My classroom experience at Sshrishti is always an adventure, to say the least. Here is just one of my many stories about this wonderfully unpredictable place:
A few weeks ago, I was asked to cover one of the teacher’s classes. This is something that I’ve become fairly used to, although I was originally not sure I would be comfortable teaching by myself. However, this time, when the bell marking the end of English class rung out, the teacher was still mysteriously missing. Luckily, my Hindi stills are now solid enough that I was able to ask another teacher, “Ma’am kehan hai?” “Stationary class,” she replied, and then turned to begin the next period with her own class. As you might imagine, this answer did not really clear anything up, and I returned to the classroom perhaps even more confused than when I’d left it. I had no choice but to follow the students to the computer lab next door for computer class, which was totally fine with me, as I was excited to show them some ESL games online. I had decided to come prepared with these in order to combat the students’ tendency to play Minesweeper every time I turned my back. However, when I went to pull up the first game, the page wouldn’t work. The students started to chuckle and explained: “No internet, ma’am.” A computer lab without internet? That I certainly wasn’t expecting, and so I let them explore Paint, Word, Excel, etc. I kept peeking at the door throughout the class, sure that the teacher would return any minute…
But then the bell rang yet again, and the students informed me that next was math class. Having absolutely no clue where to start, or what I was supposed to cover, I was left with no other option than to rely on the students, who pointed to a page in their books about the metric system. Now, being an American through and through, the metric system is just not my strong suit, when it comes to third grade math. Being in India has made me realize just how inept I am in this area, as Celsius, kilometers, and kilos still mean absolutely nothing to me. Luckily, I was able to fake my way through it and hopefully got something across about how many grams are in a kilogram… At this point, I could sense some resistance coming from a few of the students, particularly from a group of boys whom I suspect were still a little bit miffed that I wouldn’t let them play computer games in the previous class. From what I’ve observed, it seems like most of the other foreign volunteers are extremely lenient with the students. However, since I have experience teaching before, I know how important it is to command both love and respect from students, and I intend to continue that philosophy here. So when two of these boys started spontaneously slapping each other in the middle of my mime attempt to communicate the concepts of heavy and light, I immediately stepped in, separated them, and instructed them to switch seats with other students. They immediately turned plaintive—“No, ma’am, no ma’am,” but I stood strong. And it worked! For the rest of class, things went smoothly—or as smoothly as they could, given the situation.
These days, I have been dividing my time between teaching in the classroom and helping Sshrishti with compiling "success stories" of standout students to include on their website, updates to donors, and Annual Report. Here is an example of this project:
Today is Jitesh's 7th Birthday. He first catches my attention when, after the class sang "Happy Birthday" to celebrate, the first thing he did with the coveted bag of candy is distribute it amongst the entire class. Beyond this kind and generous nature, Jitesh's teachers identify him as an exceptionally bright and precocious child. In fact, he is currently a student in Class IInd, the second-most advanced level at Sshristi Learning Center, having even surpassed his older brother, who is in Class Ist. Despite being about 4-5 years younger than most in his class, his friendly nature, genuine smile, and helpful spirit have allowed him to thrive at Sshrishti. Jitesh is the middle child of three boys, both of whom also attend Sshrishti classes. His mother is the cleaning woman at Sshrishti Learning Center, while his father works in construction. Jitesh's family migrated from Bihar and lives in a nearby slum. While Jitesh is skilled at all subjects, his favorites are English and Hindi. He also enjoys playing a forward in football and drawing when not studying. Jitesh shared his dream of attending a private school after Sshrishti and eventually becoming a doctor when he grows up. These may be big dreams for a very small boy, but Jitesh is well on his way to achieving them thanks to the nurturing educational environment he has found at Sshrishti.