Experiments with education: Open Period Excitement

I have just started my second year of teaching. As any teacher will tell you, one year experience is nothing to brag about. Anything we do in the classroom (even if tried and tested by others) is always an experiment because the students and their mood is always different. This series is probably going to have short posts on what we are doing in our class and school. The first one is about our open periods.

Starting this year, we have kept a few periods for other things apart from teaching regular content. One such period is the 'Open Period' which happens once a week. Even I am not quite sure of the definition but I envision it as a period where we learn about things we are interested in (basically something more than the textbooks about fascinating things). So we take a poll and come up with a topic and then, we learn about it the next week. The kids have taken a liking to this period faster than I thought and there's a buzz in the air when I walk in to the class. I think the related colour printout on the wall has something to do with it. :-D

One of these weeks, the topic was 'Why do people hunt tigers?' 

I was very impressed that kids asked me this question. It went in with our theme of "ANIMALS" for this unit. I am really proud of the handout that I made for this period (*Pats self*). I was able to integrate the Science and the Geography  topics that we had been studying in the week. Five senses in science and National Parks and wildlife in Geography. NCERT and google were the main resources used. 

Images of the handout are below. Feedback and suggestions are most welcome.  

The colour printout depicting the magnificent Royal Bengal Tiger along with the hunting and poaching

  Talking about the senses of the Tiger + A colouring sheet (yay!). Sometimes I feel that the only thing they take away from the lesson is the drawing sheet. Sigh! On the other side, there's information and relation with geography.

Library Setup - First Steps

One of the major reasons our kids are reading much below their supposed grade level is that their exposure to print after they leave school is almost negligible. Their only print sources are their school textbooks. No newspapers, no comics. Textbooks can be boring and some of their content is too high for independent reading. Some of them just do not inspire interest. 

Last year, Anish and I had participated in the Give India challenge where we wanted to raise money for our classrooms. Multiple people stepped forward and contributed generously. A lot of them contributed with books and stationery. Students of Bombay International school went ahead and even conducted a drive for us. They collected so much that I was overloaded with material. The auto-driver was scared that these big cartons wouldn't fit. We got Childcraft series, encyclopedias, story books, puzzles and novels.
Seeing all these books in a heap in my room, I kept pondering about a system to make all of this accessible to my students. I couldn't just go about handing books randomly in class. Where's the accountability? There's no way for me to see how much the kids have learnt. That's when I decided that I want to open a place where all these books are visible and accessible. They learn to read for pleasure, for information and on their own.

We did research, spoke to parents and searched for places in the slum to open a library. Accessibility was a major concern since people are apprehensive about sending kids (especially girls) in some farther parts. So was protection from rain (flooding and leakage). After months of deliberation, hunting and talks, we have finally decided upon a place. It's very close to school on the first floor. It's not very big. Maybe 10 X 15 feet.  

A coat of paint is definitely in order. We need to install a couple of tube-lights. 

We need to decide about layout. Too many questions. Cupboards, lockers or shelves? Tall shelves which next to the walls to increase seating or small, movable shelves for easy access? It has slabs for a kitchen which cannot be removed which we'll use as a table. 

Once we get this done, organizing books is something that I am really looking forward to. Though cataloging them doesn't look too tempting. We also need to decide on lists of magazines and newspapers that we'll get. Suggestions for children's magazines/newspapers are most welcome. Times of India is not allowed. :) 

Again, a big thanks to all the donors who contributed financially, in kind and in effort. Updates will be there when we get the library up and running. As you would expect, running a library is going to require money and man-hours. The rent for the place is almost Rs.3000 per month. The security deposit is Rs.30,000. Painting and layout costs extra. While I will be happy if you opened this blog once in a while, we need all the support we can get. If you would like to contribute in any capacity or have further queries, my email is prachur.goel2011@teachforindia.org

Let the show begin!

*Update*
Part 2 is up. It's a photostory!

1. We have signed the lease and are in-charge of this place starting today :-D
2. One of my friends has agreed to bear the rent post October this year. Another good friend is sponsoring Rs.10,000 for other miscellaneous expenditures. 

These contributions really come to our help and we need a lot of those. All over the country.

There are a couple of new pictures.

A Better picture of the room

View from the outside. The orange door is the entrance and then a narrow flight of stairs.

Second year begins strictly

Second year of Teach for India fellowship started 3 weeks ago and I was looking forward to starting the school on the first day this time around. I saw the Ron Clarke story in April. I was inspired. The movie is fantastic. As we had differentiated our students on the basis of their English reading levels, the inspired me decided to spend more time with the lower group and get them closer to grade level. I wanted to build motivation and get systems in place starting day 1. And so....I started with 'We are all a family.'

I spent time on rules and my expectations. First 2-3 days were really good. The behaviour in my class was around the mark where I wanted it to be. I had learnt my lesson from last year and started the year on a much stricter note rather than a crowd-pleasing one. I was strict with my rules. I still am. However, the behaviour has not gone along the lines I had planned it would. There are times when it's downright chaotic in class now. I feel that I have gone wrong somewhere. 

One thing that I have stuck to is high expectations. At least academically. I am going to make sure that each and every child is working in my class. Unless you are sick or absent, there's no escaping work done in class. There are students in class who can't read (or very little) despite being in school for about 6-7 years. They have conditioned themselves to believe that they are not going to learn anything in class. Since they have been in Teach for India classrooms for the past two years which forbids corporal punishment, they have taken it as an opportunity to not even force themselves to do work. As a result, they wouldn't even bother to take out textbooks in class whereas the same kids will scramble to copy homework somehow for Hindi or Marathi. They believe that they are not even expected to do work or they can get away without doing it. (I wonder if we have somehow enhanced their lackadaisical attitude towards work and given them freedom.)

Well, they were in for a surprise. A luxury that morning school allows is that it's possible to hold the kids back after school. Something that was not possible earlier when school ended at 5pm and the building had to shut down. So.... If you have not finished work, you are not going home. Period. I explained this point to the parents during our parent teacher meeting and got their support. Let the show begin.


On the second day, I held back some students. They were surprised and wanted to go home. No way! We'll stay back and work until you finish your work. I don't care how long it takes. I am not going home. Neither are you. If you are hungry, let's finish work fast. If you plan on continuing like this, get extra tiffin from tomorrow. We can even do a sleepover. Let your parents come. They and I have a chat overdue anyway.

They were my weakest students. Until they had finished writing the 5 picture story in their own words (with my help of course), they had to stick with it. They complained, cribbed and sulked. Some refused to write. Some said that they'll do it at home. They were falling on deaf ears. Successes - Each one of them wrote something. They learnt new words. They tried spelling things. They drew. They wrote a story. And they went home.

It has happened few more times after that. I can see the kids learning when I spend time with them after school. Most of the time, it is just to get them to work. Some of them write in class now. After all, everyone likes their lunch on time. Especially if you are an 11 year old. 

Terry-Pratchett go backpacking: 1-Snippets

During our summer vacation (perks of being a teacher), Tarang (hence referred to as TJ) and I went backpacking across Vietnam and Cambodia for 2 weeks. If you are confused about the title, read on - 

Velkommen Backpackers, Phnom Penh, Cambodia - 

TJ and I are sharing a dorm with a few British, an American and a Canadian. Inevitably, we ask each other's names. Tarang's name goes through many attempts of Traang and Taraang. One person asks if they can call him Terry. 

When it's my turn, they echo "Richard?"

Me - "I was born Hindu and in India. I am NOT Richard for sure." 

We go through a few more attempts until a close enough compromise is reached. 

One British - "You know, if put your names together, you get the name of a famous British author."

TJ and I - "Who?"

Answer - Terry Pratchett. Hence the title. 

Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai - 

Our flight's departure is scheduled at 6:35 AM. While giving us our boarding pass, the girl at the counter asks us - "Please board the flight at 5:30 AM."

I raise my eyebrows - "Ek ghanta pehle kya karenge plane me!" (What'll we do one hour before?)

TJ - "Arey! Late jaayenge re." (Dude! We'll board late man.)

The girl looks at us and starts to say something that sounded like we would get in trouble etc.

I look at her, smile and cut her off - "You didn't hear that."      

Smoooth, right!

Despite our attempts to explore the closed stores and go late for boarding, we still manage to end up sitting and waiting for the boarding to start. As is mandatory for idle talk between men, it shifts to women. TJ is talking about one of his recent infatuations. However, all is not perfect with her. There's one minor glitch. 

TJ - "Arey! Uska head is to shoulder ratio ajeeb hai."  (Her head is to shoulder ratio is weird.)

WTF! These are going to be very interesting next few days. 

Air Asia Flight to Hanoi, Bangkok Airport - 

We are sitting on the flight to Hanoi at 5:30 AM. After spending 2-3 hours at the airport trying to keep awake I am rethinking our decision to book morning flights. Add the fact that we had to change flights because the first flight had some temperature issues and we are late by one hour at the beginning of our trip. Since I have decided to try and maintain a travel journal, I take it out. (I don't think I have written anything on it after we left Vietnam. So much for decision.)

Me - "Arey Tarang! Aaj subah kuch interesting hua?"  (Tarang, did anything interesting happen today?)

TJ - "Bandiyon se baat karne ki koshish ki aur nahin hui." (We tried to talk to girls but couldn't.)

Me, in a very matter-of-fact, nonchalant tone - "So anything apart from the usual?"

This trip holds much promise. Let's see if we do anything apart from the usual. Coming up on next few Terry-Pratchett adventures - Encounter with Vietnam Immigration authorities, Creepy white guy in Bangkok (not at all unusual) ...

Stealing Tarun's thoughts for my blog

Despite my strong desire, the high threshold energy required to create a blog post has led to no posts since Diwali last year. However, this time, I have the excuse to say that I have been busy, which has never happened before in my life (I know I have been a jobless bum these past years). Busy with teaching. Then busy with grading. Then busy with traveling (More on that soon). I know that a busy man finds time for everything but I am just inefficient. 

However, other people haven't been as inefficient with their time as I have been. They have managed to do and accomplish much more than I have and simultaneously, found time to pen down some very readable and thought-provoking stuff. 

Tarun Verma, a dear friend and colleague, maintains a blog regularly. His blog has pictures of his students and his classroom, his new ideas, his experiences and his doubts. His continuous strive for excellence and concern for his students stand out consistently. He really is giving his kids some incredibly powerful experiences and I hope I learn something from it. 

Somewhere he says, "The day I sleep well, I get up early and start my car to make the 25 min drive to school. Usually I'll play loud dance / rock music that thunders in the car. For me its like I am going to war each day to make sure I impart something to my students. Something that is useful and helpful. People ask me why I did not follow my Dad's footsteps in the Army. I think I did. This Army I am a part of will change India." 

While I have never thought about it this way, it is an intense way to think about the fellowship experience.

Sometimes he writes things which I haven't been able to form clearly even in my thoughts but make so much sense when I see it in print. 

One example would be - "I learn from the abandon the kids have, everyday. And realize how leading by example, they give me a shot at lessening my anger, increasing my patience and living each moment as it comes. I'll be a better man for this experience."

And really I wish I had written this - "And becoming a better person might be one of the most selfish reasons I am here. Though I am reluctant to normally admit it."

Keep up the good work Tarun!

Barsaat and Sahil

I have been quite a model procrastinator when it comes to blogging about my classroom experiences as a Teach for India fellow. It's been 3 months now and I feel that I now know a lot more about my 62 kids, fellow teachers and school. This incident happened within my first month of teaching.

It was the month of August and this time in Mumbai, one would count himself to be lucky if it's not raining. We (Anish: my co-teacher and I) had held up a few kids after school for extra instruction time. Sahil was one of them. After the class, we waited till all the kids leave the school. However, Sahil insisted that on leaving with us and since his house is a little further away, we should drop him near the exit of our community. During our walk back, I tried to ask him about his thoughts on the new class, new Bhaiyas and studies. He pauses and looks at me with his wide, bright eyes. Then he asks hopefully - 'Bhaiya, I speak Hindi?' 
I refuse and encourage him to try in English. He must have been disappointed. He thinks for a minute and blurts out in Hindi anyway - 'Bhaiya, mujhe English padna nahin aata hai (Bhaiya, I can't read English).'
This gutsy and straightforward admission hit me hard. Really hard. Here we were, asking our class to speak in English. Giving them pages of text to read, interpret and form opinions on and Sahil can't even read. How must he be feeling in the classroom? *

Then, as it always happens in Mumbai, it started pouring heavily. There was only one umbrella between Sahil and me, which was mine. In Mumbai rains, one umbrella is not sufficient to protect even one person, forget two with bags on them. I had important things in my bag which I did not want to get wet. Neither did I want Sahil to get wet. So I instructed Sahil to be under my umbrella. We were navigating a narrow street lined with shops and hawkers, full of water puddles and people rushing by. We tried to avoid all these obstacles while staying under the umbrella.
Once in a while, someone would come in the way and we would get separated. Then I would wait and Sahil would rush to get under my umbrella. Then we would move again. Whenever, I saw a puddle or a hawker, my primary instinct was to avoid it by jumping left or right and at times, I forgot about Sahil. Once, I jumped to the left and walked along the shop while Sahil went ahead. Later he stood in the middle of the road in the crowd and looked around, his eyes searching for me. When I reappeared a moment later with the umbrella over him, he says to me with surprise and indignation - 'Bhaiya, where you go?'
I was amused but also became aware that I had to be beside him. The rest of the walk saw a gradual shift in my instinct from being protective about me to being protective about him. Holding the umbrella over him when he would drift away while getting drenched myself. It must have been quite an image - The two of us making do with one umbrella, dodging the hindrances and walking in rain. A Chopin piece could be composed on that walk.

Turns out that all of us were drenched by the time we reached his house (we had decided to drop him to his house obviously). Our first community visit and were we welcomed! Despite our protests, we were made to sit on their dry bed and drink tea while we discussed school and life.

* Since then, we have realized that we were fairly wrong in our estimates about the level of our students. After 2 units and conducting their reading tests, we realize that they are just beginning to learn English and we had been teaching them fairly high-level stuff. In fact, the students in my school can't read any language. A year back before Teach for India fellows, even the students in our class couldn't read anything. Sometime back, I had asked a kid from 5th standard, who had been held up after school to complete his homework, to read a sentence from the pages of text that he had been copying blindly. He couldn't read the word 'number' or anything more than 3 letters. I was shaken. How are students spending 6-7 years in school without learning to read? What are the teachers doing? What is wrong with the system and why does it not focus on student learning?
India needs to invest heavily in good teachers and teacher training. All kinds of technology and gizmos will not enable the student to combine letters to form words and make sense of them. We need teachers. An article in the same vein about the new 'Akash' laptop by Atanu Dey.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/swiping-without-reading/857206/0

Visit to Chail

As I stumbled sleepily out of bed on a holiday morning, my parents announce that we are visiting Chail today. "Uhh.. ehh..ok" is my sleepy response. I had not even heard of the place but sure, why not? Situated about 50km from Shimla, Chail is a hiker's delight. That's a different thing that we did no hiking there. But still, that's pretty much the only thing one should go there for because there is nothing there apart from hiking, despite what the brochures tell you. Chail does have a gossip lover's history though. 


Once upon a time in 1891, Shimla was the summer capital of the British in India and Bhupinder Singh, the Maharaja of Patiala had a flirtatious reputation. His heart was captivated by the daughter of Lord Kitchener, the Viceroy. Now Shimla has only one touristy road which is the Mall road. One fine evening, when she was taking a stroll at Mall road, the Maharaja either kidnapped her or eloped with her. The versions differ but that's not the point of the story. Elopement has been a standard Indian tradition which has gained approval from the Gods themselves. 
Clearly, Viceroy Kitchener was not very favourable towards the whole concept. He heard about this and was outraged. He banished Bhupinder Singh from Shimla. Since then, that spot, which is the highest point on the Mall road, has been bestowed with the name Scandal Point (no surprises there). Statue of Lala Lajpat Rai has been erected afterward here for some god-forsaken road. Still, Scandal Point is the hub of Shimla's social life. Tourists and locals lounge here in the sunshine, eat nuts and gossip merrily. Someone speaks from experience -
"The transmitters of gossip are ever at work and savory and unsavory secrets of our society are flashed to the uttermost limits of Simla with all the speed of wireless."

Now, the Maharaja was furious about his banishment. He decided to build a summer capital all for himself and so he decided upon the panoramic town of Chail which is also on a hill decidedly higher than Shimla.  And this is where we decided to go.
The much spoken about Maharaja's palace is a tourist bluff. There is a Rs.100 fee at the entrance of the uphill road and there's absolutely nothing there to see in the palace or around unless you book a room in the palace-converted-resort. People reach there, enter the palace hall, where there's nothing, and go like - "Alright. What next?" Haha! Gotcha! There's no next. The spread out gardens look pale in comparison with the lush hiking trails all around the place. The frustrated tourist then decides to eat at the restaurant there to extract some value for money. Sadly, the food ruins the mood further. Thankfully, we were forewarned by Ma (who has had many trips here) and avoided this debacle. 

Chail is home to the highest cricket ground in the world. The highest cricket ground in the world looks like this with the sporty monkeys practicing their strutting skills.

Cricket ground at Chail with the monkey

Now, we march on to 'Kali ka tibba', a name which I found risible, which is a temple on top of a hill. Constructed only 6 years ago, it's one of the cleanest and minimalist temples I have ever seen. It is also very environment friendly with solar panels installed all around for water heating and street lights. 

The Solar Panels at Kali ka Tibba

We did miss out on hiking through brilliant trails which we passed along. Someday, someday...