I have been in Ballia for only five days now, but already, it has proven to be a truly rich and meaningful experience. I live on the school grounds with the Director of the school, her daughter and grandchild Sanskriti and Vedica. There are also several members of their family who live here as well. There is a large staff of teachers, cooks, gardeners, etc. and they have all been so gracious and welcoming to me. The teachers do not live on the grounds.
The school is nursery through grade 12 and it is very well organized and the students are so respectful, eager to learn, and disciplined. There is very little need for any behavior management because the students naturally respect their elders so no time is wasted managing behaviors. It's very refreshing to look out into the classroom and see 40 pairs of eyes eagerly awaiting directions. So far, I have taught in kindergarten and grade one and yesterday, I gave a workshop to many teachers. We focused on language and I think the teachers really had fun with some of the games that I introduced. I also introduced reader's theater, inquiry, and the importance of sight words in reading instruction.
I am also doing a small dance piece with some of the girls from fifth grade so this should be a lot of fun. It's been a while since I've danced myself, so I"m a bit stiff but I will survive! I miss home and my family a lot but I"m trying to really focus because who knows if I'll ever make it back here. This school is 100% self sustainable with gardens, cows, transformers, everything. They have not had many foreigners here so I am quite an oddity! That's all for now. Please feel free to post any questions and I will try to answer them in a timely manner.
-Mrs. Tobin
The school is nursery through grade 12 and it is very well organized and the students are so respectful, eager to learn, and disciplined. There is very little need for any behavior management because the students naturally respect their elders so no time is wasted managing behaviors. It's very refreshing to look out into the classroom and see 40 pairs of eyes eagerly awaiting directions. So far, I have taught in kindergarten and grade one and yesterday, I gave a workshop to many teachers. We focused on language and I think the teachers really had fun with some of the games that I introduced. I also introduced reader's theater, inquiry, and the importance of sight words in reading instruction.
I am also doing a small dance piece with some of the girls from fifth grade so this should be a lot of fun. It's been a while since I've danced myself, so I"m a bit stiff but I will survive! I miss home and my family a lot but I"m trying to really focus because who knows if I'll ever make it back here. This school is 100% self sustainable with gardens, cows, transformers, everything. They have not had many foreigners here so I am quite an oddity! That's all for now. Please feel free to post any questions and I will try to answer them in a timely manner.
-Mrs. Tobin
Wow, Kati! What an amazing place! How did the teachers respond to RT, inquiry, and sight words? Were these ideas in contrast to what they already do? Can't wait to read more!
ReplyDeleteHi Christine. As you can imagine, it was a lot to digest and very new compared to their current teaching methods. However, they enjoyed the workshop and many teachers have executed some of the ideas. We are visiting classrooms now and helping teachers to get things rolling.
ReplyDelete