What a wonderful past few days it's been!
YESTERDAY: Wednesday
I woke up early for 6:30 AM prep period and spent much of my time running back and forth between the 9th and 10th grade classrooms, making sure all students were quietly doing their work. Wednesday is a little bit of a slower day for me. I teach 9th grade civics after morning tea and assembly, and Drama 3 after lunch (without a doubt, my favorite class!) Civics 9 was spent preparing the students for their monthly test to be administered next week. That's essentially going to be the bulk of my work next week: reviewing for, administering, and grading the monthly tests for all of my classes.
There are no monthly tests to be had for 3rd grade drama students, however... only fun! We played a number of fun games during the students' afternoon "play-break". Ms. Beena, the vice principal of SB, met with me briefly earlier this week to discuss ways for students to gain confidence in speaking to large groups. I thought it might be a good idea, even for the little ones, to get used to standing up before their class and introducing/ telling the group a few interesting facts about themselves. Interestingly enough, some of the 3rd graders were far more comfortable with this than a lot of the upper grade students are. They just don't seem nervous because there are never any stakes. Ignorance is bliss I suppose! We also played a few rounds of charades, which I discovered was more of a challenge for them than the introductions were. These young students feel comfortable talking freely, but when it comes to using their bodies to communicate, their imaginations shut down. If the class didn't guess what they were acting on on try #1, they would say in a whiny tone, "Miss! I don't know how to do!" This is something we'll definitely be working on. We finished out the class with a classic game of Indian Chief, a "silent game", which is good for refocusing them before they return the the much more rigid academic classroom.
After classes were finished, I taught afternoon PT (physical training or PE) dance for the upper grades. We did lots of conditioning kinds of things - ab work, lunges/squats, push-ups - and I'm fairly certain they hated me for it. But, when I got to the choreography we were doing, they understood why I had them doing all of that strength work. I decided to throw some "contemporary" their way, a strong, kind of science-fiction-y piece to Dog Days Are Over by Florence and the Machine. I was terrified they wouldn't like it, but to my surprise, they LOVED it and couldn't wait to learn more. It has a little bit more technique in it than I think they're used to and because they've never truly trained, it's exciting to see how their bodies approach the movement in a purely instinctual and logic-based way.
After PT, I played my dance girls several different songs I'm considering teaching the choir, as they are all the oldest "leader students" of that after school activity. They decided they wanted to learn a choral arrangement of Man in the Mirror, which I was expecting them to really like. I warned them, though, that it was a pretty difficult song and that they would have to put in some extra time if they wanted it to be finished by the time I left. And, course, they agreed. This is my favorite thing about SB, and I know I use that phrase a lot, but I really mean it in this case, because they were all on board 100%. Ready to work, ready to put in the extra hours, ready to come together to create something really special.
During evening prep, I worked with Shrimathi, who I mentioned in my previous post, on her interview skills for this weekend's Goldman Sachs trip the students on the business track at SB are taking alongside all SB grads currently majoring in business. This is a huge opportunity that could result in internships and potential externships for all involved. Shrimathi has always been shy, but it was beyond exciting to see her blossom as we worked on her basic information answers (strengths and weaknesses, "tell me about yourself", "where do you see yourself in 10 years", etc.)
Halfway through prep, which is an hour and a half, the whole school gathered in the main hall. Yazmani, an ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty) volunteer, is at SB right now working on a global film project in which children from all over the world sing the song "Where You Lead" by Carole King in places that showcase their culture, eventually to be compiled together into one incredible music video. They've been filming in various locations since I got here, but yesterday was the rehearsal for the whole school's cameo appearance. And for about 20 minutes straight, the entire school was singing and dancing, no inhibitions, in perfect harmony (ok well... almost perfect harmony.) Here is some footage from this awesome moment:
I sat with some older girls last night at dinner which is always a nice change. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love having riddles thrown at me each night by the little ones, but it's also nice to have some real conversations about school, home, and life in general. Shrimathi had to eat ragi ball, a food that's actually crazy nutritious and that's used in Indian cooking frequently with tons of spices. However, when left plain, it looks like a ball of ground raw meat and tastes absolutely horrible, hence its famous use as punishment at SB. I'm not sure what she did to get ragi ball that night, but having tried it myself and having nearly gagged, I decided I would make it a little easier on her by joking around. I went to take a picture to document the moment, but instead, caught a video!
I read the 5th grade story last night, as the volunteer who usually does that job was in a meeting. I was happy to do it, as they're currently reading Peter Pan, and couldn't wait to move on to the next chapter: "Hook or Me This Time."
It was a long day, but a fulfilling one for sure.
TODAY: Thursday
I walk past the older boy's dorm every morning on my way to supervise prep in the school building, but this morning was particularly hilarious. The boys are always listening to American Top 40 radio, often blasting profanity-filled rap music that I'm pretty certain they don't understand a word of. But this morning, I walked past their dorm to hear Love Story by Taylor Swift at top volume, accompanied but every single boy's voice singing every word and every note perfectly. Yes... this made my day.
This morning's breakfast was momentarily alarming, as I walked up to the counter to see a pale yellow rice with cooked vegetables mixed in and a beige sauce with giant chili peppers floating in it. I always try everything they serve at SB, simply because I'm here, so why not? 9 times out of 10, I'm glad I did. And this morning was no exception. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this potentially mouth-shreddingly spicy breakfast food was quite delicious and not nearly as overwhelming as I was expecting.
I had classes as normal during the day, and then the volunteers went on a village tour this afternoon, which was both devastating and inspiring all at the same time. We visited two different types of villages: villages that The George Foundation (Dr. Abraham George founded SB) has yet to begin work on and then ones that TGF has completely transformed. TGF is building sustainable houses in impoverished villages all over India by giving the villagers sources of income in the building and maintenance of the very houses they're going to be living in. The goal is to have 1 million of these houses in the near future. By putting a glimpse of hope and a more comfortable lifestyle amongst complete and abject poverty, TGF is forcing people of different socioeconomic statuses to live next to one another, shattering the caste system into pieces.
When we got home, the students were preparing for their first school-wide debate: "Which is mightier: the pen or the sword?" From 6:30-7:30, we watched two groups of four students each duke it out. There was a panel of four judges and the students got to vote on who they felt gave the best argument as well. It was tremendous... you could just see the wheels turning in all of these brilliant students' minds.
It's now after dinner and I'm preparing to go to a volunteer meeting. I'm exhausted, but excited to discuss all of the grades' progress and any other business we might have. Again, apologies for typos. I REALLY didn't proofread this time!
YESTERDAY: Wednesday
I woke up early for 6:30 AM prep period and spent much of my time running back and forth between the 9th and 10th grade classrooms, making sure all students were quietly doing their work. Wednesday is a little bit of a slower day for me. I teach 9th grade civics after morning tea and assembly, and Drama 3 after lunch (without a doubt, my favorite class!) Civics 9 was spent preparing the students for their monthly test to be administered next week. That's essentially going to be the bulk of my work next week: reviewing for, administering, and grading the monthly tests for all of my classes.
There are no monthly tests to be had for 3rd grade drama students, however... only fun! We played a number of fun games during the students' afternoon "play-break". Ms. Beena, the vice principal of SB, met with me briefly earlier this week to discuss ways for students to gain confidence in speaking to large groups. I thought it might be a good idea, even for the little ones, to get used to standing up before their class and introducing/ telling the group a few interesting facts about themselves. Interestingly enough, some of the 3rd graders were far more comfortable with this than a lot of the upper grade students are. They just don't seem nervous because there are never any stakes. Ignorance is bliss I suppose! We also played a few rounds of charades, which I discovered was more of a challenge for them than the introductions were. These young students feel comfortable talking freely, but when it comes to using their bodies to communicate, their imaginations shut down. If the class didn't guess what they were acting on on try #1, they would say in a whiny tone, "Miss! I don't know how to do!" This is something we'll definitely be working on. We finished out the class with a classic game of Indian Chief, a "silent game", which is good for refocusing them before they return the the much more rigid academic classroom.
After classes were finished, I taught afternoon PT (physical training or PE) dance for the upper grades. We did lots of conditioning kinds of things - ab work, lunges/squats, push-ups - and I'm fairly certain they hated me for it. But, when I got to the choreography we were doing, they understood why I had them doing all of that strength work. I decided to throw some "contemporary" their way, a strong, kind of science-fiction-y piece to Dog Days Are Over by Florence and the Machine. I was terrified they wouldn't like it, but to my surprise, they LOVED it and couldn't wait to learn more. It has a little bit more technique in it than I think they're used to and because they've never truly trained, it's exciting to see how their bodies approach the movement in a purely instinctual and logic-based way.
After PT, I played my dance girls several different songs I'm considering teaching the choir, as they are all the oldest "leader students" of that after school activity. They decided they wanted to learn a choral arrangement of Man in the Mirror, which I was expecting them to really like. I warned them, though, that it was a pretty difficult song and that they would have to put in some extra time if they wanted it to be finished by the time I left. And, course, they agreed. This is my favorite thing about SB, and I know I use that phrase a lot, but I really mean it in this case, because they were all on board 100%. Ready to work, ready to put in the extra hours, ready to come together to create something really special.
During evening prep, I worked with Shrimathi, who I mentioned in my previous post, on her interview skills for this weekend's Goldman Sachs trip the students on the business track at SB are taking alongside all SB grads currently majoring in business. This is a huge opportunity that could result in internships and potential externships for all involved. Shrimathi has always been shy, but it was beyond exciting to see her blossom as we worked on her basic information answers (strengths and weaknesses, "tell me about yourself", "where do you see yourself in 10 years", etc.)
Halfway through prep, which is an hour and a half, the whole school gathered in the main hall. Yazmani, an ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty) volunteer, is at SB right now working on a global film project in which children from all over the world sing the song "Where You Lead" by Carole King in places that showcase their culture, eventually to be compiled together into one incredible music video. They've been filming in various locations since I got here, but yesterday was the rehearsal for the whole school's cameo appearance. And for about 20 minutes straight, the entire school was singing and dancing, no inhibitions, in perfect harmony (ok well... almost perfect harmony.) Here is some footage from this awesome moment:
I sat with some older girls last night at dinner which is always a nice change. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love having riddles thrown at me each night by the little ones, but it's also nice to have some real conversations about school, home, and life in general. Shrimathi had to eat ragi ball, a food that's actually crazy nutritious and that's used in Indian cooking frequently with tons of spices. However, when left plain, it looks like a ball of ground raw meat and tastes absolutely horrible, hence its famous use as punishment at SB. I'm not sure what she did to get ragi ball that night, but having tried it myself and having nearly gagged, I decided I would make it a little easier on her by joking around. I went to take a picture to document the moment, but instead, caught a video!
I read the 5th grade story last night, as the volunteer who usually does that job was in a meeting. I was happy to do it, as they're currently reading Peter Pan, and couldn't wait to move on to the next chapter: "Hook or Me This Time."
It was a long day, but a fulfilling one for sure.
TODAY: Thursday
I walk past the older boy's dorm every morning on my way to supervise prep in the school building, but this morning was particularly hilarious. The boys are always listening to American Top 40 radio, often blasting profanity-filled rap music that I'm pretty certain they don't understand a word of. But this morning, I walked past their dorm to hear Love Story by Taylor Swift at top volume, accompanied but every single boy's voice singing every word and every note perfectly. Yes... this made my day.
This morning's breakfast was momentarily alarming, as I walked up to the counter to see a pale yellow rice with cooked vegetables mixed in and a beige sauce with giant chili peppers floating in it. I always try everything they serve at SB, simply because I'm here, so why not? 9 times out of 10, I'm glad I did. And this morning was no exception. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this potentially mouth-shreddingly spicy breakfast food was quite delicious and not nearly as overwhelming as I was expecting.
I had classes as normal during the day, and then the volunteers went on a village tour this afternoon, which was both devastating and inspiring all at the same time. We visited two different types of villages: villages that The George Foundation (Dr. Abraham George founded SB) has yet to begin work on and then ones that TGF has completely transformed. TGF is building sustainable houses in impoverished villages all over India by giving the villagers sources of income in the building and maintenance of the very houses they're going to be living in. The goal is to have 1 million of these houses in the near future. By putting a glimpse of hope and a more comfortable lifestyle amongst complete and abject poverty, TGF is forcing people of different socioeconomic statuses to live next to one another, shattering the caste system into pieces.
When we got home, the students were preparing for their first school-wide debate: "Which is mightier: the pen or the sword?" From 6:30-7:30, we watched two groups of four students each duke it out. There was a panel of four judges and the students got to vote on who they felt gave the best argument as well. It was tremendous... you could just see the wheels turning in all of these brilliant students' minds.
It's now after dinner and I'm preparing to go to a volunteer meeting. I'm exhausted, but excited to discuss all of the grades' progress and any other business we might have. Again, apologies for typos. I REALLY didn't proofread this time!
Love these posts, it's great to hear about what you've been doing and how everything is going.
ReplyDeleteSo...which is mightier?
ReplyDeleteyd