Love the way kids comprehend...

So, the other day I was checking the diagnostic papers of my kids. Most of them totally messed up at Math not because they did not know the answers but because they did not know how to read the question. They have a pretty good number sense. When asked orally or in Hindi they know the answers. If this was the case with Math, you can imagine what English Grammar and Comprehension must have looked like....sigh...Nevertheless the English Grammar paper left me smiling...especially the singular plural forms...
The way kids comprehend can be so awesome! Just check this out...you will love it! There were two columns. Column "A" had singular forms with pictures. And column "B" had their plural forms, supported by pictures. Kids were supposed to fill in the blanks. The question was something like shown in the image.

And this is how some of my cute little babies answer them-
One kid- Poor thing! She thinks the picture of boys on the plural side is not really visible. So she fills in the plural as "no more boys" :)
Another kid- For mango, she sees 4 mangoes on the plural side. So she writes "mango mango mango mango" :) And for sheep "sheep sheep" as there were two sheep in the picture!
3 or 4 kids- I love their sense of logic! If you notice, in the question, the 4th one is given as an oxen on the plural side and the kids were supposed to fill in the singular side i.e. ox. They actually got it correct out of logic by removing the "en" from oxen. And they added "en" to all other words. So the answers they came up with were "boyen" for boy, "mangoen" for mango and "sheepen" for sheep! :)
And these kids proudly raise their hands and say "didi finish"...I love their innocence. As long as they are not giving up and using their brain to come up with some answers! And coming to think of it, none of the answers above are illogical. I love my kids for what they are and the way they comprehend :)

3 weeks so far...

I've been wanting to update my blog since such a long time! But was just too caught up with making lesson plans, making unit plans (for next 6 weeks), administering diagnostic tests for different subjects and analysing their results to know the exact level of every child in class etc. etc. etc...Well ya, did get an off for Bharat Bandh yesterday and Tukaram Palkhi today, but again time flew in catching up on sleep, some training and data tracking...phew!
So let me just sum it up to how the 3 weeks have gone so far. To start with, I got my 3rd grade students back. I was really happy and so were they! And I actually emotional blackmail them at times that if they do not behave I will send another teacher to their class :) and it actually works ;) shows that they do like my company...The whole analysis of data has revealed that I have certain kids in class who are at 3rd standard level whereas a couple of them are at pre k.g. level. They can barely read words like of, was, the, on...it was pretty shocking for me to see these kids in 3rd standard. A majority of my class has kids who are 1.5 years below their grade level. I will be planning and differentiating to pull each child to the level he is supposed to be at.
I am probably forgetting a lot of stuff that happened over the last few weeks but here are some of the distinct ones I remember...
1) In week two, when I was teaching less than and greater than sign, Atharv actually got up and said "didi not understood!" I was so so so happy that he did that. I told the entire class how proud I was of Atharv to have accepted that he has not understood...and the next moment just to get the praise 5 other kids (whom I clearly know understood the concept) got up and said "didi I also not understood" :P
2) I have to admit Atharv is very sharp. While teaching rotation of earth he asked me "if earth moves why don't we fall?" I surely never thought of it at that age! I was so glad that my kids actually started questioning things...
3) While I was teaching we were locked in our classroom by a 1st grader post which all my kids were at the window screaming "kholo kholo"...classroom management was a total mess!
4) Shouting on kids does not help...you need to keep them busy every minute to get their attention. Creative planning for every minute in class makes your day! Inspite of planning you may fail as you never know what kids may do!
5) Give kids some personal attention and they will do all you want them to do. They feel safe and happy to know you care.
6) I am upset over the hitting around that goes on in my class. Tried different ways but have failed miserably. Some kids just cannot keep their hands to themselves. They get into physical fights often.
7) Currently I am facing a low in terms of "so much to do and so little time"...better time management is something I need to work on immediately.
Some incidents across other TFI classes which made us laugh after class but probably made us pull our hair in class:
1) A kid got his head stuck inside the desk and the only way out was to use a saw to cut the desk open!
2) A kid did this nasty thing of peeing in a bottle and rolling it over in class.
3) A kid made powder out of lead in pencil, took it in his hand and spat on it. He put it on his partners face. He and his partner were made to wash their hands and face and five minutes later he does the same to another kid in class.
4) A kid got his head stuck in between the bars of a window. He had to be pulled out. Luckily did not need the saw this time!
5) During phonics lesson the kids were being taught the "ch" sound. The teacher gave them example of chocolate, chat, chilly etc. and asked them to think of a "ch" sound word...A kid immediately replies "chutiya!"
All in all kids are like a blank canvas...teachers have to take up the challenge and help them come out with the best colors in them! A teacher has to be patient, a teacher has to be a friend, a teacher has to be strict yet loving, a teacher has to be responsible, a teacher has the potential to make a difference to the society in the long run, there is no profession as noble as teaching! I am proud that I am a teacher and I am proud that I Teach For India!!! :)

A tough goodbye...

Last night I got an official notice to stop teaching 3rd standard kids and be a co-teacher with Pranitha for 2nd standard. On one side was this relief that I will be with another TFI fellow and it would be teamwork at play for 45+ tiny kids, but on the other hand I was feeling hollow that I am no longer going to teach the 3rd graders who just in 3 days showed so much of improvement. Thanks to all the strategies that TFI taught us, these kids had started behaving well and showing interest in everything I had to say in class. On my second day of teaching, a kid actually came up to me at the end of class and said "Didi do you take tutions? How much money will you take? I want to learn from you!". I was speechless. I could not understand what miracle did I do for him to ask such a thing on just the second day? Or was it simply that I was not being like their other teachers who beat them and follow conventional methods of teaching, for whom teaching is a way to earn livelihood and not impart true knowledge? I knew these kids got attached to me in just 3 days and so was I. But I had to accept it...Today morning I had to say goodbye to them. I heard kids shouting "Didi please don't go, didi we don't want any other teacher"...I knew I would burst out into tears if I stood there any longer...so I told them I have to leave and I will see them when I have time. I spent my day teaching 2nd standard but I was constantly missing my 3rd graders. Some 3rd graders kept coming in my new classroom and requesting me to come back. Every time I passed by the corridor I could hear screams from the windows "didi aaaoo na please!"...two kids drew pictures and gifted it to me at the end of school. One of them asked if I would at least be coming to the school everyday and not leaving the school too! It was tough to say goodbye...very tough...I still cannot stop missing them...I am feeling bad that on thier first day of school I told them we will learn a lot and have lots of fun too...But it is no longer in my hands to keep up to my words :(

My first day of school...

Today was my first day of school. I started my day early at around 5.15 am. I had to reach school before 7 am. When I reached school I had this sinking feeling. The rest of the teachers were giving me alien looks. I stood at the assembly just like the many k.g. kids who came to school for the first time. I was extremely nervous. I was desperately waiting for Pranitha, another Teach For India(TFI) fellow who was supposed to teach std. 2 (I was allotted std. 3). I was so relieved when I saw Pranitha walking in. After assembly I went in my classroom which had only 13 kids today and around a 27 were absent! Interacting with these 3rd graders brought to light that although they belonged to an English medium school they could not speak one complete sentence correctly. They were responding either in Marathi or Hindi. I could actually see the depth of the challenge I have to overcome with these kids and pull them to the level of English they should be at.
English aside, there came another shocker! The government supplies free text books to these kids. But all that my classroom got were sets of History and Geography texts. My kids did not get English, Math and General Science texts. I still need to find a way out - either go to the roots of where did these texts disappear or find donors so that I don't lose out on time; the later being a logical solution for now as I cannot get into the systems right from day one...I need to observe what all is going on first.
As the day proceeded, I was suddenly called by the principal and was asked to teach std. 4 instead of std. 3 due to some xyz reasons. After some discussion, I continued with my 3rd graders but I do not know what is going to happen tomorrow. Pranitha was in the classroom next to me. I really wanted a TFI person to know what was going on with me. And there was Pranitha, facing her set of challenges. She was in a classroom where both 1st and 2nd graders were put together with their respective teachers. Apparently there were no sufficient number of classrooms available so she had to share it with another teacher!
In short, like what last year's TFI fellow Sahil said, I too experienced my first roller coaster fall today. For a second compare our childhood with these kids...We had our own books, our own teacher, our own classroom...And here are these kids fighting for basic education from day one of school...Fighting for a classroom, fighting for books, fighting for their own teacher...It was all a big pain to see it happen and not being able to do much about it...All I know is I cannot fall apart. Though the misery is making me choke right now, I always knew it was not going to be easy. It was my first test today...I may have failed but I have to move on and fight. I will stick it out! I will do all that I can for these kids...I may not be able to change the world but I can do my little for these little kids.
I wouldn't say it was an all bad bad day though. The good part is, the principal and other staff is quite friendly. The alien looks which were given to me in the morning turned into comfortable talks over break time and sweet goodbyes towards the end of the day...Here's hoping tomorrow to be better than today...Its going to be another day, another chance!

All geared up...

5 weeks of rigorous training...summer school, lesson planning clinics, child development sessions, classroom management sessions, behaviour management sessions, math and language strategies, art and theatre workshops, data tracking and analysis, leadership forums and a lot lot more!! It was a total bombardment of information every minute. I worked my butt out for more than 18 hours a day at institute. But the best thing is I was not cribbing about it at all. For the first time in my life I experienced the joy of having a satisfied sleep every night even after slogging so hard.
Post institute I feel more connected to the Teach For India (www.teachforindia.org) movement. I feel more proud to be a part of this movement. I feel more responsible. I feel happier than I ever was. I also know it is not going to be a cakewalk. I am going to face a new challenge and a new hurdle everyday. But I am all geared up! All geared up to teach my set of 40 kids at a PMC school in Wadgaon Budruk from June 14th. Wish me luck guys :)

Kids teach us...

I would be wrong if I said I am teaching kids. Its actually the other way round. Kids teach us every moment. They fight and become friends the very next moment. I wonder what happens to us as we grow up? And we call ourselves adults (when we hold grudges against people for lifetimes) ? Why does the innocence die out with time? A small incidence day before got a lump in my throat. I taught kids how to identify 2D shapes. And as a check for understanding, during break time I was giving out marie biscuits, krack jack biscuits, parle g and bingo mad angles to everyone after they identified the shapes. The kids were real excited and were enjoying eating the different shapes when a girl called Nusrat caught my eye. I saw that she had eaten only a tiny bit of the mad angle and was wrapping up the remaining in a piece of paper. When I asked her, didn't you like the taste? She said didi it is really nice! And I want my sister to taste it too! I was so touched...This little girl who probably ate mad angles for the first time in her life, loved it so much that she wanted her sister to have it too and she was so happy about it! This little girl taught me it is not so difficult to be happy in life. You just need to look around. Stop cribbing about what you don't have. Appreciate and love what you have. No! I am not giving any gyan. Just do it for once. You'll know how fortunate you are...This tiny girl showed me a mirror to how fortunate I am. And it gives me all the more reasons to ponder upon what am I doing after being so fortunate? What are we all doing???

Little joys to share...

I had never thought that one of my greatest joys would be when a kid in my class who as per record is in the 3rd standard but actually is at the level of standard 1st; would get his first correct carry over addition problem after being explained over and over again! I had never thought that one of my greatest joys would be when two of my kids from class would come up to me on their own and ask me for homework out of curiosity to learn more! I had never thought that one of my greatest joys would be when three of the kids in class would raise their hands and call me at their desk just to say "didi you are so so nice!" And there are more of these little little instances that I don't remember now...I now know the joy of being in the moment and giving your 100%...and when you give your 100% to something you never feel bad for falling flat on your face...you just get up and try harder!
I don't think I have worked harder in my life. And if you think teaching is easy, I dare you to handle my class successfully for a day without pulling your hair out! You'll see kids popping out of their seats, walking around as if the classroom was a playground, you'll see kids poking and hitting each other, some want to constantly go to the loo, someone pretends he has a stomach ache so that he gets to go home, someone wants personal attention, someone just wouldn't speak up as if I were talking to the wall, someone knows not a word of English in spite of being in 3rd standard in an English medium school, someone loves to sit under the desk, someone loves to constantly tap pencil on the desk, someone has family troubles etc. etc....well there are some smart kids around too. Averagely, the attention span of these kids is 8 minutes. I constantly need to do something to grab their attention; and I am working towards it everyday. And I need to be loving and stern at the same time. It may not sound very appealing to many. Teaching, I believe is not a respected job. Its strange how everyone wants to be educated but the moment you tell them you teach primary kids they have an expression on their face which says "couldn't you have done something better in life?" But after a certain point of time you feel let the world think what it thinks. Seeing the way these kids are struggling, I feel if they are not guided the right way in their moulding age they will soon lose interest in studies and drop out of school. For those of you who do not know, 15% of kids in India never get to go to school, 50% of them drop out by 4th standard and 90% of them do not make it to standard 10! These numbers are shocking...I know it will take years of effort to flip them around. But for now I am so happy that I am a part of the solution bit of it even if it impacts only a few in the society. What is the use of education being the fundamental right of every Indian child when he does not have access to quality education just because he is poor! Till when are we going to wait for the world to be a better place on its own? I may be a drop in the ocean but like Helen Keller rightly said:
"I am only one but still I am one. I can't do everything but still I can do something; and because I can't do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do." :)