As for whats been up before this long awaited break, here goes...
School had been going on as usual...it was more or less revision time as the mid-year assessments were due.....the assessments included reading fluency, grammar, reading comprehension and maths....believe me I have never feared my exams and have given many without preparation and never been under stress...but i was under stress as the assessments for my class approached....iv had a sleepless nite before the exam.....and another when i was up checking the papers....lots of ups and downs...quite a few have shown improvement....few have gone down in the results.....the class average has gone up in math but english isnt tht good yet....
As always, we had a PTM after the papers were graded...the prize distribution still makes parents cry with pride and happiness.....Winners this time included Aliya (sorry for being biased but she is one of my fave kids in class).....
Aliya's mother passed away few months back...she never told me about it...one day in class, her best friend Chandani was arguing with her and asked her to swear on her Mom...and thats when Aliya couldnt hold back her tears and told me about her mom and how much she misses her...Her father left them as well...She stays with her elder sister and younger brother in her grandparents' house, who dont care about her or her siblings.....when Aliya received the prize for being a consistent performer....all she did was look at me and smile.....I wish her mom was there and she wished the same...
Another winner was Akansha (ok so I love the girls in my class)....this lil girl always has stories to tell me...extra class, break, transition time, etc. she just looks for the time I am free even for a minute and shares her stories with me.....another lil girl who showed improvement in English was Zahra.....she is the grandmom of our class.....the 2.5 ft person talks like shes 25! shes one of the cutest kids in my class...dont believe me? check out the pic! heres a fact about Zahra...she loves dressing up! she ensures her shoes are clean and that her hair is tied up neatly and that her sister puts kajal in her eyes everyday!
We also had a special prize for Sameer....Sameer is supposed to be in class 4 as he has cleared class 3 in a private school....his parents moved him to our school (municipal school) due to financial constraints....the pvt. school did not give him a leaving certificate and hence the municipal school put him in grade 2 and he will be moved to class 4 next yr...initially he had behavourial issues as he knew most things and was fast with work....things were so out of control that his mum beat him with an umbrella in school when she heard the complaints...but over the last few weeks Namita and I saw a major change in his behaviour....his work was always good but off late it became flawless and we thought of acknowledging him....Sameer and his mom both had tears in their eyes when he got the prize....Seeing them I couldnt hold back mine....This is one of the feelings I can never describe...its pure happiness...relief....pride....I don't know what.....but its a great feeling!
We also had a Diwali party on the last day.....the kids went crazy dancing.......the party was sponsored by a frnd of mine...who is reading this email but doesnt want to be named.....he also gave funds to get my classroom painted....yep my class now has brightly painted green and yellow walls...check out the pics.....I cant wait for the kids to see it!!
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I also attended a training recently...TFI has undertaken a project with Gandhi fellows (these guys do trainings for teachers and Headmasters/HMs in rural areas) to change the mindsets of HMs in municipal schools.....the 2 day training took place in New Zealand hostel in Goregaon (I hope that clarifies my status on FB - Just came back from New Zealand:p )....during these 2 days we had the opportunity to understand and work with Beat officers, HMs, etc. mainly people who are above the HMs in the hierarchy....Most of them had been part of the system from last 20 yrs! the idea of the training was to make these people who are part of the system and us (TFI and Gandhi fellows) get to under understand each other since we all will be working together in future....When the training ended I realised thats its difficult to make ppl accept your perspective let alone change theirs....On being told that there are teachers in Municipal schools even today who hit children with scales, etc. these officers denied it flatly....On the other hand I met Gandhi fellows, an extremely inspiring lot of youngsters....these guys work in rural areas for development in education and communities....they train HMs and teachers....teach kids...work with villagers.....and do alot more.....
Since I am on vacation, I will not bore you anymore over emails....its about time I met some of you and bored you in person...
Before I sign off...heres the recent funny thing that happened in class....One day while the whole class was quietly doing their work...Faiyan suddenly walked upto me and said.. "Kashiyan, mujhe tang kar raha hai"...when I asked what happened....he said "Meri Khala (aunt) ka naam Munni hai aur wo Munni badnaam hui gaa raha hai!!!" I dint know how to react....kids i tell you!
With the hope of seeing you guys soon, I say bye for now!
