop facilitated by Sanjoy Ganguly, Jana Sanskriti, Kolkata
April 2015: Effective Reading Instruction in Mainstream and Special Education Classrooms: Comprehension with Dr. Radhika Misquitta, Mumbai
May 2015: Level 1 Facilitator Training in Theatre of the Oppressed - Breaking Patterns, Creating Change by CCDC
August 2015: Get Organized: How to be a Together Teacher with Maia Heyck-Merlin
October 2015: Effective Reading Instruction in Mainstream and Special Education Classrooms: Decoding with Dr. Radhika Misquitta, Mumbai
December 2015: Attended Avasara Professional Learning, a day-long PD event on Engaging All Learners
May 2016: 2-Day Play for Peace Workshop at Educator's Collective, Bangalore
2016-17: Diploma in Experiential Education and Practice with Vishwas Parchure
March 2018: The Best Start in Life: Early Childhood Development for Sustainable Development by SDG Academy
December 2018: Level 2 Facilitator Training in Theatre of the Oppressed by CCDC
March-April 2019: Teaching Struggling Readers Around the World by World Learning and The Chinese University of Hong Kong
May 2020: Remedial Instruction for Primary School Children with Specific Learning Difficulty by Madras Dyslexia Association
May 2020: Debbie Hepplewhite’s Online Synthetic Phonics Training Course
June 2020: Syntax Intensive with William Van Cleave
August 2020: Advanced Syntax with William Van Cleave
August 2020: Tutoring for Life with Lyn Stone
September 2020: The Function & Content Continuum with LEX
October 2020: The Nature of the Grapheme with LEX
February 2021: Names! with LEX
June 2021: Default Graphemes with LEX
July 2021: The Nature of the Grapheme with LEX
July 2021: Vak Shuddhi: Perfecting Sanskrit Pronunciations with The Sanskrit Channel
July 2021: The Function & Content Continuum with LEX
July 2021: The Basics of Picture Book Writing by Karadi Tales
September 2021: Exploring Body Neutrality and Body Image with Jameela Jamil
December 2021: Libraries: Chapter I by Bookwork, Goa
December 2021: TLAC Online Modules
Building Radar
Positive Cold Call Culture
Everybody writes: Using the Chat
What to do: Planning and Delivering Instructions
Be Seen Looking
Non-Verbal Interventions
October 2021 to August 2022: Not Angles But Angels with LEX
February 2022: Content and Function Words with LEX by Virginia Branch of the International Dyslexia Association
March 2022: Linking Blocks with LEX
September-October 2022: Syllables: Fact & Fiction with LEX
September-October 2022: Zero Allophones with LEX
October-November 2022: InSights into Verbs with LEX
October 2022: Rhotic Vowels with LEX
April 2023: भज गोविन्दम - परायणाभ्यासः with Shri. Lakshman Raghuram
May 2023: ExC-ELL Summer Institute
Module 1: Vocabulary
Module 2: Reading
Module 3: Writing
September 2023: Decode Your Trauma with Alex Howard
September 2023: Putting students in charge of their learning with Alfie Kohn
October 2023: Studying the Writer's Craft: A Whole-Class Inquiry with Carl Anderson
October 2023: When it's not on the test: How educators can help kids learn for life with Naomi Fisher
October 2023: Demystifying Reading Assessments: The Right Assessment for the Right Purpose with Michelle Hosp, Ph.D. and Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D.
March-April 2024: The Stress and The Schwa with LEX
April-May 2024: Latin Anatomy with LEX
Webinars
Spaced, Interleaved, and Retrieval Practice: The Key to Long Term Retention by David Morkunas
Metalanguage by Lyn Stone
Structured Word Inquiry by Pete Bowers
Orton Gillingham and Structured Word Inquiry: What is the difference? by Tracy Block-Zaretsky
English Morphology: What it is and how it can help struggling readers and writers by Gina Cooke
Progress Monitoring Students with Dyslexia: The Why and the What by Andy Stetkevich
Insights into Sight Words by Gina Cooke
Make Every Read-Aloud Experience Intentional and Instructional by Lester Laminack
The Survival List - How to input structured, memorable words and patterns into long-term memory for fluency by Lyn Stone
Teaching Comprehension Through Text-Driven Instruction by Louisa Moats
The Simple View of Writing by Lyn Stone
Dyslexia and Dysgraphia for Parents by Lyn Stone
Digraphs in Depth by Lyn Stone
Assessment and Screening Tools by Lyn Stone
What Dyslexia Red Flags Look Like for Different Students in Different Grades by Kelli Sandman-Hurley and Tracy Block-Zaretsky
Recent Advances in Understanding Reading Development and Difficulties: Prevention and Highly Successful Interventions by David Kilpatrick.
Dyslexia: The Myths and the Mysteries by Wendy Farone
The Writing Revolution Webinar on Sentence Expansion
Syntax Matters by William Van Cleave
Intervening with Older Students by Anita Archer
How We Remember Words, and Why Some Children Don't by David Kilpatrick
Comprehension as an Outcome by Anita Archer
Adapting evidence-based instructional practices to a remote learning environment by Anita Archer
3 Ways to Encourage Distance Learning Participation for Students with Word Reading Difficulties
2 Ways to Adapt Partner Responses to Distance Learning
5 Tips for Adapting Choral Response to Distance Learning
7 Tips for Building Connections When Teaching Remotely
Using the Science of Reading to Improve Literacy Instruction for English Learners by Dr. Claude Goldenberg
Building a Strong Relationship with your Autistic Child with Andrew Shahan
Communicating with your Autistic Child with Kendall Cygan
Writing Live(s) at ERWC with Jennifer Fletcher and Jonathan Medeiros
Why Explicit Instruction by Anita Archer
Why Teaching Will Never Be a Research-Based Profession by Dylan Wiliam
Intersection between Reading and Spelling by Dr. Rebecca Treiman
Tips for Creating Presentations by Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher
Giving or Not Giving Advice During Trying Times: A Conversation between Jim Knight and Michael Bungay Stanier
The Knowledge Matters Podcast with Natalie Wexler
The Science of Writing: A Kendore Learning Webinar
Retrieval Practice and Diagnosing Teaching Problems with Zach Groshnell and Sarah Cottingham
Memory, Teaching and Learning with Kalil and Sarah Cottingham
'Learning First, not Teaching First': Creating the Link Between Research & Teaching in Practice, and the Crucial Role of Memory, with Cognitive Science Expert Sarah Cottingham
Adopting a Problem Based Approach to Professional Development with Sarah Cottingham
Conferences
November 2014: Participated in Diversity Dialogues, A National Theatre of the Oppressed Conference organized by CCDC, Bangalore
2015: Participated in the Ashoka Changemaker Schools Summit in New Delhi
October 2017: Attended QUDWA-2017, Teaching for Tomorrow, hosted by the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi.
February 2020: Participated in the National Conclave on Specific Learning Disability (Dyslexia), an initiative by Maharashtra Dyslexia Association, Mumbai
August 2023: Attended the Trauma Super Conference
October 2023: TIES 2023
My Teachers
This section on my education cannot be complete without mentioning the many, many teachers I have had the privilege to learn from.
Some people get to learn under the direct tutelage of great teachers. Others like me take a leaf out of Ekalavya's book and find their gurus on the Internet.
In Sanskrit, guru means the dispeller of darkness. Each of these extraordinary teachers has helped me wade through darkness and find light in my little corner of the world where I aspire to be a better teacher every day.
Some of them have passed; many don't even know I exist. I have had the privilege of learning directly from a few.
I owe every little breakthrough in my teaching career to them.
Cover Photo from my life-changing trip to CTL, Maine
Head shots are taken from public websites,