My apologies for not updating my blog! I have been a little unmotivated due to the lack of success of my students. This lack of motivation has slowly seeped into many other areas of my life other than my work life.
My school assignment has been a huge challenge for me. My school has lost all structure. Some days there are only one of two teachers in the whole building and they are sitting in a classroom just talking, eating, and doing other things which I can't figure out. The students just run around like kids would unattended. They play, sing, dance, run around, jump off things, and fight (my ECA skills came in handy one day as one boy had another boy in a headlock). Which I must say was a great moment when all the boys started yelling, "fighting Miss, they fight Miss" and when I separated the two all the boys looked at me in awe. I think that they were just surprised I could actually pry the one off the other and that I didn't hit them for it but made them take a loooong time-out from playing and work on English together. So that is what my lessons have come down to: grabbing students as they play or run around and force them to work on their English for at least 10 minutes. It is chaotic but at this point it is all that I can do. It makes me sad and disappointed. It makes me sad that the students aren't getting the education that they deserve from me and from their classroom teachers. It makes me wonder why these teachers are not dedicating themselves to their education. It makes me question the effectiveness of the government schools at rising above the caste system.
Last weekend I went to visit Jonathan. It was super nice. We had a relaxing Saturday visiting his children and then just walking around his town. We bought a few presents for ourselves and a few for others. It was nice. On Sunday we went to Kerala which is another state to the west. It was amazingly beautiful. We went to an Ashram to watch some of his children perform yoga and be honored for their skills. We went their in a car with all the girls on one side in the back seat and then Jonathan and I smushed on the other side. One of his male students was sitting in the front seat with the Secretary. It was such an interesting and beautiful trip. The girls were amazing at yoga. The bent their little bodies in ways I didn't quite know were possible. We saw beautiful rice paddies and other green natural areas. Lots of rivers were along the road on the way. On the way home we stopped at a dam. It took my breath away! The mountains were massive and green. They were simply amazing. I hope Jonathan and I get to go back to that area.
This past weekend we celebrated Laura's birthday by going to the 5 star hotel in town and getting a cold beer to celebrate her birthday. It was fun. Derka dressed us in sarees and then she even came with us to eat dinner out. It was nice that she got to do that with us. The cold beer was everything I remembered it as!!!
I am starting a little challenge with myself: For the next 30 school days I will only wear sarees to school! It will be interesting to see how the students react when I show up this morning. And how my headmistress reacts since I look like a mess! It is so hard to wrap them but hopefully by the end of the 30 days I will be a little better at the process. Ravanan even helped me this morning because I was seriously struggling to get the pleats in the front!!
My school assignment has been a huge challenge for me. My school has lost all structure. Some days there are only one of two teachers in the whole building and they are sitting in a classroom just talking, eating, and doing other things which I can't figure out. The students just run around like kids would unattended. They play, sing, dance, run around, jump off things, and fight (my ECA skills came in handy one day as one boy had another boy in a headlock). Which I must say was a great moment when all the boys started yelling, "fighting Miss, they fight Miss" and when I separated the two all the boys looked at me in awe. I think that they were just surprised I could actually pry the one off the other and that I didn't hit them for it but made them take a loooong time-out from playing and work on English together. So that is what my lessons have come down to: grabbing students as they play or run around and force them to work on their English for at least 10 minutes. It is chaotic but at this point it is all that I can do. It makes me sad and disappointed. It makes me sad that the students aren't getting the education that they deserve from me and from their classroom teachers. It makes me wonder why these teachers are not dedicating themselves to their education. It makes me question the effectiveness of the government schools at rising above the caste system.
Last weekend I went to visit Jonathan. It was super nice. We had a relaxing Saturday visiting his children and then just walking around his town. We bought a few presents for ourselves and a few for others. It was nice. On Sunday we went to Kerala which is another state to the west. It was amazingly beautiful. We went to an Ashram to watch some of his children perform yoga and be honored for their skills. We went their in a car with all the girls on one side in the back seat and then Jonathan and I smushed on the other side. One of his male students was sitting in the front seat with the Secretary. It was such an interesting and beautiful trip. The girls were amazing at yoga. The bent their little bodies in ways I didn't quite know were possible. We saw beautiful rice paddies and other green natural areas. Lots of rivers were along the road on the way. On the way home we stopped at a dam. It took my breath away! The mountains were massive and green. They were simply amazing. I hope Jonathan and I get to go back to that area.
This past weekend we celebrated Laura's birthday by going to the 5 star hotel in town and getting a cold beer to celebrate her birthday. It was fun. Derka dressed us in sarees and then she even came with us to eat dinner out. It was nice that she got to do that with us. The cold beer was everything I remembered it as!!!
I am starting a little challenge with myself: For the next 30 school days I will only wear sarees to school! It will be interesting to see how the students react when I show up this morning. And how my headmistress reacts since I look like a mess! It is so hard to wrap them but hopefully by the end of the 30 days I will be a little better at the process. Ravanan even helped me this morning because I was seriously struggling to get the pleats in the front!!
Must be frustrating for you. But imagine if you touch one child, and he or she is inspired.
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