Deepa's   Homepage

Hi!

My name is DEEPA DESHPANDE

and I am a K-12 Educator 

teaching Physics to grade levels 11-12.

WHERE I LIVE

At present I live in Knoxville, Tennessee, but my home is in Mumbai, INDIA. We moved to the US an year ago.

  MY ACADEMIC  

    INTERESTS

I took my Master’s in PHYSICS from INDIA. Modern Physics/Quantum Physics is the branch I find appealing. After a gap of about 25 years, I am now planning to pursue Master’s and hopefully Doctoral programs in Education. I am particularly interested in ‘Instructional Systems’ and ‘Comparative and International Education’( COE at Penn State offers a dual-degree in CI Ed in partnership with many Majors.)

MY PROFESSIONAL  BACKGROUND

I joined I.I.T. ( Indian Institute of Technology) Bombay, in 1991 , as a post-graduate teacher in Physics; and have been working there for 16 years. At present I am on an extended leave ( 2 years)of absence from work, at the end of which I may decide to seek voluntary retirement, and settle here with my husband, who is working with  IBM USA.

WHERE I WORK(ED)

I work in the ‘Campus School & Junior College’ of I.I.T. Bombay. I.I.T. is the premier academic institute of our country, in the field of Engineering and Technology.

Admission to Campus School is limited to the children of IIT employees, making it a small size school by Bombay standards. Our school follows the State Board curriculum

Which requires that the students appear in two public examinations-

1) at the end of grade10 ( After this, they have to choose one stream – science /Arts / Commerce/ Vocational.)

2) at the end of grade 12

Our school offers the science stream after grade 10. The classrooms are not individually equipped with internet access. So we have to schedule a class in the computer laboratory, for using the internet.

        MY ROLE

My first job is teaching Physics to grades 11 & 12. I am also responsible for managing the Physics Laboratory. Half of my weekly work schedule comprises of laboratory sessions. On account of being a senior Teacher of a technical subject, by default, I have been an active member of the school committee involved in making policy decisions in the matters of technology integration and up gradation.

   MY INTERESTS

Reading is my first love – also writing. Web browsing and watching television are my favorite pastimes. I like to learn new /foreign recipes and adapt them to Indian Taste. I enjoy travelling and have so far visited UK, Switzerland ,Dubai besides USA and India. (Thanks to my husband who is an SAP consultant and keeps moving from one project to another every 2/3 years on an average).

     PSU and ME

My world campus experience began in summer 2008 with INSYS415. I have started taking courses on non degree basis, and  hope to register in a graduate program With the COE, after taking the GRE.

      EDTECH448 

          and ME

I use WINDOWS VISTA Home Premium as my operating platform. I will be designing projects for grade level 12 (age group 17-18) and will be focusing on topics in Physics.