Correcting papers is a crazy experience. There are some things each teacher in the staff room feels compelled to share with the others.Commenting on a poem's language and style, students write... 'This heart-touching poem...', or better still - 'This tear-dropping poem...'Commenting on the expected audience, a student has a bewildering response - 'The language used is abit complex probably not aiming for audience but for readers who are mature.'Describing a forest, a student wants to create rich imagery, so talks about 'barked densed trees'The students are also tested on their ability to empathise. One exercise was a letter written by Theo to his famous brother, the painter, Vincent Van Gogh. A student writes - 'You have to treat such problems as a video game'Spelling is the most exciting - use your imagination here. Be warned, students cheerfully invent … [Read more...]
The Table Family
Have you been introduced to the Table family? When I was in school, we were kept forcibly away from the family. The Table family was a strict no-no for us. Pronounce correctly. Stay away from the awful Table family.Trends are changing, though. Many children have found their comfort zone with this delightfully extended family.At lunch, they meet Veggie Table. When their handwriting is not so good, but not so bad, their teacher introduces them to Axe-ep Table. The mike stand has a secret name, I learned in school the other day. It is Adjus(t) Table. You are invited to join the family too! If you have something to give and give it freely, you are Charee Table. A child told me seriously about a naughty, uncontrolled child. "He is Ex-i Table."Maybe we should join the family. It sounds most Come-for Table. … [Read more...]
Hiding from Children
There are many things that you may successfully hide from adults, but simply cannot hide from children. Impoliteness is one of those things. As a child, my sister once turned to my parents. "When I said 'thank you', why did that uncle not say 'welcome'?"Today, a colleague of mine was trying to hide from her two-year-old son. Essentially, she knew that if her child saw her, he would demand her attention, become cranky, want to be carried... The works.Another colleague and I attempted to shield her while all the little children entered the refectory. Her son could not see her; we had hidden her completely.But one little girl ran around us, perhaps just to see what we were doing standing there. She peeked and then yelled, eyes shining, "Phil! Mommy!" And then, in case he had not heard, she called again, "Phil! Mummy! Mummy!"The game was up. … [Read more...]
Invigilator
Right through school, I enjoyed exams. People found that odd, so I often did not confess that I loved exams. I loved the excited anticipation just before exams. I loved that clean, fresh uniform. (Somehow, the exam uniform stays cleaner than a regular day's uniform.) I loved the light bag with barely any books in it. I loved the last-minute discussion of all those tiny little doubts. I loved the hurried revision one second before the examiner walked in.And in college, I loved the feeling of finishing early and walking out - sometimes an hour before my friends. Freedom!Today, I was invigilator. I felt all those familiar feelings and then, like a stone sinking within me, I grew bored.I miss being on the other side of the table. Watching an exam is nowhere near as inspiring as writing it. … [Read more...]
The Dictionary at School
The portion for the exams has been completed; students are fed up with revision. So, a colleague of mine decided to do something different - she read out a story from The Story-Catcher. I was thrilled!This reading went one step further than 'I loved your story' and 'nice story' and 'I like the story of Sana'. After listening to The Dictionary, the students were expected to write a poem. It had to be inspired by the story, but they could write what they liked.And so they did. I was waiting to have a look at their work, and that happened in a lovely way too!On Thursday, a Student Held Conference took place at the school library. The library was jazzed up a little to make it slightly more attractive.One large notice-board was dedicated to The Story-Catcher. Poems covered the board. One child even made a beautiful copy of the cover illustration. I looked at all the poems in … [Read more...]
School Bus
I'm feeling the generation gap the wrong way around again.School buses are meant for playing stone-paper-scissor, not listening to music on an iPhone. During rides in the school bus, children should jump around and shriek when they go top speed over a speed breaker. And they should, of course, get told off by the teachers. It's not normal for them to sit grumpily and complain that the AC doesn't work. Rides in school buses are meant for talking about everything that happened in school - mean teachers, kind teachers, strict teachers, gross food... Not for sharing photos on Facebook and commenting on other people's status messages.The only thing that remains the same is that even now, there are a few students who sleep right through the journey home. That's normal. … [Read more...]
More Readers?
I, Varsha Seshan, author of The Story-Catcher and English teacher at your school...... donated two books to Vishwashanti Gurukul library. One for the primary school library and one for the whole school. I also spoke to the principal about the way I've done readings in the past at St. Mary's, and she seemed interested. At the library today, the librarian was entering the details into the system. Does this mean that more children will actually read the book? I wonder! … [Read more...]
Book-Reading – A Different One
An acquaintance who is part of the Teach for India programme asked whether I would be willing to come to a small government school in Chandannagar and talk about my book, about writing and about dance. I was tremendously excited by the prospect, and agreed immediately.When I got there, though, I realised how different it was from anything I had expected. The energy of the class was different. They were restless, not willing to sit and listen. They jumped up and down, walked (or rather crawled - because they sit on the floor, not at desks) around the class. They wanted to talk about everything. Sometimes, shamefacedly, I had to ask for explanations of what they were saying. Yes, they speak English, but sometimes, they just give me the key words and expect me to figure out what the sentences are.I told them the story of the Prologue to The Story-Catcher. They did not know the word … [Read more...]
First Day at School
I moved to a school in Pune when I was five years old. I was like any other excited girl in the first standard with my new tiffin box, my new water bottle and my new bag with new books. I came from a smallish school in Vashi, so even the city was new to me. My first day still stands out in my memory.In my old school, when it was time for us to eat, our teacher used to tell us, "Come now, children, open your tiffin boxes!"In my new school, when the bell rang, we were supposed to eat. Nobody told five-year-old me.I remember clearly how hungry and grumpy I was when school got over at 3:30. I remember how angry I was with my seven-year-old sister for not having told me that I should have eaten. I even remember that my mother laughed when I got home.What I don't remember is this: what was five-year-old Varsha doing when fifty one children in her class got up and went out … [Read more...]