The crossing of the ways..

This Saturday, an Academic Olympiad was conducted by our organization where contestants from 12 different schools competed against each other. These 12 schools were part of the school network in which fellows from our cohort were placed. Some students from my old school were a part of the event as well and it gave me an opportunity to reunite with them.

Memorable conversations 2.0

When teaching my 4th grade about the continuity of life, I asked the students to draw their family trees. One of the students came up to me with a genuinely worried expression.

Student: Miss, main kese banaunga? Ap ko pata hai mere dada ki kitni biwiyan hain?
Me (anticipating a number between 3 and 5): Kitni?
Student: Saat, miss, saat! Unke baais bachay hain!
Me (trying not to laugh): Ap apnay family tree main sirf apnay abbu ki ammi ka likhiye ga.

Post winter break

While there was excitement before the winter break over the homework I'd given my students, to my dismay only a very small percentage of students in each of my classes completed and submitted it in time. As promised, I rewarded them with gift-wrapped pencils, erasers and magic pops (candy that pops in your mouth). It was a funny encounter with the 3rd graders. I'd called up the seven students during break and told them they were in for a thrashing. I asked them to reflect upon what it was that they had done wrong that day. They actually came up with reasons!

Dude, where's my winter break?

10 days of winter break went by too quickly. I had intended to do so much but then got busy in other 'engagements' and so there's work piled up for the last day of winter break.

Yumna, thy name is procrastination.

A bit of rain, a bit of sun

The last week has been hellish, OK that's an overstatement, but it really was torture. From Wednesday to Friday, I would start feeling unusually cold in the evenings and then would catch a really high fever. In the mornings I would be fine. Then on Saturday, the day of my convocation, I threw up roughly an hour before reaching the venue.

Battling mindsets.

So the 4th grade class teacher, who had been on sick leave for a while, returned to school at the end of September. One day, she decided to drop by her classroom as I taught. She offered to write for me on the board and I tell her that first I need to explain the concept to the students and she looked at me like I was nuts and went, 'Why bother with THAT?'

Crazy days!

In the classroom, there are around 40 kids but I’m all alone. Why, you ask? Well, the majority of the forty will do all sorts of things to make it extremely hard for you to get through with the lesson. Of course not consciously, but simply out of nature.

Three weeks and counting..

It has been almost a month at the school and so much has happened. I think I should put everything under headings to make things easier to read.

Better days

Students showed up alas in the first week. There are around 15-20 in 3rd grade and around 25 in 4th grade. The days start off with an assembly conducted by the principal herself at around 7.40 a.m. There are hardly any teachers present at that time. We three fellows are usually the first ones to arrive among the staff. We listen to a naat or qirat being recited, followed by Iqbal's Dua and the national anthem. The students then go to their respective classes. 

Back to school was never this bad..

The first day of school on Saturday was a bit of a disappointment. After the MAO experience, I was expecting that plenty of kids would be standing in and around my school, eager for school to begin but not a single kid was there. We had arrived even before the principal and had to wait for her to come in and open the locks.

Aam aur saib ki kahani..

The first few days at summer school we spent part of our free time talking to the students there. One of the students who worked as a fruit vendor, told me about his job. He sells watermelons along with his brothers at the local sabzi mandi (fruit/vegetable market). The other kids tease him, saying there are rats in the produce he sells.

Little Lessons

It’s funny how some of life’s lessons are taught to you by the very people who need to be hearing them from you. 

The parting of the ways..

The last day of summer school actually required planning, i.e. what we were going to do with the students and when. The plan then had to be approved by our FDOs. The day started off pretty normal. When we got to school we saw as usual many students outside of school waiting eagerly for our bus to turn up. Most were in casual clothes, some had presents in hand. Assembly was conducted this day as well and the students were reminded that this was the last day and that they should take care of cleanliness in their classrooms. 

After assembly they filed into class and we told them what the day is going to be like.

Memorable conversations

Student: Teacher ball dedo

Me: Nae, kho gai tou?

Student: Teacher dedo, nae khoe gi

Me: Nae

Again, another day:

Student: Teacher ball dedo

Me: Nae aj main nae lai

Student: Main tou laya hun (takes out his own tennis ball)

Me: Arey wah! Mujhe dedena main class mein use kerlungi

Student: Nae, kho gai tou?