 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| Rhianna's Blog CANADA |
Lisa and I have been in India for over a week now and so far it's been a great experience. We were supposed to
be teaching English at First Light's school in Santiniketan but since it's the summer season the heat was so
intense that a boy actually fainted so they had to close the school. Bishnu still picked us up from the airport and
we went out for lunch where he discussed with us the possibility of us helping to start a new project. I was really
excited about the idea of building a project from the grass roots and having a challenge.
On the Sunday we took the train to Panagarh where a car was waiting for us to take us to our apartment. We're
staying in the village Kansa which is within the city. They have never had foreigners there before so everywhere
we go people stare and come out of their houses to get a better look. We just try to keep smiling. Lisa and I have
our own room in the apartment which is nice with lots of fans luckily since it's very very hot.
That evening we had a meeting with the leader of the DOM community where we also got to meet the children.
Everyone was very interested in getting a look at us and the children were VERY happy when we gave them all
candy. They all excitedly followed us when we left saying 'bye bye' (as they do everyday).
We had the first lesson within the DOM community but this proved to be a problem as we had an audience of over
a hundred curious people. And that's honestly not an exaggeration. Every other lesson has been in an outdoor
school compound area which is gated so mainly it's just the parents watching so it's not quite so intimidating.
There are 2 cement platforms we can use and also a dirt area in the middle to play games. But now that there are
so many children the circle is too big for this area which is a problem ...
Everyday we prepare our lesson and then teach from 5 - 6 in the afternoon once the sun has gone down. Each
day more and more children come and by Friday we had over 65 children. So it goes without saying that this is a
challenge especially as they range in age from about 3 - 12. We usually start with a game of follow the leader
doing things like sit down, stand up, hands on your head, jump up and down, do jumping jacks, etc. We do
something and they copy. We then split the group into 2 smaller groups and then I do one activity with them and
Lisa does another and then we switch groups. Most recently we split them up by age and I taught the really little
ones for the whole lesson and Lisa taught the older ones. This worked well as the little ones still don't have a
good grasp on the things that the older ones have already picked up.
The language barrier is the biggest obstacle. The first lesson we tried to teach 'my name is' and they would
repeat it but then say my name after I had used it as an example and I would say 'no, what is your name?' using
hand gestures and they would repeat this and copy my gestures. It's hard to know when they actually understand
what they're saying and when they're just repeating what we're saying.
It is tough but very rewarding as the children are so enthusiastic and eager to learn. Every day I'm excited to go
back and teach the next lesson.
be teaching English at First Light's school in Santiniketan but since it's the summer season the heat was so
intense that a boy actually fainted so they had to close the school. Bishnu still picked us up from the airport and
we went out for lunch where he discussed with us the possibility of us helping to start a new project. I was really
excited about the idea of building a project from the grass roots and having a challenge.
On the Sunday we took the train to Panagarh where a car was waiting for us to take us to our apartment. We're
staying in the village Kansa which is within the city. They have never had foreigners there before so everywhere
we go people stare and come out of their houses to get a better look. We just try to keep smiling. Lisa and I have
our own room in the apartment which is nice with lots of fans luckily since it's very very hot.
That evening we had a meeting with the leader of the DOM community where we also got to meet the children.
Everyone was very interested in getting a look at us and the children were VERY happy when we gave them all
candy. They all excitedly followed us when we left saying 'bye bye' (as they do everyday).
We had the first lesson within the DOM community but this proved to be a problem as we had an audience of over
a hundred curious people. And that's honestly not an exaggeration. Every other lesson has been in an outdoor
school compound area which is gated so mainly it's just the parents watching so it's not quite so intimidating.
There are 2 cement platforms we can use and also a dirt area in the middle to play games. But now that there are
so many children the circle is too big for this area which is a problem ...
Everyday we prepare our lesson and then teach from 5 - 6 in the afternoon once the sun has gone down. Each
day more and more children come and by Friday we had over 65 children. So it goes without saying that this is a
challenge especially as they range in age from about 3 - 12. We usually start with a game of follow the leader
doing things like sit down, stand up, hands on your head, jump up and down, do jumping jacks, etc. We do
something and they copy. We then split the group into 2 smaller groups and then I do one activity with them and
Lisa does another and then we switch groups. Most recently we split them up by age and I taught the really little
ones for the whole lesson and Lisa taught the older ones. This worked well as the little ones still don't have a
good grasp on the things that the older ones have already picked up.
The language barrier is the biggest obstacle. The first lesson we tried to teach 'my name is' and they would
repeat it but then say my name after I had used it as an example and I would say 'no, what is your name?' using
hand gestures and they would repeat this and copy my gestures. It's hard to know when they actually understand
what they're saying and when they're just repeating what we're saying.
It is tough but very rewarding as the children are so enthusiastic and eager to learn. Every day I'm excited to go
back and teach the next lesson.