I am a Teacher Again - January 30

January 30 - Happy Birthday, Dad – I know you are smiling down on me!

Before I describe my first day as a teacher in India, let me describe the classroom. Kavita was somewhat apologetic, saying, “I know you have many things in your classroom, we do not.” She was not lying. There were 30 desks – some were single desks with separate chairs, others had several students share a bench in front of a narrow table. Each desk was small; the room was small. There was a chalkboard and one cupboard, one bulletin board on which projects were pinned. That was it. No computers, no projection systems for sharing information, no teachers’ desk, no clock, no stacks of paper and art supplies, no reference books, no globes, NOTHING but a single chalkboard and a piece of chalk.

Kavita asked about how I taught and I responded by asking about Indian methodologies so I could better prepare. She dismissed my suggestion and said the teachers were young, inexperienced and needed to know other ways of presenting material. Okay. Then I asked how much of the chapter I was to cover in one 35 -minute period? “Oh, whatever you want.” Hmmmm. And what were the key ideas I was supposed to have them know? “Whatever you think is important.” Alright, that helps, I guess.

I described how I could use a Venn Diagram (intersecting circles) to compare and contrast city and village life. She was delighted – “Yes, do that, I am going to have other teachers come in and watch as well.” I asked about classroom rules – she said, “That is another problem, teachers are not consistent.” I assured her this is also a problem in the US but asked if I could post my own classroom rules. She was delighted. So, I went home and took the Nancy Drew journal Jennifer Kleinberg gave me –I needed Nancy’s cleverness and intrepidness - and started outlining my plans. And guess what, just like back home, I had trouble sleeping the night before my first day of school – what was ahead????

Well, I had a ball! Class started at 8:40. I walked into the classroom at 8:35 – no one was there. I walked to the front – no chalk. A student came to the door and asked permission to enter (hmmmm, interesting, I thought). I invited her in. Several more came in (each asking for permission to enter), dropped off their book bags and told me they had to go to prayers and announcements but would be back. Did I want to come? No, I said – I need to stay – but is there any chalk? Four children scurried around and I was presented with 4 pieces of chalk. Loved it. However, I did wonder where the regular teacher was. Should I just take over without being introduced? And where was Kavita? I wrote my 4 classroom rules on the board:

1. Be kind.
2. Raise your hand to answer a question.
3. Keep hands, feet and objects to self.
4. When the teacher raises her hand, stop everything you are doing and raise your hand (technique to get kids to transition to new activities or quiet down).

Then I wrote on the board:
Objective: to understand how rural (village) living and urban (city) living are similar and different.

By then children started coming back from prayer – and, again, each asked permission to enter. Loved it! We compared pictures in their texts about life in a village and life in a city and filled in the Venn diagram. Then we discussed challenges of life in a village and life in a city. And that was it – the 35 minutes were up. During that time a student came in to get a pencil from another student. It was one of the Ashram children – a favorite of mine – and I suspect she knew I was here and wanted to see for herself. 3 teachers came in – each time it caused an interruption as they each scooted a child over to another seat and took the student’s chair. And finally, Kavita came in and they all stood up. It turns out that Kavita was waiting for me and was afraid I hadn’t come – so finally came up to the room – and there I was in the middle of the class.

The children were wonderful – falling all over themselves to answer. A few called out, which I studiously ignored (see rule #2 above) and I used rule #4 to move them out of a small group discussion back into a general class discussion without having to raise my voice.

When class was over, Kavita introduced me to the 3 teachers - who were each pleasant (but I wondered what they really thought!) and then Kavita and I chatted. She loved the class – wanted others to see. She wants me to “finish the chapter” tomorrow – but I can’t get from her a sense of how much time the whole chapter should take. Oh well, my new mantra – “Remember, give up all sense of control in India.” I volunteered more time so she added a 5th grade class on basic geography of India. So now I have 5th and 6th grade textbooks (really just 125 page soft pamphlets) on my table awaiting planning.

I came back for breakfast at 10 and then wandered out to the side yard to try to meditate. There is a large yoga room right next to my room where others have meditated – but when I try one basic problem occurs. It is so frigid in our building that all I can think about is how cold my butt is when I sit on a yoga mat that sits on a cement floor. I try to push the thought away, but instead of my mantra, ”my butt is cold”, keeps popping up. I gave up. So, I thought I would give it a try sitting outside in the sun.

Nope, didn’t work there, either. As I walked to a site away from some young children playing on the trampoline I noticed 7 monkeys across the way – scavenging in the field. I watched for a while – they are amusing – but then firmly closed my eyes and started in with my mantra. I could even push away the cheet-cheet-cheeting noises they made. Sha-ring, Sha-ring, Sha-ring. But then another noise invaded my thoughts. What was happening? Were they coming my way? I opened my eyes and watched the Ashram dogs racing towards the monkeys – 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 monkeys scrambled over the compound gates. It really was amusing. The dogs barked, the monkeys sat on the wall chattering back. I gave up. It is easier to meditate in Pacific Grove than it is in India! I will keep trying.