my Qt class...

As mentioned in my last post ( C++ .. ), the much awaited moment came... teaching for the whole batch of 140 2nd yrs..

hmm.. the first class went okay. Made use of ppt effectively, with "warmup section", break in the middle etc.. but lot of disturbances like cricket match scores, noise, ppl sleeping etc.. & when the tempo was about to buildup, somayajulu spoiled it with feedback forms :((...

so, end of class - I.. the students were satisfied, but i was not. Many ppl thought Qt was over & its very confusing. I had to mail them that one more class is pending.


Preparation
I know this was my last chance to teach well ( & infact teach at IIIT I guess )...so, was very determined to make it interesting, enjoyable & most imp, unforgettable !!

I sat in silence for a few mins, going into my deep thoughts as I do so for my story writings & came up with some ideas to make the class interesting. Prepared the ppt with these ideas, made sample Qt programs & put them in order so that I can code before the class on the class PC and make them feel comfortable abt Qt.

Slept well... had breakfast... revised some stuff, took a small nap, bath.. prayer... very light lunch ( to be active ), had juice at coffeshop & get.. set ... go !!

The Final Frontier

1:30 PM now:
Went to the class with budding enthusiasm only to find hardly 10 ppl there :((.. I was shocked & abt to be disappointed as I had put in a lot of thought & effort for this. But luckily after 10 mins many ppl started coming & by 1:45.

Slideshow startd with me speaking with lotta confidence & hopefully makin them understand the things well..

The slides
All slides had the slide transition effects explored well..
1st slide i put this, " Qt --- The last class of ITWSIII".. so, cheers from the crowd.

2:15
Iam going with good pace, ppl are following properly ... revised the previous class stuff... now, comes the twist..

A slide with a puzzle :P.... yeah !! gave a short 5 mins break with a puzzle to solve, now I could sense the energy among the students. i know this batch had intersing minds, good programmers etc, so they wer keenly working on this, girls as usual reluctant to solve puzzles, but they tried out too & a few got the solution..

good to see happy faces now... all are keenly follwing the class & now increased my pace.... went to the coding part... stated off well, coded before them tried to convince them that its very easy to use designer etc etc.. but still, some ppl looked like they were scared to code..

2:45:
Last 15 mins to end this & as u know, Iam known to end things well & my climaxes have always been innovative & successful.... & this is a big moment now, standing before 140 ppl, with all of them keenly watching.... hmm.... this is what I did...

Last slide:
transitions one by one...

heading :: "Final Brake...."

then two pics come... ( already ppl are shouting loudly .. )

pic1: full of lamps
pic2: mecca masjid

now the messages, under them:: 'Happy Diwali' .. 'Id mubarak' ( it was diwali & ramzan coming up next week )

"End of ITWSIII.. Best of Luck" !!!!

wait wait.. its not over. the final twist is this, & this resulted in a loud burst of noise & laughter among the students..

a vertical marquee like doordarshan serials :P, " Thank you..... courtesy: Aravind .... Vikram pudi.... special thanks to Yaso ( had to see yaso's face then, everyone started cribbing at him"...

This ended up with a loud & loud applause..

huh.... mission successful... hurray !!!! Yippeeee !!! :P ...

Conclusion
I got wondeful feedback from the students when I met them outside the class from boys as well as gals... every one said it was an interesting class,,.... the presentation ppts are gr8.... kummesindi... etc etc.. but u know, if I tend to become a prof, lotta challenges to be faced, students of higher classes, higher knowledge, more depth of knowledge etc etc.. so, long way ahead, though this has given some confidence.

anyway, whenver I remember the class I feel very happy & i just go thru that ppt once again to cheer me up whenever iam slightly bored or dejected. This class added to my confidence that I can teach well.. lets see.... I aim to become a professor in future.... now got a PhD call from univ too & waiting for results.... I hope I could do well !!! but, will remember this juniors (u2k4) batch forever in my life for boosting my confidence & help me learn good communication, manmanagement skills ( believe me, I was a very silent, reserved being & used to worry if I am a good teacher or not during my I year :( ) ... 3 TAships for a period of 1.5 yrs... huh..... i guess a record at IIIT !!!! will b back with the latest univ results soon... bye for now..

Sd/-
Arvind

Back after a looong time..

Its been a loooooooo......ng time I posted. Gud to see many ppl following my blog, but feel sad I had to disappoint them without updating it regularly ( infact, not at all ).

Happenings of my life in the recent past::

Placement Got into IBM, world no.1 company... blah blah.. frenz outside, relatives etc are all happy about it. Frenz here r unhappy that I didnot get in any dream offer till now. Now coming to me, I am not worrying anything abt it now, bcoz my aims are different, doono how good it is to do a job immediately after B.tech. & applying to univ in US for MS. so, wats the status??

Univ. Application Right now, applying to abt 8 univs, donno where I will get in. Taking risk but, that all of them are good ones, & I am not going for any univ, that doesnot hav good data mining / less ranked univ. Let us see what happens..

FYP Everytime I & Keerthi discuss, we comeup with a new idea, that the present plan doesnot seem too good & we need to change it.. but with hardly two months left, we need to speed up things & code the system properly.

Writing Stopped for a busy with the above 3 things, gotta start it again. Wrote a story for the first time in 4 months, in the creative writing competition last week, came out okay, donno if I would get a prize for it or not. But, was fully satisfied, the way I got intersting ideas on the spot & made it actually creative :p....

Reading Started "Emperor's New Mind", looks like an awesome book. Roger Penrose makes it interesting & readable, taking the journey of comuter science, physics, mathematics, discussing about turing machines, electro magnetics, Newtonian and Quantum mechanics, etc etc, but extraordinarily in a simple way to help even a layman.

Final Year -- Frenz Last 3 months with my frenz.. so everyone feel like spending time together. started games, cricket, cards etc, going out for dinner, movies now & then.. but will be missin all of them in a few months :((....

conclusion Routine life... goin on ... too busy... I hope atleast the former 2 things get done by this week & I can concentrate on FYP..

Bye for now..
Look for the story I wrote in Creative writing competition in my stories blog soob..

C++... definitey a plus plus...

It has been almost 1.5 yrs now, since the day I took my first class as a Teaching Assistant at IIIT. I always loved the job & I hope the students liked my teaching & approach too. But, these days, my classes have started becoming a bit stereotyped, since I was busy with GRE, FYP etc etc, didnot pay much attention on how to make them interesting & different. Today came the chance. I had free time & its my fav. topic C++ to be taught. hmm... sat idle for 20-30 mins, ran the C++ tape through my mind taperecorder, thinking about what needs to be done, how shuld I proceed. Then came a flash...

Not wasting any time, I put that plan into action. Used a PPT for the first time in a tute, just to make it different, colorful, interesting & more importantly funny :). Yes, it worked out pretty well. I could see all the students heartily laughing and paying more attention ( even some of the most serious fellas burst into laughter... ). BTW, if u r wondering wat it is, here it goes:

I basically divided the entire cpp into 4 modules for teaching. Funnily, named each module as C++ itself. The funda is as follows:
1. 'C' + '+' - C++ as an improved 'C' language
2. 'C'++ - C => Class here.
3. (SEE)++ - Scope of variables, clases etc in cpp. Inheritance, polymorphism etc come under this.
4. (SEA)++ - The extra stuff.. which has no end like a sea :).... Templates, STLs, friend functions etc etc.

hmm.. sounds good right?? I enjoyed the class a lot today, happy to see happier faces, joyful learning. Of course, the special effects in the power point added more fun to this. Thanx to Microsoft !!! Anyway, can't bask in this any more... has a tough task ahead.. i.e, I need to take a class for the entire batch next week.. huh.. new challenge. But, lemme make it well, bcoz this might be my last TA ship at IIIT, so.. let the thrust culminate at a higher level, bigger stage & hopefully on a winning note !!!

Atlas(t) shrugged !!!

The story of three budding researchers at IIIT...

Two dedicated researchers AK & KK working together since an year... one new cherubic researcher RC, an equilalent of the former two combined, joins hands with them, to conquer the final frontier..

AK & KK explain the work to RC. RC quickly grasps all the stuff, as is his usual routine. These three join hands with the permission from KK-senior (KK Sr. ) 10 days to go...

First 5 days.... AK's den is decided as the workplace... days swifly pass by in coming up with a rough plan, cleaning up the things despite interrupts from RC with his usual crass jokes :P, AK's lazy naps, KK's food fever. Things become serious from day 6. AK sits seperately working on some part...takes a break, goes to see how things r going in RC's room & gets amazed. KK & RC have come up with an algo ( & put a Pseudocode too ) for the problem. wow.. new energies show up & they start working with more enthusiasm.

Workplace shifted to RC's den... Rough draft is done & they talk to KK-Sr. about the same. He gets impressed with it & asks them to do things fast... these three work, work... n work, giving up the TT, Games, sometimes food, & obviously 'sound sleep'. day7 - they go out on a dinner with frenz to relax & recuperate energies for the last hectic days.

day8 - They find it difficult to implement a part of the work & drop it -- so, change of plans.. But they knew there is a threat from KK-Sr. if they don't do this. However, they decide to continue working & proceed. RC cribs in between, he has a test on day9.... anyhow, they finish the first formality - registers for the frontier.

day9 - RC does well in the test. AK & KK go to KK-Sr. for his consent regarding the change of plan. KK-Sr. doesnot agree initially & gives a hint to resign. But, seeing their faces, reconsiders his decision & asks them to get a final draft the next day. RC returns to work despite his tiresome test & work continues till 11 PM..... 12...1....2....3... 4.... huh !! they atlast sleep with a few tactics to handle KK-Sr. the next day.

day10 -
Three of them decide to work the entire final day & get things done. RC goes to classes... comes bak to join the other two at 1. RC & AK meet KK-Sr. once & fix a schedule.

1:00 - Only these three in lab.... RC drowses, AK's hungry ( skipped breakfast ), but the passinate KK continues...

2:00 - time for lunch... but starts raining heavily, so RC , KK stay back. AK, out of energy, calls PKV for rescue. But, returns in 30 mins to relieve the other two.

3:00 - RC & AK meet KK-Sr., shows him the almost final draft... KK-Sr. suggests a few things & ask them to meet at 6.

4:30 - After a nice slumber in the class, this time workplace shifts to KK-Sr's den. each take up a job & work till KK-Sr. arrives.

6:30 -

KK-Sr.: yeah. come along guys..

takes them to his palace. Our heroes feel happy, they r in high spirits. KK is on cloud-9, dreaming about something..

KK-Sr. discusses a few things with them. AK senses something is going wrong. KK-Sr. tries a lot to make them resign, through his equivocating words. But, they counter argue with him efficiently...... answering almost all of his arguments... they dont wanna give up !!

6:50 - KK-Sr. retains his magic. Uses all his experience ( & our heroes' inexperience ) .. puts forward a unanswerable argument.... silence prevails on their faces..

KK-Sr. at his peak. announces his final view..... only now RC & KK start sensing the unavoidable... AK already in his dreams.... KK-Sr. convinces them well, but gives them a chance to decide for themselves, -- asks them to decide their action by 9. Kids enter the arena, looking strangely at the bemused faces of our heroes... heroes take permission & go out for discussion.

Our heroes, all three being optimistic, have their own say, discuss what went wrong, their next plan, all three wonder how intelligent Kk-Sr. is, decide something & go back..

KK-Sr. : Yeah !! tell me guys. what did u decide..

All three shrug their shoulders in unison.... : "Sir!! We resign... ".

Thus......... atlast shrugged !!!!!

Tagline competition...

It has been a long time since I won points for my house. ( Agni is doing fine, so I kept silent :P) Today came the chance to break the Jinx... "Tagline Competition for IIIT". hmm... sounds good. I felt that I have a fair chance as Iam good at these things. ( You can see the line at the top & gauge "Powered by optimism..... ")

I sat alone & began thinking of any good ideas. A few rushed through my mind, but they all seemed witty, rather, wacky ones. ( actually speaking, thats wat i am good at :D ). Finally, this one seemed appealling..

(1) IIIT - A place where admission is feasible, but not "FEES"ible....

wow.. looks good, but no judge will give me a prize for this..:( I wondered if, my aim was to win a prize or make such captions to entertain ppl. hmm.. I decided to sacrifice the latter, so thinking process starts again..... & finally ended with this one.

(2) IIIT- Young minds drive 'it', sky no longer the limit !!!

Somehow I was confident that this will fetch me a prize, but I want (1) to be read by people...
Luck patted my back again... , thanks to Ravi, both my goals are fulfilled. I got a prize for (2) & Ravi sends a mail to 'students' adding an extra 'wacky section' with my (1) on top.. :). Kewl.. purpose served... I can celebrate my b'day happily at home !!!

--sd/- AK43

talk on 200

Feel like blogging after a long time...

Last sem ( during my DS TAship ), I had to prepare a lab question for the next class for my group. But the pblem was, its based on previous lab's question. As usual, me being lazy, I postponed this to the very last moment & so suddenly found the need to find someone from that group. I was searching for one on 200,.... after a long search found one. The talk starts... ( person's name is a secret.... so Iam using {abc} for that)


{me} talk {abc}

(( wait for 2 mins .. about to quit.. when the response comes..))

{me} Hi
{abc} Hi
{me} did u attend DS lab on tuesday ?
{abc} yes
{me} wat was the lab question ?
{abc} we were asked to implement a tree for directory structure of linux
{me} gud.. so, did u complete it.. I mean, done copy, move etc
{abc} no, we did only building & insertion. we took the input from user & built the tree.
{me} ohh.. ok
{me} u didnot implement copy/move the file ?
{abc} no.
{me} who took the class ?
{abc} Jagannathan sir.
{me} hmm, fine. can u mail me your program ??

.. (( sudden wait of 2-3 mins ))

{me} u ther??
{abc} yes
{me} yeah. any problem ? send me your program. Its urgent.
{abc} ....but, who are you ??

(( aahh !!! I was clueless.... The question is fine. But, that should have been the very first one right ??? :)) neway, I replied ..))

{me} :). Iam your other TA.
{abc} ohh. sorry sir.
{me} Its ok. pblem is with my id. Its arvkrishna blah blah..

(( but the thing i didnot get is, how can someone chat for this long without knowing who that other side is :) ))

....
....

That was it. Sounds funny right!! Continuing the tradition of a li'l twist in my stories, {abc} is a girl by the way. :) Inspired by this, I published a story titled "chat girl" ( do read it out & try to guess the ending ) THE CHAT GIRL.

Sd/- AK43

Teaching Assistantship...

I was in a state of confusion for the past week regarding the TAship. Initially, I thought I would be selective in applying for TAship. So, I applied only 3, though eligible for many. But, lately I realized that I may not get even one :). ITWSIII - 2nd time right, so they may say no.. MathsIII - Venkaiah, so he might choose among the students working under him... CL1 - might go to a Phd student of CL. I thought I wont get anything & did a mistake not applying for other courses.

But, luck patted my back again.. a mail from Bipin today saying that I am selected for the TAship for ITWSIII. wow.. kewl course. last year TAships..
2k3 batch - ITWSIII
2k4 batch - DS

Advs:

Personally, liked the ITWSIII course structure among the two, & the 2k4 batch ( many r hard working and look enthusiatic towards work ...but, may b that was B.tech 1st yr, hav to see now :) ). Now, ITWSIII for 2k4 batch. wow.. both favourites merge.

Already hav a gud idea wat the course is, structure & most imp. the professor. :) so, I guess I shuld be comfortable with this assignment.

Colleagues are all my juniors and one batch mate.

Disadv:

TAship for the same course again.. will it be ok? or will I be bored ?? Last year, I worked with gr8 enthu & the reviews were very good. ( thats also considered for TAship allotment, may b thats y iam given 2nd oppurtunity ). Will that enthu be there again ??

concl:

Will surely give my best at it.. but have to take care of few things, (1 - personally my grading is said to be lenient..hav to make it a bit strict, 2 - maintain timely grading of the assignments etc). neway, fourth year right, so can spend gud time on this & hope to do a better job :)

Hav some funny experiences of my last TAships - will put them shortly.. bye for now.

sd/- Ak43