September 2009. Memoirs from the Manual Diary!
Oh the month had an emotional beginning! Too touching too overwhelming …
I was bit late to come back (mere two days maaaaan ! )
Resulting in Senti Stories
Hrisikesh : Cried at home for two days –thinking Bhaiya would not come back (I was late 2 days )
Chaitrali: Sobbed and did not eat properly .Her Parents called me up to enquire, if I was ok , more than that please talk to their daughter …..
Aman and Sandeep : Did not want to come to school ,Bhaiya has not come ,what’s the use anyways … ( Though they got REDS for thinking so )
Rahul : His Mummy Says “ He loves you more than his papa (which I think is bit overboard ) He prayed everyday , wishing me a speedy recovery from SWINE FLUE !!!!!!!!
Nupur : Was worried about THE BIG GOAL .How without him ?
-------------------------------------------
Thank Goodness Bhaiya was allowed to come the SWINE FLUE City by his Parents !!!
September 5 : The Teachers Day
14 Red Roses , 13 Pens , 3 Greeting Cards ….And above all , Numerous Hugs and buckets of Love
Kids were showing the change !!! ;)))It was really Moving and so so touching !
This was Unconditional Love … CHARAG and I were under an emotional attack for the first time in Our Lives I guess .Personally , this was the first time I realized , how important teacher really are for the kids. They are just so important and Valuable ….
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well let me tell you about the most important things happening in the class …
Academics:
1. English : Reading Skills :
We (Kids and Me) decided that we would Start Learning English now , ENOUGH IS ENOUGH… So first thing would be Phonics –the Science of SOUNDS ..
- Short vowel
- Long vowel (Magic e)
- Consonant Sound
- CVC words
- Blends
- Digraphs
- Consonant Digraph Blends
- Special Case –‘Y’ as vowel , Double Vowel , Silent Consonants etc
God , I had to do some real research and Slog my brain hard ..Had never done English this way !
Often Wondered why to do this way ? .. but then these kids were some Good 3 grades behind and accelerated learning could be achieved only through this Route ….
Next Step was to apply the Knowledge of Phonics into reading ….
Well Kids who were ZERO on reading …… To read "Chunky chops are Crispy " , " To cough is a tough act " ," "Scrib and Swap the Crap article " ;) , using Phonic sounds , just thrills them .
The class is at war against the Sounds and it seems 17/25 is just winning them .Sunny and Chaitrali reads Words like Evaluation at ease ........
They are demanding more and more Reading sessions …….
2. Maths : Fractions :
Hey ,have you ever learnt the decimals and their practical implications in Grade 3 . "
Prathmesh " says if we want 1000 pieces of " an apple ", It would become a " CHurmure type powder thing " - so it would mean a decimal number is something like that .
My o My in Engineering My " Mechanical operations " Mam , while teaching attrition - where partical size reduces to a 1000th or more ;)) said the same thing !
3. Statistics
Reading a Given text , Finding Data , Documenting it in different froms and then finding out required information… They are doing Classical Statistics ..and their avg age is 8 !!! ;-->
Dwelling more on classical statistics : Sunny says if we have to find number of dolls wearing Red frocks ,instead of using a "Table Document " we may instead make a "Picture " -it is easy to locate and understand .... Sunny ,I don know , but i am sure ..We need Something beyond BLOOMS for u ;)..he needs pie charts and bar graphs now ... kids and statistics :)
4. COMPUTERS
How can they have so much fun at a silly things like " Single Clicking" :"Double Clicking " " Dragging an icon " " Putting Moise Pointer anywhere on the screen " ----> I was perspiring to teach them computers and they were having fun at my cost ;)))))))))) Teaching is sooooooooo rewarding !!
5. Science
Ok . we grow . Plants grow . but most important is mud (Soil ). Without Mud - even if you put water , give the leaves sunlight -no food be cooked .... so ........... Aniket is - Thinking Star of the Day !!!
-----------------------------------------------------------
More Reflections
Yes the experience continues to challenge and enthrall my emotional quotient !
A Little struggle in terms of H1N1 fear, however kids have been showing exemplary resilience in not turning away from class rooms .
Kids are now impressed by “7 –blind men and the elephant “ story – Team spirit is the key .The know it .They have now agreed that it is important to plan , discuss , organize, it together !!!-
We plan to implement our new found knowledge in ‘Design for giving Week’ –starting this Saturday .They have decide that they should “Give something back “ to the school in exchange of happiness and knowledge received from the school in general and “Bhaiya “ in particular . We plan to have our own flower garden and a beautiful play ground in the school . We have a little Garden in the school
Sandeep : Why do u think we should we work hard and get smart ;) Sandeep : Bhaiya apart from achieving the big goal , and becoming great man , we can also help people who do not have anything !! ......I am spell bound , emotional and too Happy ...Boy way to go !!;-)
Charag Comments :
“ He's already designing for giving, without even being guided in that direction! “
-----------------------------------------------------
BLOOMS TAXONOMY !!!!
The new mania in the class is “ Up the blooms “ .
Blooms taxonomy:
Knowledge –Comprehension-Application-Analysis –Synthesis-Evaluation .
Kids are sad that they Were just on knowledge level ;-) .
They occasionally go to Application and Analysis .
Almost 5 of them sometimes reach “ Evaluation” –the highest level of learning. We are just so eager to achieve more and more .
Topic of the Class debate :Should we beat kids in schools ! Sandeep (my grade 3 ): No , 1. We are living things , we may get hurt ,hence sud not be bitten 2. We also express our feelings , if someone bits , we get angry and are not able to do so ..... where is Sandeep on Taxonomy ? ;-->
We are also doing Classical Statistics (yes you read it right ;-> ) ,Reading comprehension , Critical thinking ,Mental math and Phonics at a greater intensity and vigour.
--------------------------------------------------
The Highs and The Lows
Lows
Ritesh Mishra
What makes u sad , at the end of an Excelllent day of teaching is .. the apathy of the parents towards "Potential of their kids "...How can they let the kids carry the independent sheets, to the tution teacher . !! and they phone saying - as Aditya padhai ker reha hain na.??... ridiculous .. i am miffed and gone red with raze ... ;(
The Highs
Ritesh Mishra They say . System corrupts u . But after interacting with School principals of the Partner schools . they myth shattered. People always want to change .Change for good .Its just that they are not able to find the right path and the right partner in path to change !!
Ritesh Mishra
One Black and 5 Greens ! thats what Bhaiya has got for not using a only one Hindi word in the entire day .. of course an astounding "
Excellent Bhaiya -Excellent " from MACHO Arbaaaz
..a blinking lill Aditya -saying Wow ! and the background Claps .................. Reallly It gets too emotional sometimes ;)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for reading ..Do wait for October 2009 ..I am sure its going to be too exciting too.....
2 comments:
Ritesh, I am a little lost w.r.t where to start and where to stop in this blog. But very interesting experiences and observations...
Subhadra , Ya u r right .But that is his USP .He goes with the Flow .Hes not organised .He is too too spontaneous ;)
However there r separators (lines ) to indicate the stoppages @wink
Regards .....
Post a Comment