After the success of teaching a few girls the English alphabet by
using Hindi alphabetic phonetics, I decided to create a handout for each
of the women of Vidya to take with them after class. The handout
covered the phonetic pronunciation of both English vowels and consonants. I invited each girl to take one as they removed their shoes and sat around me on the floor.
Together, we then began reviewing it and testing one another on our
knowledge of the alphabet, which was very insightful for me because I
was able to tell which girls had previously had the most exposure to
English, and which ones had the least. It was interesting that even two of the teachers joined in towards the middle of the lessons and took home some the handouts. They explained to me at the beginning that the teachers were also interested in learning more English, but we've had to focus our attention on the girls.
I began by phonetically pronouncing different sounds, and asking them to write down the corresponding letter of the English alphabet. I was hoping that this tactic of associating the English alphabet with one that they were already familiar with would help them to begin the process of assembling sounds together into words, something that had been somewhat of a challenge with the younger girls.
At first, all of the
girls sat together, but I quickly noticed that this was detrimental to
the learning of the girls in the beginner level because the smarter
girls would finish quickly and soon whisper them the answer, instead of
giving them the time of learning it themselves. Of course, the girls who
picked it up faster were doing so out of charity, but I could tell that
were also interested in moving forward to more challenging concepts.
[[SIDENOTE: as individualistic, and sometimes obnoxiously selfish, as the quick learners' behavior felt at first, I began to notice that they respected me for giving the younger girls attention in spite of their pressure. In turn, they grew more patient with the girls who lagged behind as well....moral of the story? Students copy the behavior of their teachers, whether it's good or bad]]
Noting this, and the fact that the beginner girls were growing satisfied with just copying down the answers instead of finding them on their own, I decided to break the large group into two. Danielle took charge of the the group of more advanced English learners. I actually felt very proud of myself for allowing this to happen because I usually hang on to Shabnam , who has naturally become one of my favorite students, during group/individual work time. She is easily one of the easiest students to teach, and I discovered her completely by mistake one day when I was shying away from my responsibility as a teacher and hanging around the back of the classroom while Danielle stood alone at the front teaching Raj Kumari and Lata. Shabnam had been curious about a notebook I was holding, so I ripped off a blank sheet and asked her to write me down the alphabet. She did, quickly, and I began asking her to write down different words that corresponded with each letter. She obliged. Intrigues, I began a spelling bee with her, and I soon realized how smart and dedicated she was...especially after spelling magenta, never having heard the word before. As I worked with the other girls, she shot me sideways glances of disappointment that I was not in her group, which was flattering, but we were able to laugh about it later when I came back after our group activities were done to work on reading comprehension with her individually.
In Danielle's group, they began copying
down common phrases and questions one would ask in English. It kept them
occupied while I pulled the younger girls aside to work on the alphabet
from the beginning. I realized that Krishna and Arti (two quiet, but sweet, fourteen year
old girls) had a difficult time telling the different letters apart
from each other, so I knew instantly that reviewing the entire alphabet
would be ambitious for them. One of the greatest lesson's I've learned about teaching is that it's such a dynamic job -- you always have to be changing and adapting in accordance to your audience. Teacher's have got to think on their toes. So, instead, I chose to focus in on the first
four letters, something I had not planned to go back to.
Still, it ended up being fun, for all of us. Through jokes and teasing, the group began to grasp the concepts in what felt like a lighthearted and safe exchange. I learned that by joking around with the shyer girls, they felt more safe if it happened that they made a mistake in front of me and their friends. Even though they made mistakes, we were able to laugh it off, and work on the confusion, instead of making the task seem impossible. This was a great learning moment for me as well. I guess a little bit of sugar really does make the medicine go down. It was so fun to laugh and work with these girls, and it felt like we were able to transcend our cultural and linguist boundaries for a moment, and share a moment of universal humanity.
I began by phonetically pronouncing different sounds, and asking them to write down the corresponding letter of the English alphabet. I was hoping that this tactic of associating the English alphabet with one that they were already familiar with would help them to begin the process of assembling sounds together into words, something that had been somewhat of a challenge with the younger girls.
 |
| Our youngest class member is only 8 months old. She is the daughter of Suman, a 22 year old mother and wife that has never engaged in any of the lessons. She usually comes later on to class, after the formal lesson in the beginning and goes straight to sewing. I think she's just shy and that I have to break through to her, but she is very sweet, and I love her cute baby. A superstitious practice of some Hindus is to put eyeliner on their younger children. It's supposed to keep bad spirits away. |
[[SIDENOTE: as individualistic, and sometimes obnoxiously selfish, as the quick learners' behavior felt at first, I began to notice that they respected me for giving the younger girls attention in spite of their pressure. In turn, they grew more patient with the girls who lagged behind as well....moral of the story? Students copy the behavior of their teachers, whether it's good or bad]]
Noting this, and the fact that the beginner girls were growing satisfied with just copying down the answers instead of finding them on their own, I decided to break the large group into two. Danielle took charge of the the group of more advanced English learners. I actually felt very proud of myself for allowing this to happen because I usually hang on to Shabnam , who has naturally become one of my favorite students, during group/individual work time. She is easily one of the easiest students to teach, and I discovered her completely by mistake one day when I was shying away from my responsibility as a teacher and hanging around the back of the classroom while Danielle stood alone at the front teaching Raj Kumari and Lata. Shabnam had been curious about a notebook I was holding, so I ripped off a blank sheet and asked her to write me down the alphabet. She did, quickly, and I began asking her to write down different words that corresponded with each letter. She obliged. Intrigues, I began a spelling bee with her, and I soon realized how smart and dedicated she was...especially after spelling magenta, never having heard the word before. As I worked with the other girls, she shot me sideways glances of disappointment that I was not in her group, which was flattering, but we were able to laugh about it later when I came back after our group activities were done to work on reading comprehension with her individually.
 |
| Pooja (left) and Shabnam (right), the two best friends that refuse to work separately. Shabnam is especially timid about taking pictures, so this is the best I've been able to get so far without her noticing. She girls are leafing through Danielle's picture English-Hindi Dictionary. |
Still, it ended up being fun, for all of us. Through jokes and teasing, the group began to grasp the concepts in what felt like a lighthearted and safe exchange. I learned that by joking around with the shyer girls, they felt more safe if it happened that they made a mistake in front of me and their friends. Even though they made mistakes, we were able to laugh it off, and work on the confusion, instead of making the task seem impossible. This was a great learning moment for me as well. I guess a little bit of sugar really does make the medicine go down. It was so fun to laugh and work with these girls, and it felt like we were able to transcend our cultural and linguist boundaries for a moment, and share a moment of universal humanity.
No comments:
Post a Comment