A few days ago, I accompanied the children to their school. All but two of the children here attend the same public school not very far away. I was under the impression that I was to follow them to school and teach whatever subject where teachers were lacking, so I assumed that the school was fairly small, new, or poorly developed. Instead, the school turned out to be a rather large building with a couple hundred students pouring in from nearby villages. With about two dozen classrooms and just as many teachers, I was more of a guest for the children to stare at rather than any real help.
I observed the English teacher and did help teach a couple classes, but with little grasp of the students' prior knowledge and English level, I could only do so much. My greatest contribution was to make the children, who wanted to impress the sister (everyone in Nepal addresses each other as “sister” or “brother”) from America, behave well in the classroom.
At one point, a Grade 1 English teacher asked me to take over his classroom entirely so that he could “answer some emails.” With no real authority around except for a substitute teacher they couldn't understand (me), the children, ages 5 and 6, went wild.
The students have ten days of examinations starting tomorrow. I think I will visit the school again after exams end. I would like to become a regular appearance there so that I can get to know more teachers and students. I don't know how open the teachers and administration at the school would be to letting me show them some different teaching styles, but they are more than happy to let me teach lessons.
It is a bit disappointing since a large part of my intended purpose here was to help develop teaching effectiveness, but I do still help the students for a large part of the day with homework and studying for exams. I try to help them stray away from rote memorization of their books (which has led to more than one 13-year-old here who does not know the concept behind multiplication), but it is difficult to change what is so engrained in their minds.
The language barrier also makes it very difficult to clearly explain concepts. Instead, I have started to identify certain children that have mastered certain topics (telling time, multiplication, pronunciation, etc.) and have asked them to teach those who need help. This seems to work very well, since those who teach are proud to do so and those who need to learn understand Nepali explanations much better.
Samantha Yu, undergraduate student, Environmental Science & Management, UC Davis
I observed the English teacher and did help teach a couple classes, but with little grasp of the students' prior knowledge and English level, I could only do so much. My greatest contribution was to make the children, who wanted to impress the sister (everyone in Nepal addresses each other as “sister” or “brother”) from America, behave well in the classroom.
At one point, a Grade 1 English teacher asked me to take over his classroom entirely so that he could “answer some emails.” With no real authority around except for a substitute teacher they couldn't understand (me), the children, ages 5 and 6, went wild.
The students have ten days of examinations starting tomorrow. I think I will visit the school again after exams end. I would like to become a regular appearance there so that I can get to know more teachers and students. I don't know how open the teachers and administration at the school would be to letting me show them some different teaching styles, but they are more than happy to let me teach lessons.
It is a bit disappointing since a large part of my intended purpose here was to help develop teaching effectiveness, but I do still help the students for a large part of the day with homework and studying for exams. I try to help them stray away from rote memorization of their books (which has led to more than one 13-year-old here who does not know the concept behind multiplication), but it is difficult to change what is so engrained in their minds.
The language barrier also makes it very difficult to clearly explain concepts. Instead, I have started to identify certain children that have mastered certain topics (telling time, multiplication, pronunciation, etc.) and have asked them to teach those who need help. This seems to work very well, since those who teach are proud to do so and those who need to learn understand Nepali explanations much better.
Samantha Yu, undergraduate student, Environmental Science & Management, UC Davis
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