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Sky Map

~saranya

I learned about constellation and sky map:

Constellation:

Constellation means group of stars or collection of stars. Yesterday I learned about different type of constellations. Totally 88 constellations are there but in our country they found and named only for 12. Through my experience it was very interesting and I am able to connect the star according to the constellation palan. And I learned about Arunthathi star, usually in our Indian culture  marriage they used to see Arunthathi star after that only they will get marry. After few minutes he introduced sky map. Because we could’t see stars properly.

Sky Map:

Sky map is an application which is used to see stars in the sky. I have experienced with the sky map. I am able see  constellation through the sky map. It was showing all the stars.It was fun and interesting. Here I have attached some snapshot about sky map.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These pictures will show about some of the stars and constellations. Use this application and this will help our children to know about sky and stars etc..

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Shell commands

I learnt about shell commands. A Shell is an environment which is used to run our commands and programs. It is an user interface with the operating system. There are many different types of shell. I learnt some commands in bash and C shell. Bash is one of the original shell which developed for UNIX computers. C shell was developed based on model of C programming syntax. To know which shell you are using type echo $0.
I learnt how to define variables both in bash and C shell. Bash is denoted by $. The syntax to define a variable is $a = 5
To print the value of the variable use the command echo $a. In C shell we need to set the environment variable. So the syntax goes like this. setenv a 10. An environmental variable has the name and the value.
To go to the home directory ~/.cshrc and ~/.bashrc for C shell and Bash respectively.

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Stewardship for New Emergence in Tamil Program April 2018 (Appa Amma Program)

– Naveen

Stewardship/Leadership and capacity building workshop in Tamil for full potential in the workplace, home, and community.

Facilitators:

  • Srilatha Juvva is a professor at Tata institute of social sciences.
  • Suriyaprakash C is Professor of Organizational Behavior with Jansons School of Business, Coimbatore.

The goals of the program was that an individual attending the program:

  1.  moves from resignation in workplace towards action producing results toward common goals.
  2.  builds capacity for increased personal confidence and drive for inspired-action.
  3. transforms attitudes of blame, complaints, and gossip towards responsible speaking and actions.
  4. foster a wider mindset of inter-community sustainability and well-being for all.
  5. support workplaces to become environments of learning and unfolding where action becomes integrally directed towards common goals.
  6. cultivate accomplishment.

Arun, Bala and I were part of the organizing team and PC (Practitioner Coaches) who were holding tables and conducting follow up traids. As part of the administration I took up the accountability for preparing the handouts and of breakfast of the team holding the event. 

I was holding a table as a PC (Practioner Caoch). This gave me an opportunity to practice my role as a PC as distinguished from a coach as I gave examples from my life to illustrate the tools and distinctions. In giving these examples I was also able to notice gaps in my actions. It also gave me an opportunity to improve my Tamil writing skills. I was able to write in Tamil for the participants who were not able to write. 

During the CFSR(Conscious Full Spectrum) tool, I shared my project in the stage which helped me to make my project more clearer. I also found a partner there from the audience with whom I could work because she was also doing the same kind of project. My project was one Lets Talk Trash- A team of Auroville youth cleaning and creating awareness in and around Auroville.

I was also given the opportunity to practice feedback for growth (as distinguished from diminishing feedback or advice) to each participant in my group when we did Speaking Powerfully exercise. 

My Insights:

  • I was able to notice my what was missing in my actions and worked toward filling the missing actions.
  • I noticed that I was assertive while handling the table.
  • I made sure that what I did was for the growth and exploration for others.

Other Insights:

  • Most of the participants in my team were able to speak powerfully during the the Speaking Powerfully exercise in my group.
  • I was in integrity in attending the workshop.

I need to practice, practice, practice.

This is the project with which I filled out the CFSR on the stage.
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Children building a tree house in their school

– Pratap

The children at Isai Ambalam have been wanting to build a tree house for some time. Josh a volunteer who volunteered at STEM land in the past spent some time at Isai Ambalam and had some experience with building tree houses. He decided to put in an effort and work with the children to get this done.

          

 

With the help of the children and some very nice tools Josh brought with him the children were able to help him use the bamboo on campus for the main sections of the tree house. Josh was very impressed at how comfortable and efficient the children at the school are at using tools. In addition, we needed other materials like Pakku Maram and coconut ropes which we bought from the local shops.

One of the earliest activities that the children got involved with was tying up the coconut ropes into quickly usable bundles. This was Josh way of testing if the children could tie things tightly.

Josh also called the tree house community to help with the core aspects of the tree house so it is robust. The children were also asked to imagine how they would like the tree house to be once the tree was selected close to the play area.

    

Josh came in on a holiday and worked on seasoning some of the bamboo, by burning it and then applying a combination of cashew oil and diesel which keeps termites away. They performed a small pooja at the tree thanking trees for giving us oxygen and supporting life and supporting our Number 54 (the house with a bamboo door) tree house. Josh had also taught the children a song about trees in English and the children sang this song as well.

 

One of the designs was selected in which the ladder went through the floor in one corner and the machaan would be built there. Within the day there was a framework with bamboo supported in one place by a work tree. Tying the rope for the main structure was hard and only the elder children were able to do this initially. Josh then showed the children how to work with the Pakku Maram. They did this over the next couple of days the children measure cut and created a complete platform and a short keep out wall that makes it feel like you are in a boat in the air.

Another major task was making the ladder and the children were involved with this and in making a small structure at a lower height for the younger children to have something to climb on. Of course, it is impossible to keep anyone off the tree house and everyone wants to be on top of it. Initial work on bamboo, cutting to size, Pakku Maram measuring and cutting. Narrow opening to get in and the boat in the air.

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Vipassana Experience

~Saranya

Vipassana Technique was so good for me. It is good to practice for me everyday in life. When I went for Vipaasana I found the first three days difficult after that I realized and understood the universal truth of Dhamma. I learned to live in present moment. This made me to feel better and brighter. I noticed my monkey mind is always jumping thinking about my past and future, but not knowing how to live in present. I am practicing Vipassana everyday it helps me be concentrated, present and peaceful.

They have some ground rules, that is we should not talk to anyone, touch anyone, etc and maintain this noble silence for 9 days. These ground rules support the following the three principal ideas in Vipassana technique – Sila, Samadhi and Panya. Poovizhi has already described these and the theory in her blog and you can read this if you want to learn more.

I enjoyed the real peace and harmony. I understood through my own experience the meaning of Dhamma, it means universal flow of nature and of impermanence. Whatever sensation I feel in my body I was able to accept it and not react to it with either craving or aversion. That helped me train the habit pattern of my unconscious mind and come out of my misery. First day to 10th day I followed the rules and regulation and it helped immensely. In the final day I shared my peace and harmony to others with Metta. Whoever is reading my blog please give a trial for 10 days Vipassana course that makes you feel better and brighter and I am sure you will also come out of all your miseries.

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Presentation at Auro Sangamam

Presentation at Auro Sangamam was an opportunity for me talk about STEM land – Isai Ambalam school and the work we do here. I spoke about EBDs, sleep overs and various activities we do here. I also spoke about my life experiences and the way I studied in school/college. I learned that particular things cater to particular people and I cannot say everything that I said at Sinthanai Sangamam. I realized that this a different set of audience and the speech had to be modified. Like at Sinthanai Sangamam, I conveyed everything what I wanted to say and I thought the audience were able to get something out of it.

We also had stall set up for STEM land that was open through out the day. We had seven segment displays, games and puzzles at the stall. It was one of the busiest stalls and people who came enjoyed it. We also met new people and gave away some brochures.

Pictures coming soon!

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Workshop on energy with Transition children

3rd grade children in Transition school are studying about energy and its types. About 19 children came to STEM land to learnt about energy.

They learnt about converting electrical energy to light energy. We started the session by introducing voltage and showed them different types of batteries and discussed about them. We gave them the multi meters and showed to check the connectivity and to measure the voltage. Children measured the voltage of different types of batteries. Then we asked them to light up LEDs and measure how bright they can light up using resistors and batteries. They learnt about +ve and -ve charges and to connect an electrical circuit. Children were able to light up the LEDs and connected multiple LEDs to light to make it more brighter. Then they had some time and they went around STEM land and played some games and were figuring out to solve the rubik’s cube. Children said that they enjoyed working with multimeter, 9V battery, resistors and LEDs. They were able to connect with what they are studying and enjoyed the practical session.

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Presenting at Sinthanai Sangamam

Presenting at Azim Premji’s Sinthanai Sangamam, Puducherry in front 500 odd people about STEM land – EBD in Isai Ambalam was a first time experience for me. The speech was in Tamil which made me even more nervous as I am not supposed to make a mistake in it because it comes a lot of baggage. Whereas if it was in English, I wouldn’t have of thought about it that much. I noticed my fear of judgment and I was able to transcend it. Whatever Arun, Naveen, Saranya and I wanted to convey, we conveyed. I thought that our presentation went well and was well received by the audience. We had teachers from Azim Premji Foundation, Puducherry visit us the following week. I learned to be calm and present during the presentation and was not worried about my fear 🙂

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Ankit’s visit

We had a person named Ankit who made a visit to STEM land. He has been cycling across the country for the past seven months and has passed through 16 states. He is keen on visiting places where there are different educational systems. He spoke about his journey to children of Udavi and Isai Ambalam school. Children were interested to know about them. I personally was inspired and fascinated by his journey. I learned about different places and how people are helping him in his journey.

At Isai Ambalam school he used the physical clay map created by the children in the 6th and 7th grade and walked them through his journey starting at Jaipur going up to Turtuk in J & K down to Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala and then to Tamil Nadu. This made what children have created more realistic and children wanted to know a lot more especially about the places with snow.

He also records his journey and is hoping for a Guinness World Record – not his primary focus though. We wish him good luck!

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EV3MEG Robot

In Saturday of this week in Isai ambalam school, students are doing different tasks. One group of students was building EV3MEG robot using Build a Robot documentation of MINDSTROMS EV3. The day before (Friday) students had partially completed the Robot structure. Remaining structure of Robot is finished on Saturday and they played with a Robot manual by controlling motors on EV3 brick. Students felt it is annoying and they want It to do task automatically by programming. But there is problem in a laptop which was used to program it. Then they found out LEGO MINDSTROMS commander mobile app with help of volunteer in their school. Using the mobile app (which had GUI mode)  they created GUI command for controlling motors and they connected their Robot with mobile app using Bluetooth and presenting their Robot to all students and teachers in school.