tms@themodernstory.com

teaching

Jul, 26

3

Daily Updates

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Update From the TMS Classroom

As I approach the two week anniversary of my arrival here it’s both a relief and slightly daunting that I still have over five months in the country. However, as we begin work and settle into a routine it feels more comfortable to think about the length of my stay here. In particular when I think about our work in the classroom, I am glad to have as much time with the girls as possible for a couple reasons. First, their eagerness to learn and to please their instructors blows me away. They are all so wonderfully innocent and childlike at thirteen it is a little upsetting to compare them to children of their same age in the states. Even when I think about myself at their age, I can’t believe how impatient I was to grow up, when they seem so angelically childlike and happy. Secondly, I am glad to have as much time in the classroom as possible because the girls seem to really need help with their English. This is not a surprise to me, and neither is the wide disparity in skill level — these are both issues teachers must face in every country. I am very interested to find out how these two factors will play out over the course of five months — how the girl’s eagerness and excitement about the class will translate into their progress with English. My hope is that they can make great progress with their positive attitudes and I am trying to do everything I can to encourage and push them forward.

Stella riding the bus for our first day of teaching at Railway.

We bought 60 notebooks for all of the girls at Railway and are using the idea of journaling and sending personal messages back and forth as an investment strategy to get students writing in English everyday. I spent a large chunk of time last night reading all 30 of my student’s journals and writing them long paragraphs in response. Some of these paragraphs included tailored grammar lessons about verb agreement and tense, some asked questions to prod them to write more, some softly chided them for copying from other students, and all encouraged them to keep writing and pushing themselves in class. All students claimed to be very excited to begin the TMS program and seemed struck in only the first day of class by the creative, open, and personal structure of the class which is so different from the lecture style and rote memorization methods of teaching and learning that are so common here.

The class oath our students created on the first day.

Their assignment on the second day was to bring in an object that was precious to them, to begin a classroom trend of introspection, sharing the personal, and writing our stories. Most girls took the assignment very seriously and came to class proud to show off their favorite belongings. I was especially impressed that nearly all the girls remembered even after our class was pushed back a day due to a bandh — a protest that shuts down the city, usually due to the Telangana situation which is a separatist movement for Hyderabad to become its own state. Despite the delay, they came equipped with photo albums, bangles, jewelry, little bags, sweaters, and one girl even brought two stuffed dolls practically half her size! In class writing is a bit of a challenge for them, so I plan to create many opportunities for them to practice and develop their skills over the coming months. Neha, my co-teacher, is also on board and can’t wait to start giving them photograph prompts to write stories about — an assignment Kara and Ilana did last year that she clearly loved. Neha’s dedication to TMS and love of the children and the previous fellows is touching. When we brought in our own precious objects to share she came in wearing a rainbow beaded bracelet that was given to her from her best-friend, Kara, last year before she left.

Three of the girls showing off their precious objects.

Giving this assignment I was also struck by the simplicity and innocence (a recurring theme at Railway and certainly a juxtaposition when you consider it alongside my previous teaching experience) of their precious objects. Many students wrote about pens or umbrellas or cheap plastic knick-knacks. These objects were precious because of the people who thought to give them as gifts, not for their monetary value. I cannot imagine students in the US writing with heartfelt sincerity about the importance of items besides jewelry, electronics and other luxuries. Just another one of the many eye openers of living and teaching in India.

Teaching Voice-over at Railway: Our Precious Objects from The Modern Story on Vimeo.

Jul, 20

2

Daily Updates

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The Effects of AIF and TMS at Work

Today we went to visit the MG school, after a visit to Sultan Bazaar yesterday. Both schools are partnered with The Modern Story through AIF and the organization’s initiative to donate computer resources to government schools. I was touched by the enthusiasm of the teachers and administration at both schools. When we sat down with the headmistress of Sultan Bazaar to discuss the days we will be coming to teach the class, we agreed to come on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The next question she asked us was, “Can you start now? Today is Tuesday.”

The teachers at both schools seemed eager to participate and learn more about the digital skills taught in the TMS curriculum. As a teacher myself, I understand where they are coming from. I am also eager to practice and develop my skills working with and teaching photography and film-making over the next six months. Upon my return, I know I will incorporate my new expertise in the classroom in a meaningful way for my students.

At MG we sat down in the computer lab on the customary plastic chairs with three teachers and the AIF coordinator. We went through the general and slightly awkward pleasantries of a first meeting, and then, presumably to fill time, the AIF coordinator began to show us a Power Point presentation the Biology teacher had created about different organisms and systems of nourishment. We all huddled around the computer and watched as the pictures, animations, and text scrolled across the screen. I was catapulted back to my high school and early college experience where I recall first being presented with information through Power Point. I remember thinking how refreshing and exciting it was to learn information through a new method of teaching. I was also touched by the glowing sense of pride the teacher took in her work as we “ooooh-ed” and “aaah-ed” over her animations and transitions. She immediately opened up and began showing us the YouTube videos she had downloaded to bring the natural world around us to life for her students.

It felt like a poignant moment, seeing the promise and importance of initiatives such as TMS to bring technology to these classrooms. In the US, I realize how much I took these basic resources for granted, when I sat next to these teachers who were overjoyed to explore the potential of new teaching methods. It was just the meeting I needed to open my eyes to the significance of the work we will begin tomorrow at Railway.

Feb, 11

2

Daily Updates, Reflections

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Scavenger Hunt Week!

“Scavenger Hunt” week!  Kind of like Animal Planet’s “Shark Week”… but this time it’s C.Ramchand girls strapped with cameras, not sharks with cameras strapped to them.  This past Monday and Tuesday we had the girls practice their photo and video skills in a couple scavenger hunt activities.

Monday’s hunt focused on basic photography skills – zoom, straight & steady, angles, lighting, etc.  The girls divided into three groups of four and set out roaming the campus in search of the items on the list.  Despite a few communication hurdles, all of the groups finished just in time for the 3 O’clock bell.  Interestingly, number 25 (“5 different examples of trash”) had everyone stumped, thinking that they needed to take photos of trashcans, not plain “garbage” – what I have come to call the “carpet of the streets.”  On a larger scale, it’s obvious that my liberal northeast, environmental, hippie summer camp upbringing and employment roots tangle with what I see as a total lack of awareness of the connection between environment and health – a larger environmental observation that I’ll get to post on the blog eventually.  Bottom line, I should have been more specific.

Similarly, on Tuesday the girls divided into two groups of six and set about around the campus with video cameras.  This was their first introduction to using the video camera for both sound and image recording; previously, we had them record only their voice.  We introduced Adobe’s “3 S’s” – Straight, Steady, & Smooth.  Everyone in the class went through the various motions of panoramas, slow and steady zooms, and walking with the camera, all the while keeping the lens pointed forward and hands steady.  Having a steady picture, even with a tripod, is a lot of work and can drive someone away from using a camera when obsessed over.  We tried to show the different methods and explain that no one can become a professional Videographer on the first day.  Practice, and assigning activities where the students are allowed to make mistakes, is needed.

It was terrific to see the students’ different examples of each task on the lists, each with a different perspective, and different angle.  We sensed that it was a big leap of faith to give out the cameras with such ease, but our firm trust in the students was not an inexperienced move, rather a confident nod to the students that we believe they have the skills, intelligent curiosity, and responsibility to explore on their own.  Something that I have noted as being different in the structure of education in comparison to my own, is a lack of open-ended answers/ various methods of learning or perspectives/ a whole list of thoughts circling the idea of self-directed learning, which, I believe, needs a certain support system to grow.  In short, there seems to be one answer, one test.  In a creative class, such as ours, it’s difficult to play to that model, while trying to introduce something totally contrary.  In the end, the students showed us just how ready, willing, and able they were to create and answer on their own the questions and tasks we challenged them with.

That being said, I do not want to replace the standardized test, but I would like to poke a few holes in the fabric to allow a few more opportunities and a few more avenues of success to be seen.  So, when we hand out a list of seemingly unspecific tasks, most of the explaining focuses on giving the students the thumbs-up to come up with their own answers, their own methods, their own ways.   Looking at my own education and learning style – past, future, and present – I would have had a difficult time succeeding and going to, never mind, graduating from college in the system of education here.  Am I seeing myself in some of the students I watch struggle (academic & self) with the rote style of learning?  That’s a bit cliché, so I would like to say I’m trying to put myself in their shoes instead of expecting that they fit into mine and can immediately begin running in them.