*Disclaimer: This is a reflection/observation of the past two days, there is a lot of teacher talk in this so I won't know if you skip over it all and check out the pictures!
Today (Monday) Mala our host took us to the Galaxy Education System Mr Kiran Bhalodia director of the school is well educated and very forward thinking compared to some of the people we have met thus far. The school is most modern of all we have visited. It is very large with multiple campuses. Students can study for the traditional Indian exam, the IB or the Cambridge International Exam. There is even a program where students can chose to be in Project Based Learning. We were to visit for the opening assembly but due to construction it is not being held with the whole school but rather in smaller groups.
Main campus: The school is in town and the classrooms are built around this central courtyard where the morning assembly is held. All schools in India have some sort of morning assembly. *Check out the videos below of the assembly at the Wadhi campus.
These are two pictures of the school library, as you can see it is large and has lots of materials for the students. This is one of the nicest libraries we have seen so far.
Even in India they have the same issues as we do with cutting and pasting!!! This was posted in the school library.
After visiting the main campus we went to the Wadhi campus which was about 20 minutes outside of town on a farm. This school only went to grades 10, after that students would go to the main campus for grades 11 and 12. The farm is around the school, they even have mango trees and multiple other fruits, including the custard apple, and guava. This school appears to be very forward thinking in comparrison to some of the other schools we have visited and teachers we have talked to. The traditional way of educating students in India is the very rote memorization of facts where students recite back what they have learned. At this school system it appears the teachers are attempting different teaching styles though it takes time to get everyone on board and for parents to understand the differences. They use a process called Teaching For Understanding which is connected to the Understanding by Design framework used at many schools within the U.S. This is a very radical way of thinking and teaching for India but from my observations of their classes the students have responded well to this teaching style.
Another area that stood out was how the teachers collaborated with each other from across curriculums and grades. They attempt to incorporate different subjects within their classes such as using poetry in science class. They also communicate with the upper grades to see what they should know or what they wish the students to learn at the lower grade level to be succesful at the upper level. I think this kind of cooperation is great; we have something similar with our PLC's and I know many teachers in my school use an interdisciplinary approach but it would be good to communicate with different grade levels to see what skills and content has been taught and what should be taught.
The Wadhi campus is out of town therefore it is a very open campus. There are palm trees throughout and the classrooms are actually huts. Each hut is numbered and contains a different grade. There are two class room in each hut and a small teacher planning room. The classrooms are actually air conditioned which is unusual for schools in India.
The students stay where they are, which is common to most schools, and the teachers move from hut to hut. We were told that the huts were chosen as they make the rooms cooler. Each hut also has a Masi; which is the name for your mothers sister, there are actually different words for the name aunt depending on which side of the family they are on. The Masi are support staff but they do not teach, they clean, provide water, help the students and even will ride the bus with the students! Staci and I were helped off the bus and crossed the road by our Masi!
This is a Banyan tree; they are grown througout the campus.
Some random pictures from the classrooms taken yesterday and today. As you can see they are very different from the schools we visited prior.
Over the next week or so my travel partner and I will be observing different teachers and co teaching at times while we share techniques and ideas. Monday I was able to observe a history class and Tuesday and today we observed many other classes such as English literature, Biology, more history and grammar; I find observing very difficult as I want to jump in with my ideas and techniques and it takes patience to realize not everyone has the same teaching strategies as everyone else. I have the same problem when I have a student teacher but by sitting back you can see how things may work differently than you thought of. I am not a perfect teacher but I do believe I have a lot to offer and share. The teachers here are willing to learn and go beyond the traditional learning methods, and the school is willing to let them do so, the problem is that they are starting essentially from zero. Many of them have not even had any formal teacher training.
Today (Monday) Mala our host took us to the Galaxy Education System Mr Kiran Bhalodia director of the school is well educated and very forward thinking compared to some of the people we have met thus far. The school is most modern of all we have visited. It is very large with multiple campuses. Students can study for the traditional Indian exam, the IB or the Cambridge International Exam. There is even a program where students can chose to be in Project Based Learning. We were to visit for the opening assembly but due to construction it is not being held with the whole school but rather in smaller groups.
These are two pictures of the school library, as you can see it is large and has lots of materials for the students. This is one of the nicest libraries we have seen so far. 
Even in India they have the same issues as we do with cutting and pasting!!! This was posted in the school library.
After visiting the main campus we went to the Wadhi campus which was about 20 minutes outside of town on a farm. This school only went to grades 10, after that students would go to the main campus for grades 11 and 12. The farm is around the school, they even have mango trees and multiple other fruits, including the custard apple, and guava. This school appears to be very forward thinking in comparrison to some of the other schools we have visited and teachers we have talked to. The traditional way of educating students in India is the very rote memorization of facts where students recite back what they have learned. At this school system it appears the teachers are attempting different teaching styles though it takes time to get everyone on board and for parents to understand the differences. They use a process called Teaching For Understanding which is connected to the Understanding by Design framework used at many schools within the U.S. This is a very radical way of thinking and teaching for India but from my observations of their classes the students have responded well to this teaching style.
Another area that stood out was how the teachers collaborated with each other from across curriculums and grades. They attempt to incorporate different subjects within their classes such as using poetry in science class. They also communicate with the upper grades to see what they should know or what they wish the students to learn at the lower grade level to be succesful at the upper level. I think this kind of cooperation is great; we have something similar with our PLC's and I know many teachers in my school use an interdisciplinary approach but it would be good to communicate with different grade levels to see what skills and content has been taught and what should be taught.
This is a Banyan tree; they are grown througout the campus. Some random pictures from the classrooms taken yesterday and today. As you can see they are very different from the schools we visited prior.
Video from Morning Assembley
Over the next week or so my travel partner and I will be observing different teachers and co teaching at times while we share techniques and ideas. Monday I was able to observe a history class and Tuesday and today we observed many other classes such as English literature, Biology, more history and grammar; I find observing very difficult as I want to jump in with my ideas and techniques and it takes patience to realize not everyone has the same teaching strategies as everyone else. I have the same problem when I have a student teacher but by sitting back you can see how things may work differently than you thought of. I am not a perfect teacher but I do believe I have a lot to offer and share. The teachers here are willing to learn and go beyond the traditional learning methods, and the school is willing to let them do so, the problem is that they are starting essentially from zero. Many of them have not even had any formal teacher training.
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