I'll keep this one short for a change -
It's so easy for me to forget the backgrounds of the girls I'm working with until little incidents remind me. Two days ago, I asked my nine 8th grade students to read a short story which contained the word "jam." I asked them if they knew what it was, and no one had any idea. I never realized eating bread and jam was a luxury...
So, I bought a loaf of bread and a big bottle of jam. I'll get the verdict on the taste today. Buying them food is also presents little conundrums - do I buy it just for my 8th grade students? All 8th graders? The whole school?
I also bought the 8th grade girls books. The books goes through the alphabet, numbers, birds, animals, etc. I gave them the book during the beginning of class and half way through, a girl hesitantly asked me how much they owed me. They're the ones low on money and yet, they're willing to pay. The books were only Rs. 18 each, so it was no financial burden and even if they cost more, what's the SOL grant money good for?
So that's the 8th graders and then there are the 40 10th graders. Where do I even start? Two days ago, I asked if anyone had trouble reading or writing and of course, be it because of shyness or arrogance, no one raises their hand. So, I give them a little pop quiz the next day. I read 4 questions about a story we had read and ask them to write their answers in full sentences. Not one single person can write a sentence properly. I got things like "The children was were the giants garden play."
40 students who have been studying English for 2 years now, and none of them know how to form a sentence, so what exactly are they being taught? I still can't get over it. They keep telling me they want to learn to speak English. I've decided they need to learn to write sentences before they can speak in sentences.
So, here are the goals for the 1 month I'm here:
1. The 9-8th grade students should be on the same reading level as everyone else, which means reading on a 1st grade level.
2. The 10th graders should be able to form declarative sentences.
I think that's achievable....
P.S. Pictures of the school coming soon.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Me...A Teacher...?
I haven't updated this in a while, but getting on the internet here is quite a nuisance.
The sickness subsided after a day, but my stomach remained on the uncomfortable side. It's all okay now and I'm back to eating food I shouldn't be eating. It's all delicious. And there's this pizza place in town which, surprisingly, makes legit tasting pizza! The subs though...not as good.
As far as actual work is concerned, last week was incredibly slow. I was barely at the school, Sardar Kanya Vidyalaya (SKV), because I had nothing to do. I did receive a book last week about the school and its programs, and it had the girl's daily schedule. Here's what it looks like:
4:45 am – Wake up, write prayers in the notebook
5:15 am – Mass-prayer
5:30 am – Yoga
6:00 am – Eat refreshments
6:45 am – Clean according to what batch one’s in. This includes cooking/cleaning dishes and the kitchen, watering plants/cleaning the garden, cleaning classrooms and the teacher's office, cleaning school grounds, or cleaning bathrooms.
7:15 am – Bath and wash clothes
8:15 am – Eat breakfast and finish cleaning
9:55 am – Begin school prayer
10:10 am – 5:00 pm – School
5:15 pm – Evening cleaning according to batches
6:00 pm – Eat dinner and wash dishes
7:15 pm – Evening prayer
7:30 pm – Homework
9:15 pm – Bedtime
This is the schedule Monday-Friday, every week of the school year, unless it's one of the 4 celebrated holidays. It's an absolutely absurd schedule that requires a work ethic I don't even think I'm capable of having. They girls at SKV, on the other hand, are forced to go through it because they were born into a poor household. It's the worst for the 10th graders. They have to take an exam given by the state at the end of the year, so they have to stay before school and after school to prepare for the exam. Upon passing the exam, they can choose which area they want to focus on for the last two years of high school: science, arts, or commerce. The girls at SKV, though, are urged to score well so they can get accepted to a good school after they graduate from SKV. So, they're literally taught the test.
It's a really frustrating state-wide system. The kids are forced to choose which area they want to go into at an early age, and the teachers are forced to teach to pass the exam. Outside of SKV, when the kids aren't in school, they're in tutoring classes. And the academic atmosphere is so competitive that kids are being put in tutoring as early as 2nd grade. It's absurd.
Anyway, my job at the school from now on will be to teach English to 8th graders and 10th graders. All girls take English classes during school time. For about 10 girls in the 8th grade, though, English is a huge challenge. They come from really rural areas where schooling is incredibly poor. The 10 girls I'll be working with literally don't know how to read English, which is a huge problem given that they're put in a class of about 40 girls everyday and are asked to read and comprehend writing that is well beyond their level. So, I'm stuck Googling "how to teach reading" and still left clueless. We worked on phonics yesterday, so hopefully reading simple Dr. Suess poems won't be too much of a leap.
As far as the 10th grade girls go, they simply don't know grammar, but are more interested in reading stories. They're fun to work with though, and they're mischievous, especially this one girl, Mamta. She loves to talk but hates to focus. She keeps asking me for my phone number in the U.S. so they can keep in touch with me once I leave. I'm there for well over a month, though, so what's the hurry?
Everyone at SKV, even after 3 weeks, still keeps staring at me and laughing. At this point, I'm starting to think they're laughing at me rather than laughing out of amusement for seeing someone new. I don't really mind - many of them have rarely been in the city, let alone seen a girl wearing shorts. They other day, I mentioned I had learned Italian. They asked me what that was and then asked me to say something. So, I said 'Ciao. Come stai?' and now, everytime I enter the classroom, they shout ciao!
So, in short, my SOL placement is finally beginning to pick up but as far as the research part of the project goes, I'm still no where. My adviser was supposed to call me 'early this week'...whenever that is.
In other news, monsoon was supposed to start yesterday, but word is it may not come until next week. I can't wait until it rains...I'm getting really angsty at this point. I haven't seen rain in over a month and I want the heat to subside a little. Just one more week...
The sickness subsided after a day, but my stomach remained on the uncomfortable side. It's all okay now and I'm back to eating food I shouldn't be eating. It's all delicious. And there's this pizza place in town which, surprisingly, makes legit tasting pizza! The subs though...not as good.
As far as actual work is concerned, last week was incredibly slow. I was barely at the school, Sardar Kanya Vidyalaya (SKV), because I had nothing to do. I did receive a book last week about the school and its programs, and it had the girl's daily schedule. Here's what it looks like:
4:45 am – Wake up, write prayers in the notebook
5:15 am – Mass-prayer
5:30 am – Yoga
6:00 am – Eat refreshments
6:45 am – Clean according to what batch one’s in. This includes cooking/cleaning dishes and the kitchen, watering plants/cleaning the garden, cleaning classrooms and the teacher's office, cleaning school grounds, or cleaning bathrooms.
7:15 am – Bath and wash clothes
8:15 am – Eat breakfast and finish cleaning
9:55 am – Begin school prayer
10:10 am – 5:00 pm – School
5:15 pm – Evening cleaning according to batches
6:00 pm – Eat dinner and wash dishes
7:15 pm – Evening prayer
7:30 pm – Homework
9:15 pm – Bedtime
This is the schedule Monday-Friday, every week of the school year, unless it's one of the 4 celebrated holidays. It's an absolutely absurd schedule that requires a work ethic I don't even think I'm capable of having. They girls at SKV, on the other hand, are forced to go through it because they were born into a poor household. It's the worst for the 10th graders. They have to take an exam given by the state at the end of the year, so they have to stay before school and after school to prepare for the exam. Upon passing the exam, they can choose which area they want to focus on for the last two years of high school: science, arts, or commerce. The girls at SKV, though, are urged to score well so they can get accepted to a good school after they graduate from SKV. So, they're literally taught the test.
It's a really frustrating state-wide system. The kids are forced to choose which area they want to go into at an early age, and the teachers are forced to teach to pass the exam. Outside of SKV, when the kids aren't in school, they're in tutoring classes. And the academic atmosphere is so competitive that kids are being put in tutoring as early as 2nd grade. It's absurd.
Anyway, my job at the school from now on will be to teach English to 8th graders and 10th graders. All girls take English classes during school time. For about 10 girls in the 8th grade, though, English is a huge challenge. They come from really rural areas where schooling is incredibly poor. The 10 girls I'll be working with literally don't know how to read English, which is a huge problem given that they're put in a class of about 40 girls everyday and are asked to read and comprehend writing that is well beyond their level. So, I'm stuck Googling "how to teach reading" and still left clueless. We worked on phonics yesterday, so hopefully reading simple Dr. Suess poems won't be too much of a leap.
As far as the 10th grade girls go, they simply don't know grammar, but are more interested in reading stories. They're fun to work with though, and they're mischievous, especially this one girl, Mamta. She loves to talk but hates to focus. She keeps asking me for my phone number in the U.S. so they can keep in touch with me once I leave. I'm there for well over a month, though, so what's the hurry?
Everyone at SKV, even after 3 weeks, still keeps staring at me and laughing. At this point, I'm starting to think they're laughing at me rather than laughing out of amusement for seeing someone new. I don't really mind - many of them have rarely been in the city, let alone seen a girl wearing shorts. They other day, I mentioned I had learned Italian. They asked me what that was and then asked me to say something. So, I said 'Ciao. Come stai?' and now, everytime I enter the classroom, they shout ciao!
So, in short, my SOL placement is finally beginning to pick up but as far as the research part of the project goes, I'm still no where. My adviser was supposed to call me 'early this week'...whenever that is.
In other news, monsoon was supposed to start yesterday, but word is it may not come until next week. I can't wait until it rains...I'm getting really angsty at this point. I haven't seen rain in over a month and I want the heat to subside a little. Just one more week...
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