Monica

Bridging The Empathy Gap

Monica Leads

It would have been easier to stay in the same school, but I believe changing was better for my education. It put me out of my comfort zone but I am so glad I made the move. Do you ever find yourself torn between an option that is easier and one that is better but possibly harder? The harder option often requires moving out of our comfort zone. Have you had to do this before too?

I was thinking about our first math class the other day. It was a lesson on decimals. I don’t remember exactly how we learned it in class, but I remember getting on the bus after school and having to deal with decimals there. How might have decimals related? How do decimals relate to the things you do in your daily life?

What do you think makes a good leader? In your day-to-day life, how are you a leader? How could we both be better leaders?

Today the class was getting distracted as we were learning about creating probability models and simulating random trials. Sounds pretty complex, but it isn’t so bad. Can you help me think of ways to relate this back to a real life situation to make the activity more relevant and engaging for my classmates? Can you help us practice this so the class stays focused?

Do you ever find yourself in situations where you are torn between doing two things? How do you decide what to do? How do you manage a situation where doing what “feels right” can be difficult or might even hurt someone? Do you have any ideas as to how I could better manage these situations with my friends? What is the optimal solution so that everyone is happy?

Write Your Own Learning Journey

Monica

Have you ever thought about the path you have to take to achieve your dreams? Have you ever written the plan out? Do the things you have to do have anything in common with the things I have to do to achieve my dreams? How so?

Do you think they are helpful? How could you seek practical experiences in things you care about or want to learn about? What are the roles of theory and of experience in learning?

What is the purpose of art in your life? Have you ever thought of it as a way to enable learning? How can we tie different interests in our life back to the things that matter most to us?

When Shoba throws the ball in Lagore, there is a 0.2 chance she will hit the pyramid of stones. If she misses she tries again but if she misses 5 times the other team gets the point. If she hits it, there is a 0.3 chance that the other team will hit one of our team members with a ball before we rebuild the pyramid, thereby winning the point. If Divya throws the ball, there is a 0.35 chance that she will hit the pyramid and a 0.4 chance that the other team will hit us before we rebuild it. Can you help me work out if we should get Shoba or Divya to throw the ball for a really important shot? Who gives us a better chance of success? You might want to draw a probability tree to demonstrate this. Beyond winning are there other things we should consider when choosing who should throw the ball?

I sometimes use the meal program as a way to practice my math and would love your help. The food normally comes in two cylindrical containers. They both have a diameter of 12 inches. One is 16 inches high, the other is 24. How could I calculate the volume of these containers? How would this be different for a rectangular box? What would its dimensions have to be if it had to hold the same volume of food?

The small container weighs 19 kgs and is usually half full with about 12.5 kgs of food. The larger container weighs about 25 kgs and is usually almost full with about 22 kgs of food. How heavy are the containers compared to the food? How would I convert kilograms to grams?

Bridging The Empathy Gap

Monica Loves Learning

Did your parents have the chance to go to school? What are the implications of this? What proportion of young people attend school in your community? How does this compare with other cities around the world like Bangalore, where I live?

Speaking of the sun, I wonder: how far are we from the sun? How big is the sun? How big is it compared to Earth? (We might compare their sizes, and/or calculate different attributes like radius, diameter, circumference, and area.)

Why do you think everyone gets distracted so easily? Do you also get distracted easily? Why? How could we make class more engaging?

I was recently helping my friends with learning about 2D and 3D shapes. Can you give me some questions that I can share with my friends for more practice? Maybe you can help us identify different shapes, relate 2D shapes and 3D shapes, and calculate their surface area and volume?

Do your parents help you with your schoolwork? Do you think this is important? Why? The support and encouragement of my father motivates me and helps me understand what we are learning in class. How can we get the support of others outside of school to help us learn?