Random thoughts about the last 4 months of teaching.
Holistic reflection
I just cannot stop talking about John. During the Principal’s meet, when Rohini Ma’am talked about John, I realised the full impact. Last year John sat with her in her office most of the time as the teacher could not handle him and his violence on other students. Also he disturbed the class continuously making in impossible for her to teach. This year John seems to be a completely changed student and she has not received any complaints from any student or teacher about him. If I have made any big difference to any one, it is for John. When we started in June, it was very difficult for John to sit still, listen for more than 2-3 minutes and not to pass by another student without hitting or pushing him. I visited and talked to his parents, spent hours and hours after class talking to him. The bond we developed has worked wonders. He has changed his behaviour, he listens and responds in class, doesn’t initiate a fight, though he still responds violently when he is provoked. He also makes sure that I know that he is behaving nicely just for my sake. So there is still more work to do. Also I am hoping that by behaving nicely for me everyday, it becomes a habit for him.
I just could not connect to Kiran and Rahul the way in which I could connect to John. I have tried the same things I have done with John and many more, but I still have not found the things that can make them listen and stop disturbing the class and stop hurting others.
My school is a private school and this gives me a lot of autonomy in my operations. I can take the classes how ever I want as long as I finish the portion. I set my own question paper, which again helps me in putting the focus on developing the skills of the students rather than the content. The teachers in my school watch us TFI fellows from a little bit of a distance. They don’t interfere and they don’t get involved also. Consciously I have not put in any effort in getting them involved either. It is a pity that I really have not learned anything worthwhile from the teachers or the principal yet.
I have only 13 students in my class. In the beginning when I started teaching I found this very disheartening and thought I am being completely under utilised. But once I found out that my 13 students are at 13 different levels starting from late KG to early 2nd standard, I stopped complaining. With 13 students even if I have so much variation, I might be able to make a difference to each and every one of them. I have students who could read only 3 words when we started. Now they can read 120 words. I still do not know whether this jump of 3 to 120 in 4 months is good enough or not. The gap scares me a lot. The goal of making a 1.5 to 2 years jump for each kid, doesn’t. The fact that that jump will take them only till 2nd grade to 3rd grade, does.
My students are all coming from very low income background expectedly, looking at the level of the school. I have formed a picture of each family but I really do not have the picture of a community as such. There are no 2 students in my class who are coming from the same community.
One thing my students have taught me is patience or acting patient even when at heart I am not feeling too patient. May be that itself is patience as it might not be possible to act patient when you cannot control the urge to do something impatient. When I have asked a student what I should do when after the 120th time, after 4 months, she is still reading ‘how’ as ‘who’, she told me that I should just tell her that it is ‘how’.
I think some schools in poor areas still teach English non-phonetically, i.e.. by memorising, the older method of teaching. I vaguely remember being taught like that. M-A-T mat; C-A-T cat. Recently, when my cook's son was reading to me, that is how he was reading. D-O-G dog, S-I-T sit.
ReplyDeleteHe is in Class 2 in a English medium school, and not at all familiar with phonetics. If that is so in you school too, it will just take them some time to get used to thinking like that. Some MORE time.
But the story of John is very cute. Hope you end up similarly with K and R.
In my school also English in taught non-phonetically. I have introduced phonetics and my kids are yet to switch completely. After I tell a word and I ask them to tell the sounds, most of them still think about the spelling and convert them into sounds. So when I say "chat", they say 'k', 'h', 'a', 't', though there is now 'k' sound in it, just because i have taught them 'c' can make 'k' and they dont remember yet what sound 'ch' together makes. It is going to take a few more months for me to repair the damage done.
ReplyDeleteYa, I am trying further stuff tomorrow for Rahul and Kiran.