Rahul the drummer: Part II

I need to apologize to the world, in case I have killed the next Ustad Zakir Hussain before he even touched a tabla. It is not that Rahul doesn't drum any more, but it is much more easier for me to distract him. The surprising part is, I can distract him with a multiplication problem or a sentence from which he needs to find the prepositions.

I have started teaching Rahul at home for 2hours for the last 3 weeks or so. I start with a page of writing in a 4 line sheet. Rahul has the habit of mixing up small and capital letters when he is writing anything and his writing is readable only by himself. After 3 weeks of writing, I see that his capital letters have disappeared, even from the beginning of sentences. I need to reinsert that, but that is a smaller problem than sentences peppered with capital letters all over. Also, I am able to read what he is writing. He just didn't know how to write small letters for 'G', 'F' and 'J'.

Rahul has lost a couple of weeks when he was sent home due to non-payment of fees. That was the time I taught division to the class. He was totally lost when we were doing division problems in class later. Now that he has learnt division, he has started listening in class and also doing the sums.

Now I know that the major reason for Rahul was, not understanding what was happening in class. His drumming would have also stemmed from the frustration from that. Now that he has started following in class, he doesn't feel the need to drum. He is more enthusiastic and attentive.

It has not been very easy to keep him steady and make him listen in the beginning when I have started the extra classes with him. First, I had to lure him to stop drumming and listen with the small double drum I have carried from Bangalore. He could drum for 5 mins if he stays and listens for an hour. This helped and he started listening. The 5 mins he drums is unbearable. He will use 2 pencils to drum. First he did that without any rhythm and later he managed to find some rhythm.

After 2 days another possible reward caught his eyes and he moved away from the drum. He asked me whether he can use my laptop. From then onwards, once he finishes his session he can draw, play, read on my laptop. That changed the world for Rahul. He would wait for his 10mins with my laptop by being extremely good and doing all I ask him to do. After 2 weeks, he is now so engrossed in the work he is doing, he does not even bother whether he is getting his time with the laptop any more. I have never seen an investment strategy working so nicely with any kid till now. I would say an investment strategy which finds itself redundant after sometime is the best strategy.

We did some writing, some grammar, reading and Math. He now knows division too. I will teach him something which I am going teach or revise in class the next day. Then he is all ears when he sits in class since he understands what I am talking about clearly. He also does the test at the end of the class well most of the time.

I also found out that he is pretty smart. Usually if some one shows me a card trick or a hand trick I will be able to show it back to them in 2 mins. Rahul showed me few tricks; one in which he starts with a very small ball of paper in both his hands, he cup the hands down and then opens them, both the balls are under the same hand. I managed to show this back to him quickly. But then he wrapped a rubber band around 2 of his bent fingers, he opens the fingers and the bands are around the other 2 fingers now. I just couldn't figure out how he was doing it. I had to ask him to show, which he did. He shows me something or the other every day. One day he stood on his head and hands, I thought he is done when he stood like that, and then he removed his hands and just stood on his head without touching any wall. I was scared that he would fall, but encouraged him by clapping my hands anyway.

We both have bonded nicely during this time and this also makes him nice to me in class by listening to me. Overall the 2 hours I have been spending with Rahul has given me tremendous returns. Now I am adding one more kid to the 2 hour program. Hopefully it will benefit her also, though her needs are different.

So coming to the young couple with a kid story, since I was spending 2 hours with Rahul I had something to write about, but since I was spending the time with him, I didn't have the time to write about it. 'If you were around before you were around, you would never have been around" indeed.

Prequel to Rahul, the drummer: Part II

I have started teaching Rahul at home every day for 2 hours. I wanted to write about it for a long time, but I am just not getting time to do that. Especially since the 2hours I am spending with him daily, totally depletes my free time. Then I was reminded of this joke I have heard or may be read in RD. I just had to write this down before it goes off from my head. It goes like this.

A young couple with a 2 year old son was getting cozy with each other when suddenly the son walks in. After this happens the umpteenth time, the frustrated man turns to the kid and tells "If you were around before you were around, you would never have been around".

I will soon come back with 'Rahul, the drummer: Part II'. If you have not got the connection, you will get it then.

Unit test III results

Lot of surprises this time. There were a lot of things which I have done differently from the semester exam, whose results were pathetic. Now I do not know which one of them I need to attribute to the changed results I am seeing. For one, I read the questions out to the students this time, which I didn't do last time. But one thing I noticed was that the students were actually able to read the questions on their own much better this time. But I indeed didn't want to take a chance. The questions were mostly multiple choice questions, since their big goal of scholarship exam is going to be that way. But this has not tremendously improved the outcome either. Those who have tried a complete guessing game have lost it. Look at the marks on SST (wow!) a consistent tenner. That indeed is attributed to the changed ways in which the subject was taught in class. My kids just do not study for the exam, if they have learnt something in class and can remember that, that's all they will write.

My dyslexic (no:1) has passed only in Hindi and Marathi last time. But this time he has failed those.

My special kid (no:3) gave me the most pleasant one, she failed only in Science this time. Last time she has failed in all subjects.

Rahul, the drummer (no:10) failed in non-languages, which is similar to last time.

John (no:12) broke my heart when I saw the results from the Hindi teacher. He passed in all subjects except Hindi and as usual scored the highest in Maths.

My Nanda (no: 8), who had first rank last time stayed at the same percentage, while all other zoomed past her, leaving her with the 5th rank this time.

Kiran, my ADHD kid (no: 6), got 2nd rank. In his report card he will get 1st rank after adding marks of subjects like PT, Work Experience etc. If he was not having ADHD he wouldn't have been sitting in my class for sure.

A simple comparison on the % from each test shows that every single one of them except Nanda improved their results over their disastrous semester results. 6 of them even managed to improve the results over their Unit 1 results.

Overall the stars are my special kid (let me call her Anita, as she has started becoming not so special in the way in which I started calling her that), my small little mouse, Anuj (no:2), who improved his percentage by 16 points even though he failed in Maths, and Lekha (no:7), with 13 points raise, who is showing great investment now that she has started becoming more regular in class.

Overall the results are much more satisfying than both the previous tests. But on absolute terms the result still looks so horrible. 74% as the top, just 2 above 70%, just 4 above 60%. The results are not yet published to the students and their parents. It will happen soon and I am just not able to guess the parents' reactions this time. Let me wait and see.

Rahul, the drummer

Rahul is one of the smallest in my class. He is also one of the 4 who has not failed in any class till now. But the way in which he is progressing currently, I am doubtful whether he will be in the same league next year. He has lost so many days this year in school for wedding in family and other silly reasons. By the time I got him back in class, it was time for him to be sent back home due to non-payment of fees. While I managed to get extension for another kid, Rohini ma'am just wouldn't hear Rahul's case as according to her, his father will not bother if he is in class.

Rahul is a classic case of ASS (attention seeking syndrome). His drumming must be a part of that. He is not hyperactive and he is not dumb. His falling back is mostly due to the missed classes. When he comes into the class in the morning, if I offer to hug him, he comes to me with a grin measuring from one ear to the other. He will give me a hug and then run out of the class immediately lest I ask him to start reading the sight words in his folder.

Every day when I give instructions to students to start writing their passage on the subject I have given, Rahul will start with a "No". "Please write", "No". This repeats in almost all the classes in which I ask them to do anything. When I discussed this defiance with my mentor in teaching, she has told me that students usually know where they stand in class. This is a response to knowing that he comes at the very bottom in class and it is not very unusual for kids who are not doing well in their studies to do this.

For the drumming issue, I have brought a small double drum. Once the unit test is over, I am going to introduce that as a reward for Rahul to stay away from drumming during class. After class and during recess he can drum on that if he can do that. Hopefully that also makes him to start listening in class. If his ASS still plays up, I will have to find a way to get that from distracting the class. May be, going up to him every 4-5 mins and touching him will help him know that my attention is on him and he need not do anything special to get it.

I am proposing to his parents that I take 2 hours of tuition for him during the weekend for him to catch up. They usually come up with lack of mobility as a reason for him not to attend the extra class or the scholarship class I take. Since my house is closer to his house, I hope it will not be a reason any more.

Even if his future is that of a great drummer, a little bit of English and Maths will not do any harm to him in the long run.

The homework-sports week connection

Teaching in a school comes with its side effects also. While I am trying to improve the student achievement in class by what ever means, there are a few who are either apathetic to the efforts or just indifferent. When these are major stake holders in my effort, it is rather irritating.

Last week we had the sports week in our school. So the first half of the class we spent outside, students carried lemons which were rolling in spoons kept precariously in their mouths, falling all over the place with skipping ropes tangled around their feet and generally having fun. The students were having fun, I kept looking at my watch thinking when this is going to end so that, I can take them back to practicing writing stories looking random pictures and trying to make their imagination to run wild.

I have always had trouble in getting my students to do their homework. I have to keep inventing new new rewards for them to do it. Sometimes it is half of a Dairy Milk (only Rs.5) and sometimes taking home a jigsaw puzzle with Spider man sitting (or standing) on a wall with his various enemies beside him. The novelty runs out for each reward soon. Looking at the students having so much fun with sports, I decided to follow my fellow fellow who has kept staying out during the sports as a reward. So while giving out home work that day, I gave a dose of my warning also, I told my students to make sure that they finish their homework at home or otherwise they will have to sit inside the class and finish the home work while those who have finished are having fun outside.

Next day, more students than usual have finished all 3 home work. But still there is some left. So after assembly I packed them off to the classroom to finish the homework. I stayed with the students inside. Soon supervisor (our Hindi teacher) entered the class room to protest and protect my students right to be outside the class during sports week. She asked me whats the connection between homework and sports. I told her that it is up to us to make the connection. One by one my kids were finishing their home work and leaving the class. Supervisor went to Roshini ma'am (our main administrator and also Principal's daughter) and complained. Roshini ma'am called me and asked. I explained my stand and told her that there are 4 students left in class still to finish the home work and all the rest of them are on the ground. She sent me back telling it is ok.

Later towards the afternoon principal calls me and I go to her and sees that both supervisors are also there. Since Roshini ma'am verdict was not satisfactory, they have appealed to the High Court. High court verdict is in line with the supervisor's. Principal started shouting at me telling me that I have to follow rules of the school, I didn't bring the students from my home, they are first students of the school and then my students, the sports week is for students to be outside, I think that the students belong to me and that's not true, my fellow fellow also acts and thinks similarly, there is no connection between sports week and home work........ I did a series of "yes ma'am"s and "ok ma'am"s. In between when she said I cannot make any connection between homework and sports week, a "why ma'am" unknowingly came out of my mouth instead of the "yes ma'am" which was answered by a "because I say so" nonchalantly. I hate any one shouting at me (I wonder who doesn't), but this is one person I am gonna tolerate.

The damage was done for my kids. Now they were convinced that I am going to stick to my word and keep them in the class if they didn't do their homework. The facts that their Hindi miss talked to the principal and that principal has shouted at me and all are not known to my kids. So that day also I used the same reward for doing their home work. The next day the effect was seen with all but one finishing their homework at home.

Now that the sports week is over and dairy milks are not seen attractive any more, what will entice my students to do their homework?

Experimenting

The need for experimenting comes when you are unhappy with something. I am totally unhappy with the way in which some of my kids behave. I don't blame them for the same, they know no better. But their behavior reduces the learning which happens in my class, for themselves and also for others, not to mention the evil it brings out in me sometimes.

Let me take the case of Kiran. Kiran is quite intelligent and reads at a speed of 105-115 words per minute, though he doesn't understand much of what he reads. His attention span is about 10 minutes. Sometimes there are things which take more than 10 minutes to teach. What it means to me is that I need to teach him separately for him to understand. It doesn't take much time for him to grasp the concepts when I teach him one to one, so it is ok. But when he is running around in class and pinching and slapping others, they get totally distracted and their learning goes for a toss.

What if Kiran is the one who is making sure that every one sits properly and they listen in class and that they don't come out of their place unnecessarily. The sense of justice and equality in my class is very high, so I cannot just one day make Kiran the class monitor. There needs to be a valid reason why he should be the class monitor and not any of the 12 others. So I take the opportunity of the declared semester results and give all the kids who have got I-III ranks a responsibility. I rank holder is absent, II rank holder becomes the board monitor. His responsibility is to make sure that the contents of the black board is up to date, the objectives in the agenda are ticked off after each period, the board and the duster are clean. Then III rank holder is the class monitor.

Kiran is very excited about being the class monitor. Immediately he starts correcting people in the way in which they are leaning on to the desk and sitting with their legs up and pressing on to the desk. He is listening to my teaching as well as checking on others. Instead of me telling every one to sit straight and listen he takes over the responsibility. Till almost the last period he survives. The major gain is for Kiran himself as he has forgotten to run around and pinch and slap. But by last period he has lost his concentration and starts talking to Umesh. I let him stay at the back of the class and still listen without checking on others.

Next day, he starts again in the morning properly, being a nice monitor. But this day, his concentration is going to go off earlier than yesterday. By end of the day he starts telling me that he doesn't want to be the monitor. The loss is mine, if I let him out of it. So the next day, I let the small little mouse in my class to become the monitor and this makes Kiran very jealous and he wants to be the monitor back.

But in 2 days he is tired and again and doesn't want to be monitor.

The experiment in its actual form has failed. But I can make him monitor every other day and take advantage of the improved calm and lack of pinching and slapping still.

Umesh gets restless and starts talking if he sits next to Kiran. But now I have made him sit next to the small little mouse everyday and he is calm and quiet and listens nicely. The first day he behaved so nice, I called his mother up and told her, how nice he has been in class. The single mother whose dreams are all based on Umesh was so happy that day, Umesh came and gave me a special hug next day morning.

Rahul went for his cousin's wedding for a week and came back with a special problem. Now his hands keep drumming on the desk all the time. For a minute after I tell him to stop drumming, he will stop drumming, but after 1 minute the drumming restarts. Making him stand away from desks, folding his hands etc have not yielded any results. After 2 minutes he goes back to drumming and I can totally see that he is not fully aware of the fact that he is drumming.

Any ideas for an experiment here? My experiments with drumming....

Semester exam results

Its again results time and this time it is much worse than the last unit test. I would believe that the kids have really improved in their comprehension of English, but still not enough to read the questions and understand enough to write the answers on their own. In the last unit test, I read out all the questions and explained it all to them. This time, the students were totally on their own. They had to first decode sounds and read the words. Then understand the meaning of the words and understand the meaning of the sentences out of it. For most who were just reading a few words and were not understanding even a single word of what they were reading this was no mean task.

I have removed the results of those subjects like Work Experience, PT etc which doesn't really matter much, but inflates my results unnecessarily.

Only 4 students have passed in all the subjects and not even a single one has gone beyond 60%. My Nanda almost reached there. My special child has failed in all the subjects. My dyslexic has failed in all but Hindi and Marathi. The results are so pathetic, I feel like crying.

My fellow teacher, after seeing the results told me, that I cannot experiment with the children like this. Meaning I cannot leave them with the questions for them to comprehend, but I need to read them out to them and explain to them for them to write the answers. On hindsight, I see the point too. As of now since they really cant fully read and comprehend the questions, by not reading out the questions and not explaining the questions to them, in all the subjects I am testing English reading comprehension, except Maths. Even in Maths there were a lot of word problems which most of the students didn't even attempt, since they just couldn't read them. Those who could read them, just couldn't understand them.

On the results day, most of the parents came over and picked up the results from me. Father of my smallest little mouse, who has failed in 3 subjects went to the Principal to complain that his son has failed. I had to explain to him, how the little mouse refused to write the exam and after writing 3 sums he was returning the Maths paper to me. I gave it back to him 3 times and made him do more and then more and then more. He just cannot concentrate in class, neither he can concentrate while writing the exam. When he manages to do that once in a while, he really understands what is being taught.

After looking at my special kid's results my Principal had already warned me that we need to tell her parents that she needs to repeat 4th standard. Since we didn't want to give it as a shock at the end of the year, Principal wanted to give the news during this result itself. When her mother met me and the Principal, Principal informed the mother about the need for her kid to repeat the class and the mother started crying. She started telling that her husband is going to beat them both up.

Surprisingly, the student who got just 4 marks in English in the last exam got the IInd rank this time. It shouldn't actually come to me as a surprise as I have seen some very surprising thing from him once. I have given the class a list of male and female gender to learn by heart. The idea was for them to read it there and go home and learn. After 5 minutes he tells me that he has finished learning. I asked him 10 random words and he answered me each of them correctly. His memory is amazing, but his behavior unmanageable.

Indeed, I cannot experiment with my kids. Though I am seeing that their English reading comprehension has improved double fold, I still cannot leave them alone in the battle field. Their big goal is to "Ace the scholarship exam". In the scholarship exam, all the questions are multiple choice questions. I have already talked to my school management about making my next question paper totally objective type and she has agreed to it. Wait till then and I am going to post much better results then.