MAKE A DIFFERENCE - ADJUSTING, FLEXING and BENDING

(Want to read the other posts in the series? MAD Monday Series)

When we first set out to run the Make a Difference program at the Vivekanand camp, we really had no idea what we were in for, what we were doing, or how it would all look.

We created three classes for the 32 students to be placed in.  1/3 of them went into the official MAD class.  They had all of the workbooks and worksheets ready for them (courtesy of Cambridge Universal Press) and had the curriculum all laid out for them.

The middle 1/3 went into a class that we called Almost Mad - Level II.  They did not have the ready-made curriculum, but have been (for the most part) able to use a varied rendition of some ready-made internet resources (though I haven't been able to sit in on their class, so I'm not quite sure what they've been able to come up with, or how easy/hard it's been).

The last 1/3 went into a class that we called Almost Mad - Level I.  This is the crew that I'm responsible for - along with 5 other lead teachers 

... and we had NO curriculum to work with.

Right from the beginning, the other teachers and I (for Level I) were very excited about the task laid out for us.  We had two days per week with the students and a total of four hours.  Wow!  Can you imagine FOUR WHOLE HOURS a week to teach these kiddos?

We set in motion a flurry of activity, brainstorming and lesson planning.  

Since we had tested and assessed the children using the official MAD program, we felt very confident in knowing at what current level they were at, and how much command of the English language they had.  

We put together - with great ease (not to be mistaken for quickly ... it took a LONG time to create that first lesson plan!) a plan for our second class with the students.

And then reality set in.

These kiddos barely knew their alphabet.  They could speak common phrases like "Hello, ma'am!" and "How are you?" yet that was where their understanding stopped.  If you responded and said something like "I'm good, how are you?" they did not know how to answer.

We struggled through that first week of classes and left at the end of those two days exhausted, exasperated and frustrated.  How on earth were we going to get them from Point A to Point B, when we now realize that they are nowhere near ready to even start at Point A?

We reconvened.  We shared thoughts and stories about how to better serve these kids.  We spent time over coffee ... and time over wine ... and labored over what to change in our lesson plan.

The second week of class came and we had a NEW plan in place.  We had taken out some of the 'overkill' of arts/crafts and instead added in more alphabet work.  We focused more on the theme of the week and realized that took away too much time from the alphabet.  We pressed onward through the class and made it work.

After all, the kids were showing up ... ready to learn and anxious for what the two days of instruction would bring them.  So we would also simply show up.  Not 100% sure of what we were doing, and definitely not sure whether WHAT we were doing was useful or helpful.

We kept notes after each week of class, and we exchanged emails like you wouldn't believe.  How could we make these four hours a week more meaningful?  How could we make the alphabet stick?  Should we use more phonics?  Should we split up the class into groups that were level based?  Should we pull out the two kids who were seemingly more advanced than the rest?  

Should we read more?  Should we engage in normal conversation more?  Should we have one lead teacher and the rest just sitting with the kids?  Should we move Pinky and Sanjana to separate tables since they seem to be best buddies?

Should we do more singing?  Or more manipulatives? Less books and less talking?  Does arts and crafts help them learn?  Maybe we should add in sight words that match the theme for each week instead of focusing on the Dolch words?

Remember earlier when I mentioned that we had FOUR WHOLE HOURS per week to work with the students?  Four hours is NOTHING.  Four hours goes by in the blink of an eye.  Four hours per week of English instruction, with nearly NO practice or immersion at home ... oh boy.

At the end of three weeks, all we knew was that we didn't know what we were doing.

We were going to need to do some major adjusting, flexing and bending.

In the above picture, I believe Ann is demonstrating what the phrase "raise your hand" means.  We realized just two classes in that we took for granted that these little guys and gals would understand "get in line" or "just listen" or even "shhhh!" 

Participating in the teaching of this Level I class feels a bit like parenting. You love the children unconditionally, but it doesn't mean that the job is easy.  It doesn't mean that you don't have sleepless nights, or stressed out days.  

It has meant that instead of waltzing through a lesson plan that was prepared for us (by someone much wiser, knowledgeable and likely not quite as invested in matters of the heart) ... we were struggling to make it through two hours of solid teaching and instruction ... all the while looking into these huge pools of brown eyes, who were trusting us to teach them the English language.

We realized early on that we were building relationships with these kids ... and if nothing else, they would be more confident when attempting to use the English language, but at the end of the day --- it was not our mission to simply teach them conversational English. 

Our goal was to teach them to read, write and speak English at a beginning level, so that they could graduate into the Level II class at the beginning of August.

(Can you hear my sigh from where you're sitting?)

We were going to have to seriously invest in bending.  Madly commit to flexing and majorly be wiling to adjust ... to get these students ramped up and working towards a successful Almost MAD session with us.

Stay tuned for more on the process of creating a workable curriculum -- from scratch -- for the Level I MAD kids of Vivekanand Camp.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE - CLASS ONE!

On the day of our first class, I felt a bit nervous, had some butterflies in my stomach and felt slightly anxious.  I wasn't sure quite what to expect, and was very unsure about whether all of our preparations would result in success.

The teachers that I would be working with all met in the classroom at 3:40 after getting our own children ferried home for the afternoon.  We set up supplies, laid out the attendance chart, found the students' name tags, and then looked at each other.

We had really no idea what we had gotten ourselves into, and weren't 100% convinced that we would indeed be able to Make A Difference ... but soon enough it was 4:00 and time to go gather the students from the gate.

The students had walked from their homes to one of the gates at the school, and were waiting patiently for their first class.

We worked through our lesson plan utilizing a lot of smiles, quite a bit of joshing and mainly trying to earn the students' trust, respect and attention.

We had decided to use Have Fun Teaching and their Alphabet Song.  We wanted to find a way to work through the alphabet in a fun way, that didn't seem to ... baby-ish.

The afternoon was moving along quite nicely.  The students were engaged, well behaved and generally interested in everything we were sharing with them.

One of my favorite parts of the day?  Reading!!

One of my other favorite parts of the day?  When we asked the students to complete a self-portrait.  We had populated their art journals with a half photograph of their face.  Using a lot of hand motions and explaining the project through example, we watched them create "the other side of themselves."

Since the aim of our first class was to introduce ourselves and the schedule/layout of how our class would function, it was a huge success! We were walking on cloud nine and just pretty euphoric about how the afternoon had gone.  We said our goodbyes at the end of class and one of the teachers walked the students back to the gate.

One set of teachers (3 total) teach these Level I students on Mondays, and a different set of 3 teachers teach the SAME students on Tuesdays.  It creates a seemingly perfect setup, as no one teacher has a crazy heavy commitment and provides a good amount of diversity with the teaching styles amongst the six lead teachers.

On this first class day, we didn't get heavy into the lesson plan.  The nitty-gritty of the curriculum that we had spent so much time developing was to be started the following week.  The true test of whether we could actually do this was still yet to be discovered.

After Class One, we were able to simply clean up, give each other high fives and pack up the tubs of manipulatives and teaching aids.

We had started a journey with these students, made a commitment to them to show up every week, and teach them English.  They made a commitment to us to show up every week, do their best, and learn English.

A good match, don't you think?


What will follow in the Make A Difference series of posts will likely be less of a chronological journey about each individual week of classes and more about sharing with you the process by which we evolved the Level I program, curriculum and what we are learning about ourselves and these students, along the way!

MAKE A DIFFERENCE - Holi Party

(I interrupt the normally scheduled Monday series of the MAD posts, to bring you this ... on a Wednesday ... just because it can't wait another day to share!)

Recently, someone got a hair-brained idea that turned into an afternoon of loveliness, fun and memories.

Sally called and asked "What would you think about hosting the MAD students at my house for a last minute Holi party?"  Within short order, we had the colors ordered AND delivered, drummers at the ready, snacks, juice, and an invite to all of the students was extended.

Our family was already pretty "Holi-d" out as we'd attended lots of festivities and gatherings already, but the kids were up for adding another party to our list.  

A group of the MAD teachers gathered outside of the area where the students live and walked them to the lawn of the Roosevelt House (where the Ambassador of the United States to India lives with his family).

The afternoon was so much fun -- watching our students interact with each other while having FUN (instead of just sitting at desks), and the opportunity to introduce them to my own family was wonderful.  

Colors were flying, the drum beat was infectious and the smiles were huge (which means during Holi that teeth quickly turned all sorts of colors!).

Jyoti and Sanjana

Sanjana (the Elder), Pinky, Aakash and some others

United States Ambassador to India, Tim Roemer throwing his hands up (I LOVE the expression on the little boys' face that he's dancing with!)

Tim, Sally and Lal Singh.  Lal is the spirit behind this MAD program.

Level I students, Janet, Tim and I (minus Ann, Shanthi, Vanita and Tracy - the other team teachers)

Lloyd writing at India Adventure shared some thoughts about the afternoon.  Jump over there to see his photos, but I wanted to share here some of his perspective about volunteerism and sharing of yourself, your time and your energy ::

While all of them [the MAD students and teachers] were united in the traditional colors of Holi on the outside............I wonder what the "color" of helping someone looks like.............what does the color of volunteerism look like?, what does the color of "feeling good inside" look like?

I am so grateful that I have been able to play a "supporting role" in the volunteering that Linda and Preston have been doing since coming to India.............I am also envious of them............and wish that my job allowed me the time to contribute to the betterment of someones life while I am in India...........in the meantime, I will have to be content with the small behind the scenes help that I am doing............I think I need to work on my "inside colors".

What about you? Are you Making a Difference and working on your colors inside? What are your True Colors?..........Happy Holi everyone!

I don't know about you, but I just loved that.  What say you about whether your "inside colors" match your outer colors?  Do you have a desire to help, volunteer, reach out but haven't made the leap or made a commitment?  Do you fear you don't have time, or aren't sure where to start?

MAKE A DIFFERENCE - LEVEL ONE STUDENTS

Let me introduce to you the Level I students ::

Aakash

Arti

Pinky

Sangeeta

Sanjana

Sanjana (affectionately referred to as 'Sanjana the Eldest')

Sundar

Vidhya

Jyoti

They all have such varied personalities and little bits of them have seeped into our souls and hearts.  I could name my "favorite" thing about each one of them ... and ...

Well, why don't I ??

Vidhya.  She is mature, demure and reserved.  She very rarely speaks up with an answer to a question, but if I quietly ask if she knows the answer, she almost always whispers the correct response back to me.

Jyoti.  Wise beyond her years, I have a feeling. Her eyes are dark pools of wisdom and I wouldn't be surprised if she has quite a bit of responsibility at home with her family.

Sundar.  Oh Sundar.  Dare I say he is the teacher's pet?  The smallest of our crew, his eyebrows furrow when he tries to always please us.

Sangeeta.  Punky little Sangeeta.  She knows more than she lets on, and is smarter than she'll we first were led to believe.  She is a motivator and a leader among her peers.

Sanjana the Eldest.  She is brilliant, patient and sarcastically funny.  She's a bright spot in our class.

Sanjana (the little one).  Soft spoken, shy and timid.  She works best when with her best pal, Pinky, but starts to light up when she's separated from Pinky and gains some confidence.

Arti.  One of the brightest, yet humblest students we have.  She often knows the answer, but seems to desire that everyone "gets a turn" so she often doesn't speak up. 

Aakash.  He has an amazing eye for art, beauty and is ultra-creative.  He visualizes his learning through his art and we've quickly identified that he can draw an amazing picture of most anything!

Pinky.  She covers her mouth with her hand when she speaks.  She has a crazy number of siblings and takes care of them as if she were their mother and I wish I could bring her home.

Next up in the weekly MAD series?  Our first class ...