Now I've had more than a month to think about things since my project ended, and other education-related events have kept me thinking about it (along with, of course, the necessity of finishing my blog record of my practice). So in the end, this is the advice I'd give to the students:
For math, science, etc.: Don't memorize the answers from the guides. Learn the material and the principles behind the material, and you will be able to solve any problem they throw at you. As an added bonus (though it should be the actual motivation), you'll actually be able to use your newfound skills in the real world, when there is no guidebook to give you answers.
For languages: Read. Next to living in a foreign country where you're immersed in the language, the best thing you can do to learn a language is read. It improves not only your vocabulary, but also your knowledge of sentence structures and idiomatic usage. With enough exposure, these things will get shoved into your subconscious mind, and creating your own sentences will be infinitely more easy.
In general: You all work very hard because you really want to learn. Keep that desire to learn, because the number of things you don't know will always be greater than the number of things you do know. Work on being able to solve problems on your own, based on what you know. Even if you can't see the whole pathway to the solution, do what you know, and see if that gets you anywhere.
The system beats creativity out of you, but always try to draw your own links and figure out how everything is connected. Place what you learn into context with what you've learned in other subjects. Make the information you're learning real for yourself.
Showing posts with label students. Show all posts
Showing posts with label students. Show all posts
Friday, September 10, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Day 30 - The End
Today is our last day here. And apparently there's a bandh going on. Ummm...I really hope that doesn't mean school is canceled and we don't get to do all our experiments. If the TRS (Telangana Rasthra Samithi), the party agitating for a separate Telangana, gets to the school before first period, it might be. Once school starts, though, the principal won't stop it again.
He has a good argument for the TRS too. Once the cooks start making lunch, it would be a huge waste of money and food to get rid of all they've cooked. And the TRS people around here seem to understand that the RDF is serious about teaching the kids, and that interrupting school is not the best way to advance Telangana's interests.
Just in case, though, we decide to teach the 6th graders first. They've been asking for us to come to their class for days, and we haven't yet done any experiments with them. It screws up the schedule a bit, but we really want to work with them.
I do the same magnetism spiel from two days ago, but simplify. I emphasize the attraction/repulsion a bit more since they haven't really learned it yet. I have each person in the group try to push like poles of the bar magnets together, and they giggle with glee as each successive person fails to touch the two ends. "Arey, adey kaduluthondi!" (Hey, it's moving by itself!)
My mom was planning to just show them electroplating, but she ends up doing it the same way she did it with the other classes, by assigning each student in the group to hold a wire or a coin, or to observe the coin and tell us when it has turned red enough to break the circuit. It gets them more involved, and they feel like science is something they can do, so that's okay.
For 4th period, we do both sections of 9th. We call them over to the lab and demonstrate the iodine clock. I pour everything in and tell them it's the pindi padhartham (iodine-starch test). Then I ask, why isn't it changing colors? About 20 seconds later, I draw their attention back to the tube, and they gasp as it suddenly begins to change to a dark blue. Now it's time to give a cut-down explanation of what's happening in the tube.
Afterwards, we give them a little demo of litmus paper as well, then eat lunch and carry all our solutions back up for the 7th graders. These kids are much more rowdy than the 6th graders. The teacher has brought all of them out here, and since we can only take half the class at any time, the other two groups are sitting by the wall in front of us. But they're so close, and they can't resist getting up and peering over the other kids' shoulders. No matter how many times we tell them they'll get their turn next, they keep sneaking up to look at the magnets and the litmus paper.
A couple of them even manage to knock over the (dilute) sodium hydroxide solution. Oops. Well, there's still a little left in the glass, but they have to be careful not to touch the tablecloth for now. Luckily, a later group knocks over the acid, so the tablecloth is neutralized and deemed safe once again.
By the time the last group comes up, they already know half of what I'm going to tell them because they've caught glimpses during each of the other 3 groups' turns before we chased them away again. It's okay, though, because it shows how interested they are. If I were a normal teacher and this were an everyday occurrence, it wouldn't work, but we're only here until this evening, so it's okay. At least they're paying close attention (and helping to clean up the iron filings they've spilled all over the place).
Okay kids, it's been fun, but we have to go know. Keep that curiosity burning! You guys are great.
He has a good argument for the TRS too. Once the cooks start making lunch, it would be a huge waste of money and food to get rid of all they've cooked. And the TRS people around here seem to understand that the RDF is serious about teaching the kids, and that interrupting school is not the best way to advance Telangana's interests.
Just in case, though, we decide to teach the 6th graders first. They've been asking for us to come to their class for days, and we haven't yet done any experiments with them. It screws up the schedule a bit, but we really want to work with them.
I do the same magnetism spiel from two days ago, but simplify. I emphasize the attraction/repulsion a bit more since they haven't really learned it yet. I have each person in the group try to push like poles of the bar magnets together, and they giggle with glee as each successive person fails to touch the two ends. "Arey, adey kaduluthondi!" (Hey, it's moving by itself!)
My mom was planning to just show them electroplating, but she ends up doing it the same way she did it with the other classes, by assigning each student in the group to hold a wire or a coin, or to observe the coin and tell us when it has turned red enough to break the circuit. It gets them more involved, and they feel like science is something they can do, so that's okay.
For 4th period, we do both sections of 9th. We call them over to the lab and demonstrate the iodine clock. I pour everything in and tell them it's the pindi padhartham (iodine-starch test). Then I ask, why isn't it changing colors? About 20 seconds later, I draw their attention back to the tube, and they gasp as it suddenly begins to change to a dark blue. Now it's time to give a cut-down explanation of what's happening in the tube.
Afterwards, we give them a little demo of litmus paper as well, then eat lunch and carry all our solutions back up for the 7th graders. These kids are much more rowdy than the 6th graders. The teacher has brought all of them out here, and since we can only take half the class at any time, the other two groups are sitting by the wall in front of us. But they're so close, and they can't resist getting up and peering over the other kids' shoulders. No matter how many times we tell them they'll get their turn next, they keep sneaking up to look at the magnets and the litmus paper.
A couple of them even manage to knock over the (dilute) sodium hydroxide solution. Oops. Well, there's still a little left in the glass, but they have to be careful not to touch the tablecloth for now. Luckily, a later group knocks over the acid, so the tablecloth is neutralized and deemed safe once again.
By the time the last group comes up, they already know half of what I'm going to tell them because they've caught glimpses during each of the other 3 groups' turns before we chased them away again. It's okay, though, because it shows how interested they are. If I were a normal teacher and this were an everyday occurrence, it wouldn't work, but we're only here until this evening, so it's okay. At least they're paying close attention (and helping to clean up the iron filings they've spilled all over the place).
Okay kids, it's been fun, but we have to go know. Keep that curiosity burning! You guys are great.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Day 29 - Confusion
Today is Sunday. On Saturday morning, we were told that there would be school today because Vandita madam (the CEO) was bringing up some visitors. When that happens, there tends to be some sort of exhibition at school on Sunday and Monday becomes a holiday. They try not to rearrange the schedule too often, but they do it from time to time. On this particular day, Vandita madam's visitors could not make it that day, and school was canceled. This was known by Saturday afternoon.
Unfortunately, nobody realized we had been told there would be school, so nobody realized they would have to tell us there wouldn't be school. So we wake up and get ready for breakfast by 8 as usual, to find the place deserted.
Ah well. We have the key to the science lab. Might as well use today to test out some experiments.
As we stroll through the school gate, our eyes fall upon kids playing in the volleyball court and the area near the science lab. We ask, why are you here on a Sunday?
They answer, we're here to use the library and the computer lab. They open at 10, but we're here (an hour) early.
Okay, we say, that's good. And we go in to the science lab to work on some experiments. My mom is playing with some of the lenses, utilizing the contrast of the dark inside with the bright light from outdoors to make pretty pictures. I once again attempt the iodine clock reaction.This time, I use only the tiniest pinch of KI and a slightly larger pinch of Na2S2O3. The H2O2 seems to be rather dilute, so I use a lot more of it than I did before. And this time, I find a funnel so I can add everything at the same time.
Here, we turn around and find a gaggle of kids at the windows and doors, watching us dole out small measures of chemicals into various test tubes. Everyone that was waiting outside is now waiting by our window. Most of them say they're 6th/7th graders, which makes sense, since we haven't done many experiments with them yet, and they've been asking when we'll come to their class. Tomorrow, little darlings. Tomorrow is your day.
They skip off, not because we've told them we'll be working with them tomorrow, but because the teacher has just opened the door of the computer lab and is working on the lock for the library. So I turn back to my iodine clock and toss everything down the funnel at once.
Lo and behold, it works! Since I have no balance (there is a very good two-pan balance, but it's locked away in a glass cabinet, and looks like a treasured possession rather than a usable scale), I can't really calculate and set the clock for a certain amount of time. Still, I've got it working within about 20-40 seconds, which is perfect. By afternoon, my mom's found some litmus paper and made some dilute acid/base solutions, so everything's set for tomorrow. Time to relax a little.
Unfortunately, nobody realized we had been told there would be school, so nobody realized they would have to tell us there wouldn't be school. So we wake up and get ready for breakfast by 8 as usual, to find the place deserted.
Ah well. We have the key to the science lab. Might as well use today to test out some experiments.
As we stroll through the school gate, our eyes fall upon kids playing in the volleyball court and the area near the science lab. We ask, why are you here on a Sunday?
They answer, we're here to use the library and the computer lab. They open at 10, but we're here (an hour) early.
Okay, we say, that's good. And we go in to the science lab to work on some experiments. My mom is playing with some of the lenses, utilizing the contrast of the dark inside with the bright light from outdoors to make pretty pictures. I once again attempt the iodine clock reaction.This time, I use only the tiniest pinch of KI and a slightly larger pinch of Na2S2O3. The H2O2 seems to be rather dilute, so I use a lot more of it than I did before. And this time, I find a funnel so I can add everything at the same time.
Here, we turn around and find a gaggle of kids at the windows and doors, watching us dole out small measures of chemicals into various test tubes. Everyone that was waiting outside is now waiting by our window. Most of them say they're 6th/7th graders, which makes sense, since we haven't done many experiments with them yet, and they've been asking when we'll come to their class. Tomorrow, little darlings. Tomorrow is your day.
They skip off, not because we've told them we'll be working with them tomorrow, but because the teacher has just opened the door of the computer lab and is working on the lock for the library. So I turn back to my iodine clock and toss everything down the funnel at once.
Lo and behold, it works! Since I have no balance (there is a very good two-pan balance, but it's locked away in a glass cabinet, and looks like a treasured possession rather than a usable scale), I can't really calculate and set the clock for a certain amount of time. Still, I've got it working within about 20-40 seconds, which is perfect. By afternoon, my mom's found some litmus paper and made some dilute acid/base solutions, so everything's set for tomorrow. Time to relax a little.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Day 27 - Gotta Follow the Procedure...or Change Your Plans
Plant pigment chromatography worked so beautifully in Matendla. Well, it's not working here. To be fair, we don't have enough time in the morning to prepare before class, so we can't get tamalapaku leaves crushed with ethanol by a mortar and pestle. Instead, my mom tries to crush some badam (almond) leaves by hand. Yeah, that doesn't really get the chlorophyll out.
The experiment worked well in Matendla because we did a quick demo, then had the students get into (four large) groups and do it themselves. They got to play with it and do something with their hands, and they had lots of questions afterward.
Here, we can't find enough beakers, so the class has to sit for 20 minutes, watching the acetone slowly creep up the filter paper from 20 feet away while we try to explain the principles behind an experiment that is not showing the result it's supposed to.
We've learned our lesson. Instead of taking the second section of 10th class immediately afterward, we ask if we could have one period extra to prepare. Hurrying back to the lab, we make a change of plans. Who needs plant pigments? That would relate much better to bio, but these kids have never even seen paper chromatography. So we borrow some markers.
A quick test shows us that mixing red, green, and blue markers in a line along the bottom of the filter paper strip results in a very nice separation. We hunt through the cabinets one more time and find a couple of glasses to go along with the beakers. A poor washrag that has the misfortune of being nearby gets torn into 5 pieces to act as a cover for the beakers. We pick a couple of solvent systems and get some students to help us carry all the equipment back across the grounds and up the stairs to the school.
The second section of 10th gets a much better lesson. We call groups of 6 kids outside one group at a time, and demonstrate what they need to do. Then we hand them the scissors, filter paper, markers, tape, and beaker with solvent system (water, acetone + water, or ethanol + water), and send them off to a corner of the balcony to begin their test.
As we check the groups, we find that for some, the green color has disappeared and yellow has appeared! So in the spirit of science, we assign those groups a second task now that their first chromatograph has finished: try it again with just the green.
After everyone's marker pigments have separated out clearly enough, we return to the classroom to talk about the principles. We draw a little color-chalk diagram of each group's results on the board and compare them. We ask everyone, where did the yellow come from? And then we suggest that perhaps the green marker was actually made up of yellow and blue, and show the extra chromatograph to prove that this is indeed the case.
All in all, it's a pretty successful lesson. But the first section of 10th didn't get it. So we go back to their classroom after lunch (the teachers are very accommodating since this is a short-term project) and repeat the better version of paper chromatography with them.
Perhaps it's because we gave them freedom to work in groups, or perhaps because the experiment is really working, or simply because the teacher is not sitting at the back watching them, but the kids are much more enthusiastic this time around. One group even carries out a little experiment of their own: they try it with regular notebook paper.
Obviously it doesn't work, but they ask why in the discussion afterward, and we're able to explain about the qualities of filter paper that make capillary action work much better. But they're thinking about it themselves and trying things, and that was really the goal of this whole exercise. Science is not something you just learn and memorize from a textbook. Science is something you do, and think about, and keep on doing.
The experiment worked well in Matendla because we did a quick demo, then had the students get into (four large) groups and do it themselves. They got to play with it and do something with their hands, and they had lots of questions afterward.
Here, we can't find enough beakers, so the class has to sit for 20 minutes, watching the acetone slowly creep up the filter paper from 20 feet away while we try to explain the principles behind an experiment that is not showing the result it's supposed to.
We've learned our lesson. Instead of taking the second section of 10th class immediately afterward, we ask if we could have one period extra to prepare. Hurrying back to the lab, we make a change of plans. Who needs plant pigments? That would relate much better to bio, but these kids have never even seen paper chromatography. So we borrow some markers.
A quick test shows us that mixing red, green, and blue markers in a line along the bottom of the filter paper strip results in a very nice separation. We hunt through the cabinets one more time and find a couple of glasses to go along with the beakers. A poor washrag that has the misfortune of being nearby gets torn into 5 pieces to act as a cover for the beakers. We pick a couple of solvent systems and get some students to help us carry all the equipment back across the grounds and up the stairs to the school.
The second section of 10th gets a much better lesson. We call groups of 6 kids outside one group at a time, and demonstrate what they need to do. Then we hand them the scissors, filter paper, markers, tape, and beaker with solvent system (water, acetone + water, or ethanol + water), and send them off to a corner of the balcony to begin their test.
As we check the groups, we find that for some, the green color has disappeared and yellow has appeared! So in the spirit of science, we assign those groups a second task now that their first chromatograph has finished: try it again with just the green.
After everyone's marker pigments have separated out clearly enough, we return to the classroom to talk about the principles. We draw a little color-chalk diagram of each group's results on the board and compare them. We ask everyone, where did the yellow come from? And then we suggest that perhaps the green marker was actually made up of yellow and blue, and show the extra chromatograph to prove that this is indeed the case.
All in all, it's a pretty successful lesson. But the first section of 10th didn't get it. So we go back to their classroom after lunch (the teachers are very accommodating since this is a short-term project) and repeat the better version of paper chromatography with them.
Perhaps it's because we gave them freedom to work in groups, or perhaps because the experiment is really working, or simply because the teacher is not sitting at the back watching them, but the kids are much more enthusiastic this time around. One group even carries out a little experiment of their own: they try it with regular notebook paper.
Obviously it doesn't work, but they ask why in the discussion afterward, and we're able to explain about the qualities of filter paper that make capillary action work much better. But they're thinking about it themselves and trying things, and that was really the goal of this whole exercise. Science is not something you just learn and memorize from a textbook. Science is something you do, and think about, and keep on doing.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Day 26 - Electroplating
Today is filled with electroplating. We're doing it for the 10th graders first, then 9th, and even 7th. Since we aren't explaining things in detail to the 7th graders, we're doing both sections (meaning about 60 kids) at once.
We call up the kids in groups so they can see the plating up close. We have them hold the coins and connect the wires as much as possible so they feel like they're actually doing something. As the one-rupee coin turns red, they laughed in astonishment. And then we switch the poles, and like magic (or chemistry), the color disappears.
Calling up 60 students in groups takes time, though, and by the time we finish, we're halfway into their break. Fortunately, the morning's rain has slowed the preparation of lunch, and break has technically not yet begun. Still, the younger kids in other classes are done, and they've begun gathering at the door.
We literally have to chase them away because they're distracting the students we're trying to teach right now.
"Go play," we tell them. "We'll come to your class too."
And still they hang around. A few days later, when we visit the 6th grade class with our copper plate and beaker of CuSO4, one of the kids excitedly tells the others, "Adi erraga avuthadi!" (It's going to turn red!)
We ask him, how do you know that? And he replies that when we were showing this to the 7th graders, he was listening through the window. Even after we shooed them away.
You've got to give these kids props for how much they want to learn.
We call up the kids in groups so they can see the plating up close. We have them hold the coins and connect the wires as much as possible so they feel like they're actually doing something. As the one-rupee coin turns red, they laughed in astonishment. And then we switch the poles, and like magic (or chemistry), the color disappears.
Calling up 60 students in groups takes time, though, and by the time we finish, we're halfway into their break. Fortunately, the morning's rain has slowed the preparation of lunch, and break has technically not yet begun. Still, the younger kids in other classes are done, and they've begun gathering at the door.
We literally have to chase them away because they're distracting the students we're trying to teach right now.
"Go play," we tell them. "We'll come to your class too."
And still they hang around. A few days later, when we visit the 6th grade class with our copper plate and beaker of CuSO4, one of the kids excitedly tells the others, "Adi erraga avuthadi!" (It's going to turn red!)
We ask him, how do you know that? And he replies that when we were showing this to the 7th graders, he was listening through the window. Even after we shooed them away.
You've got to give these kids props for how much they want to learn.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Day 21 - The Last of the First
Today is my last full day at Matendla. We're going to do a couple labs, take care of the English classes, and say bye to the kids. Tomorrow morning, we'll catch the bus to Siddipet and then another bus from there to Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad, from where we will have to take an auto to get home.
We start in the morning with the 10th graders, doing that Bullseye lab (for projectile motion) that we did in Mr. Robinson's class in high school. Unfortunately, without a smooth, relatively frictionless ramp, the calculations don't quite work out. We turn it into a lesson on how science doesn't work a lot of the time, and how you can work backward from what you find to figure out why it didn't work. Well, at least the kids had fun playing with marbles.
The 8th graders have their turn with surface tension next. We only have a limited number of boats, so we pick popsicle sticks with their names. Some boats move successfully, while others don't. Perhaps a slightly less concentrated soap solution would work better next time.
Not everyone gets to try a boat, but still, they look pretty happy when the boats actually move. If nothing else, they're excited about the camera :D
After school is the last English class. The kids have been falling over Curious George, The Beauty and the Beast, Thumbelina, and Mickey and Friends like piranhas. As soon as the lesson is over and it's time for reading, there is a veritable riot as they scramble for the 15-20 books we have. There still aren't enough, so they read in groups. They're asking fewer questions of us, which I hope means they're understanding more words, but I still see some writing down words they don't know to look up later. That's the best way to do it!
We start in the morning with the 10th graders, doing that Bullseye lab (for projectile motion) that we did in Mr. Robinson's class in high school. Unfortunately, without a smooth, relatively frictionless ramp, the calculations don't quite work out. We turn it into a lesson on how science doesn't work a lot of the time, and how you can work backward from what you find to figure out why it didn't work. Well, at least the kids had fun playing with marbles.
The 8th graders have their turn with surface tension next. We only have a limited number of boats, so we pick popsicle sticks with their names. Some boats move successfully, while others don't. Perhaps a slightly less concentrated soap solution would work better next time.
Not everyone gets to try a boat, but still, they look pretty happy when the boats actually move. If nothing else, they're excited about the camera :D
After school is the last English class. The kids have been falling over Curious George, The Beauty and the Beast, Thumbelina, and Mickey and Friends like piranhas. As soon as the lesson is over and it's time for reading, there is a veritable riot as they scramble for the 15-20 books we have. There still aren't enough, so they read in groups. They're asking fewer questions of us, which I hope means they're understanding more words, but I still see some writing down words they don't know to look up later. That's the best way to do it!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Day 13 - Magnets
It's really difficult to make the iodine clock reaction work when you have no balances and therefore no idea what the molarity of your solutions really are. Magnets, on the other hand, work perfectly well without balances. Nik found some magnets and a little packet of iron filings before he left on Sunday, so we're going to do magnetism for the 8th and 9th graders since it's in their curriculum (though all the pictures here are of 8th).
The kids have divided into their groups, and I give each a little box with some iron filings spread out. After a little introduction to magnets (with the help of a compass), I hand each group a bar magnet, and have them play with getting a field pattern in the filings.
When I go around and tap the box as it rests atop the magnet, the filings fall into place and the kids eyes widen. "Look, it's making a pattern!"
Now to explain the why, and how the field goes from north to south in all directions and how we can find what the field looks like by looking at the pattern in the filings.
And now a little induced magnetism to end the lesson. Iron piece = not magnetic. Iron piece + magnet = magnetic. Take off the magnet, and the filings fall off the iron piece again. It's like mag(net)ic!
The kids have divided into their groups, and I give each a little box with some iron filings spread out. After a little introduction to magnets (with the help of a compass), I hand each group a bar magnet, and have them play with getting a field pattern in the filings.
When I go around and tap the box as it rests atop the magnet, the filings fall into place and the kids eyes widen. "Look, it's making a pattern!"
Now to explain the why, and how the field goes from north to south in all directions and how we can find what the field looks like by looking at the pattern in the filings.
And now a little induced magnetism to end the lesson. Iron piece = not magnetic. Iron piece + magnet = magnetic. Take off the magnet, and the filings fall off the iron piece again. It's like mag(net)ic!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Day 12 - Resistors and Circuits
We tried a lot of stuff yesterday, including making a lemon battery and changing the color of a color-changing LED we found. Today, we played around a little with circuits and resistors today in the 10th grade science class.
We basically took a resistance box and had the kids pull out keys (therefore adding resistance) and put them back to see the effect on the intensity of the light bulb. We had a color-changing LED as well, but that burnt out in the beginning of the second class (the 10th class is divided into two sections). At least everybody got to see it once.
The girls are sitting on their side of the classroom, waiting patiently, but...
ZOOM! As soon as it's their turn, they're up like they've been stung by fire ants. It's good to see that enthusiasm.
And enthusiasm is certainly not lacking here. A couple days ago, some of the students came up to us as we were talking to the headmaster and asked if we would teach an English class. My mom agreed to take a class from 8:30-9:30 (the hour before school) and 5:30-6:30 (the hour after school), so I'll help her out with that a little bit. The class will be both sections of 10th, and 50+ students is a tad difficult for one teacher.
The 10th graders want a little more help because they need to take their 10th class exams at the end of the year, and as much as they say they like English, it's not their strong suit. Who can blame them? The school is Telugu medium as of now (meaning all the classes are taught in the medium of Telugu), and they are one English teacher short of a full teaching staff.
We basically took a resistance box and had the kids pull out keys (therefore adding resistance) and put them back to see the effect on the intensity of the light bulb. We had a color-changing LED as well, but that burnt out in the beginning of the second class (the 10th class is divided into two sections). At least everybody got to see it once.
The girls are sitting on their side of the classroom, waiting patiently, but...
ZOOM! As soon as it's their turn, they're up like they've been stung by fire ants. It's good to see that enthusiasm.
And enthusiasm is certainly not lacking here. A couple days ago, some of the students came up to us as we were talking to the headmaster and asked if we would teach an English class. My mom agreed to take a class from 8:30-9:30 (the hour before school) and 5:30-6:30 (the hour after school), so I'll help her out with that a little bit. The class will be both sections of 10th, and 50+ students is a tad difficult for one teacher.
The 10th graders want a little more help because they need to take their 10th class exams at the end of the year, and as much as they say they like English, it's not their strong suit. Who can blame them? The school is Telugu medium as of now (meaning all the classes are taught in the medium of Telugu), and they are one English teacher short of a full teaching staff.
Day 9 - Ascorbic Acid and Basketball
Since the kids came in yesterday, there is no school today, even though it's Monday. So we're spending the day testing some experiments. Electrolysis with soap bubbles catching the gases was a bit of a failure, but my mom has found some protocol for testing juices for how much vitamin C they have, and we've adapted it a little bit. Instead of starch, we're using ganji, the water left when cooking rice.
Even though it's a holiday, some of the kids have showed up. This is a small village, so for many, school really is their life. School is the center of all their activities. Today, they hang around our experiments for a little while, looking on as we try to get the starch/iodine test to work on an intact leaf (which, without boiling water, is a failure).Then some of the boys go off to play basketball in the dirt court of the courtyard, so I join them.
Even though it's a holiday, some of the kids have showed up. This is a small village, so for many, school really is their life. School is the center of all their activities. Today, they hang around our experiments for a little while, looking on as we try to get the starch/iodine test to work on an intact leaf (which, without boiling water, is a failure).Then some of the boys go off to play basketball in the dirt court of the courtyard, so I join them.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
The RDF School Matendla
Matendla Rural School is run by the Rural Development Foundation. The students are given a midday meal and their uniforms and school books are paid for by the RDF. The teachers are all local which means they are more invested in the students' learning and more motivated to actually be at school and teach every day. The students, in turn, are invested in the community. Many of them go home after school and help their parents in the fields or in taking care of the little ones.
Last year, the teachers, parents, and students together took some initiative in the village. The teachers began by stopping their alcohol and cigarette intake as completely as possible. Then they talked to the Village Committee and got the council leaders to stop as well. All told, they got at least 30 parents to stop smoking and drinking.
Another project the school stared relatively recently was that of a kids' bank. The students themselves take on the roles involved, and a teacher checks the numbers afterward. It helps the children learn how to use the banking system - and gets them interested in saving money.
Really, the students are involved in everything from their own learning (the Question Bank questions) to the running of the school. They have to participate in at least one extracurricular activity, and sports are highly encouraged. At least within Medak district, many top student athletes are from Matendla.
I played with them. They're not bad at basketball either despite the fact that their hoop has no special backboard and their court is a dirt courtyard.
Last year, the teachers, parents, and students together took some initiative in the village. The teachers began by stopping their alcohol and cigarette intake as completely as possible. Then they talked to the Village Committee and got the council leaders to stop as well. All told, they got at least 30 parents to stop smoking and drinking.
Another project the school stared relatively recently was that of a kids' bank. The students themselves take on the roles involved, and a teacher checks the numbers afterward. It helps the children learn how to use the banking system - and gets them interested in saving money.
Really, the students are involved in everything from their own learning (the Question Bank questions) to the running of the school. They have to participate in at least one extracurricular activity, and sports are highly encouraged. At least within Medak district, many top student athletes are from Matendla.
I played with them. They're not bad at basketball either despite the fact that their hoop has no special backboard and their court is a dirt courtyard.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Day 2 - Assembly
It's Monday morning, and we're up by 7 because we're supposed to have breakfast at 8. School starts at 9:30, but some of the students start showing up around 8:30. These are mainly the ones in charge of things like checking the library, cleaning their classroom, or writing the news on the big blackboards set against the walls outside (this particular one is actually for a "classroom" on the veranda).
At 9:30, the bell rings and the high school students gather in the courtyard for assembly. Nick, my mother, and I are called up to the stage to introduce ourselves and say what we'll be doing. The students, meanwhile, stand in front of us in long columns, one per class (grade). As usual in an Indian school, they begin with morning exercises, followed by Vande Mataram and Maa Telugu Thalliki (patriotic songs for the country and the state, respectively). On other days, they recite a prayer to Saraswathi, the goddess of education, or sing Saare Jahan Se Achcha. I'm cheating a little bit with this picture because it's actually from the next Sunday when the primary school kids joined the older students, but it'll give you an idea of what it's like.
A couple of students on stage read out the news, while those in the columns listen and then raise their hands to answer some related quiz questions. Next comes the Question Bank question, a "why?" or "how?" wondered at by a student, written down, and placed in a box near the library. Each day, the question is asked, and if none of the students know its explanation, the teachers provide the answer. Out of the questions in the box from Saturday, the teachers picked this (translated): "If we can't see or touch air, how did we ever find out what it's composed of?"
When we are done here, we are taken to the other side of the building to introduce ourselves at the end of the primary school assembly. Here, the stage is made of raised earth, and the Nursery (think preschool) through 5th graders are lined up in their own columns, standing remarkably (though of course not completely) still. I've yet to see that many five-year-olds with that much self-control anywhere in America. At the end, around 10 am, the students march off to class to the cadence of a snare drum and a very small bass drum. Left, right, left, right, though the student in front of you may be going right, left, right, left...
At 9:30, the bell rings and the high school students gather in the courtyard for assembly. Nick, my mother, and I are called up to the stage to introduce ourselves and say what we'll be doing. The students, meanwhile, stand in front of us in long columns, one per class (grade). As usual in an Indian school, they begin with morning exercises, followed by Vande Mataram and Maa Telugu Thalliki (patriotic songs for the country and the state, respectively). On other days, they recite a prayer to Saraswathi, the goddess of education, or sing Saare Jahan Se Achcha. I'm cheating a little bit with this picture because it's actually from the next Sunday when the primary school kids joined the older students, but it'll give you an idea of what it's like.
A couple of students on stage read out the news, while those in the columns listen and then raise their hands to answer some related quiz questions. Next comes the Question Bank question, a "why?" or "how?" wondered at by a student, written down, and placed in a box near the library. Each day, the question is asked, and if none of the students know its explanation, the teachers provide the answer. Out of the questions in the box from Saturday, the teachers picked this (translated): "If we can't see or touch air, how did we ever find out what it's composed of?"
When we are done here, we are taken to the other side of the building to introduce ourselves at the end of the primary school assembly. Here, the stage is made of raised earth, and the Nursery (think preschool) through 5th graders are lined up in their own columns, standing remarkably (though of course not completely) still. I've yet to see that many five-year-olds with that much self-control anywhere in America. At the end, around 10 am, the students march off to class to the cadence of a snare drum and a very small bass drum. Left, right, left, right, though the student in front of you may be going right, left, right, left...
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