How much is this potato?
On my first full day here, the school's coordinator took me to a first period class, walked me to the front of the room, and said, "Ok, teach them English grammar." And then walked out, leaving me with about 30 snarky sixteen-year-olds staring at me.
O.K., the English language. Where do I begin? And so went my first day of teaching, stumbling through class after class, quickly shuffling through their English books to figure out which chapter they were on, assessing their skill level, and trying to teach them at least one thing before the end of the 35-minute period. At the end of the day, I was a little frustrated with my supposed inability to teach them anything. How was I supposed to teach them English, especially when my Hindi is limited to things such as "how much," "water," and "potato"?
I managed to scrounge up some of the class books and other books to be used as teaching aids in the library (or what passes for one) and planned some lessons. Since that first day, I'm happy to say I've been much more prepared and hopefully more effective.
My basic day goes like this:
6 to 7 a.m.: Tutoring session with the senior boys
7:30 a.m.: Assembly (the students stand at attention, announcements read, a quick run through of the Lord's Prayer recited by almost primarily Hindu children and the singing of some contemporary Christian song led by a man in sunglasses playing an electric guitar)
8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.: Teach classes
2 to 3 p.m.: Tutoring session with the four cutest six-year-olds on earth
3 to 5:30 p.m.: Much needed personal time
5:30 to 7:30 p.m.: Homework help for the girl boarders
It's a very long day of teaching, and I'm pretty worn out. Fortunately, the children get a 10-day vacation for the Hindi Dusshera holiday at the end of next week, come back for two weeks and then get another week long vacation for Diwali, giving me plenty of rest as well. Also, although the children go to school on Saturdays, I get that day off and Sunday is rest for all.
On my first full day here, the school's coordinator took me to a first period class, walked me to the front of the room, and said, "Ok, teach them English grammar." And then walked out, leaving me with about 30 snarky sixteen-year-olds staring at me.
O.K., the English language. Where do I begin? And so went my first day of teaching, stumbling through class after class, quickly shuffling through their English books to figure out which chapter they were on, assessing their skill level, and trying to teach them at least one thing before the end of the 35-minute period. At the end of the day, I was a little frustrated with my supposed inability to teach them anything. How was I supposed to teach them English, especially when my Hindi is limited to things such as "how much," "water," and "potato"?
I managed to scrounge up some of the class books and other books to be used as teaching aids in the library (or what passes for one) and planned some lessons. Since that first day, I'm happy to say I've been much more prepared and hopefully more effective.
My basic day goes like this:
6 to 7 a.m.: Tutoring session with the senior boys
7:30 a.m.: Assembly (the students stand at attention, announcements read, a quick run through of the Lord's Prayer recited by almost primarily Hindu children and the singing of some contemporary Christian song led by a man in sunglasses playing an electric guitar)
8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.: Teach classes
2 to 3 p.m.: Tutoring session with the four cutest six-year-olds on earth
3 to 5:30 p.m.: Much needed personal time
5:30 to 7:30 p.m.: Homework help for the girl boarders
It's a very long day of teaching, and I'm pretty worn out. Fortunately, the children get a 10-day vacation for the Hindi Dusshera holiday at the end of next week, come back for two weeks and then get another week long vacation for Diwali, giving me plenty of rest as well. Also, although the children go to school on Saturdays, I get that day off and Sunday is rest for all.
posted by Lindsey at 9:49 AM
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