I am so excited to share with you successes we are seeing at Madhi HS! These past few weeks have been busy, to say the least. I have started getting comments from the other teachers; "Miss Kitty, you are always running here and there. Why don't you sit down and take rest?" Well, I wonder that myself sometimes but the generally insane way I rush about my days; crossing the courtyard of school to the library at least 15 times a day, has been worth while!
The Spoken English curriculum that we use in our schools is generally geared for a classroom size of 20 students. This would be ideal but I can't remember a single day in the last 6 months of my class meeting daily where this has been the case. I have a group of 35 regular attenders who are always eager and excited. Due to the size, I often have to tweak lesson plans here and there to adapt them to fit the needs of my class. Sometimes, my changes are a complete failure and I note to myself and for the fellows who will eventually replace me in this job, what has gone wrong. Other times, as with this last unit, there is sweet success. It has come with a price - my time - but, seeing those boys on the stage yesterday has made it all worthwhile. And, I would do it again.
We have been learning how, as groups, to prepare a lesson plan or a public service announcement and to try and give it during the school day. I split my large class into several groups and gave them all subjects that they could write on. We had just been talking about how to give advice as well as how to stay healthy during the H1N1 crisis/flu season. On top of having a pretty large class, the students in it are all at very different language levels. I really wanted to challenge some of them and expect a lot from them knowing that they were fully capable of the task. I chose a group of 5 boys; Dhaval, Meet, Krunal, Nirmal and Rahul plus the "Advisor", Ashok, to present a public service announcement to the school during morning assembly. When I told them where they would be presenting their speech their eyes got big and in them I saw not only apprehension, but excitement.
The big day arrived. After many run throughs both in our class and Lyndi's 9th standard class, I knew that they were ready. Sitting nervously on the stage while the morning prayer was being sung, I saw a few of their mouths moving in rehearsal of their lines. Finally, it was their turn. My stomach turned a little and I realized that I was nervous for them. Well, I needn't have been because they were all perfection. Confidently, they stood in front of their peers, their principal and their teachers, speaking their lines clearly and self-assuredly. Their hard work was met by large applause and congratulations throughout the day and my pride in them grew as the day went on.
Many teachers came up to me throughout the day to tell me that I had been a very good English coach to the boys; my co-teachers were impressed by the level of language confidence and growth in students they have worked with for many years.
The Nanubhai program is seeing successes every day in Gujarat. Some days, we are frustrated by the challenges but even through them, we are seeing successes large and small. Today was a huge accomplishment for my Spoken English class and the hours spent working with these students seems like such a minor detail. This is the impact I am seeing at Madhi High School before one year is even completed, before the test results are even in, and before I have stepped backed to evaluate the progress of the students Lyndi and I work with here. The confidence it took for these boys to stand and speak in a language not their own in front of upwards of 600 people is a great success both for them and Nanubhai.
Imagine what we could do given a few more years, dedicated teachers, and the support of our community both here in India and abroad?
Watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6mrY17OQ24
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