Hello readers,
As time passes, it’s interesting to have our days divided into the two different worlds of the English and Gujarati mediums… each day brings its own mini culture-shock. In the Gujarati medium I have the sense that many of the students remain a bit “star-struck.” I’ve glimpsed giddy girls clapping their hands in delight that I’m coming to their classroom before rushing back to their seats to greet me with an enthusiastic “GOOD MORNING, MA’AM! HOW ARE YOU?” as I walk in, after which I can’t hide my amused grin.
Because of the lower English comprehension level in the Gujarati medium, my teaching takes on a more theatrical quality, and I’m increasingly prone to gesture, act out, and make voices for different characters—I feel like it’s my job to make the stories come alive for the students, so that they’re really focused on understanding what happens next. One of the biggest tendencies I’ve had to fight is the trap of speaking too quickly. Even when I feel like I’m speaking slower than normal, this is often too fast for my classes, especially the younger standards, who are dealing with my foreign accent and pronunciation on top of everything else. In the absence of slide-show technology or a printer (though Pamela and I are planning on investing in one of those soon!) I’ve started to find success in drawing pictures on the board, gesturing wildly, and finally (it seems) finding the right speaking tempo. The amount of Gujarati translation the kids end up with varies depending on which co-teacher I’m working with during the day, and some teachers are eager to jump in and over-explain things, while others sit back and watch me do my thing. I felt highly rewarded yesterday, however, when Vijay Sir, one of my more silent co-teachers, watched my full lesson and actively chose not to provide any Gujarati translations. When the kids seemed a bit confused, he merely backed me up and said, “Listen carefully to Madam! You will understand her explanations.” I repeated myself, while speaking slowly, drawing, and acting, and the kids were able to follow! The story I was explaining was “The Black Bull,” which is a Jataka Tale that tells of one of the Buddha’s previous lifetimes before he became the Buddha, when he was born as a black bull. During the first paragraph the kids encounter the line, “In these lives, he is known as the Bodhisattva, or the Buddha-to-be.” To explain “Buddha-to-be” I asked the kids what they wanted to be when they grew up, and wrote those things on the board. We ended up with an “engineer-to-be,” a “doctor-to-be,” and a “policeman-to-be,” as well as many more enthusiastic hands that there weren’t time for.
Often-times, I’m not sure if the silences that follow my comprehension questions signify confusion regarding how to answer (the students must wonder, Should we use English or Gujarati? What is the proper way to answer the question? Can I just read this passage from the story?...I get a strange mix of all the above) or confusion regarding what in the world I’m saying. Lately, though, by using simple sentences with them, repeating them, and sometimes dropping hints, one kid in the room will suddenly thrust their hand into the air, and “Oh! Ma’am!” at me excitedly, hardly waiting until they’re called on before they stand up and answer. These correct answers are, I hope, encouraging not just to me, but to the other students as well! It’s great to see even the sixth and seventh standards answering me in English, rather than Gujarati. On a few occasions I’ve even been able to coax full sentences out of them; the correct sentence is then written on the board, and the class copies it into their notebooks.
By now, the English medium students have, for the most part, “gotten over me.” This isn’t necessarily a negative thing, it just means that they’re reverted to their typical, mischievous middle-school selves. Now that the students have adjusted to my pronunciation and the novelty of a foreign teacher, I’m left faced with the time-old task of just keeping them interested in the lesson. During a usual class session, this isn’t unmanageable, but during the Library periods that I’ve been asked to take, I’ve been trying to switch things up from the usual routine and have met with an excited and chaotic response! For one thing, I’ve tried to begin the class by allowing the students to choose their own books to read. This seemed only logical to me, since I only ever wanted to read the books I was interested in. Isn’t that true for all of us? But it seems that the students are accustomed to having their books doled out to them, like unappealing rice gruel, and are forced to sit through the thirty five minutes in bored-to-tears silence, mouthing the words of the story or staring blankly into space. Considering this history, it’s no surprise that they have no idea how to conduct themselves when given the freedom to choose their own stories… the students battle over books, claim they need to trade two or three times, and rush out of their seats before being called. After some trial and error, I’ve concluded that I need to give the class printed hand-outs to better hold their attention and still their questions. Handouts are something they never receive on a usual day since printers aren’t common and supplementary material is usually unnecessary when following the government curriculum. Still, I hit up the internet café two days ago to print some Reading Log sheets that the students can use to record their progress, and write down the title of their book. This way I can make a master list that absolutely WILL NOT change, so that we can hopefully finally start the activity that I have in mind: For four weeks, the students will read the same book (and hopefully complete it), while logging the pages they’ve read each week. The students are divided into three teams, and the winning team will be selected based on a couple of categories: one is cumulative pages read, and the other is a poster presentation, which will include a character description, plot summarization, and plot synthesis. Extra points for added details and creativity. The groups must also figure out a way to combine everyone’s individual posters to make one collage-style presentation. It seems that this activity may max out their group collaboration skills, but I’m hopeful that it will be fun and interesting for them. If the kids are overly lively… well, at least they’re excited!
Today was especially fun in the Gujarati medium because it was the Science Fair, and I got to wander around and look at all the little contraptions the students had hooked up together. There were lots of light bulbs, fire alarms, solar-powered lights, wind-powered lights, and even some water purifiers and a water alarm (perfect for rainy season!). Most of the kids wouldn’t attempt to explain their creations to me in English, but I got one well-rehearsed Gujarati explanation from a girl who looked to be in about 6th standard and was undeterred by my blank look, as well as some very neat English explanations from my 11th Standard kids. (So proud.) Pamela had her camera with her, so there should be some nice technicolor pictures pending!
As it is, it’s late. Time to call it a school night.
Namaste,
Dalena
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