Brief Update

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Hey everyone.

To be honest not much has happened since Tuesday. Rose and Kim have returned to Kanji and they seem very fun and easy to get on with. They have created a very good card game which is very Mathematical and probability based, so I like it. I'm starting to get a little more preparation into lessons, so hopefully that'll keep going the same. Apart from that I'm almost getting into a cycle, and we're starting to help with homework more in the evenings. We hope to be back early enough to play some cricket this afternoon and we're going to a teacher's wedding reception on Tuesday which should be interesting, and that's all the news really. The funniest thing to happen since I last spoke to you was in mine + Colin's 4B spoken English class on Thursday, when we were doing about names for foods. When we asked for them to brainstorm foods, one boy at the back kept standing up and shouting 'Tobacco!', and I found it very tough not to laugh at him. It was a nice change from the usual with that class, with whom we seem to spend most of the lesson telling to sit down and be quiet. Oh, I almost forgot, it was Independence Day yesterday so once again there wasn't any school. They seem to have a lot of holidays, but they work so unbelievably hard from a young age they probably deserve it. At age 15 they're doing Maths as advanced as my A-Level course, and they do several subjects as well. In fact the 10th Standard even stay at school in the nights to study, Maria's latest project is a hostel for them, it should be finished in a couple of months. It is a lot of pressure for 15 year olds, but they seem to be very motivated. I can't imagine what further education's like for them, but for all their advanced knowledge their taught, initiative seems to have no place, and English writing exercises I've marked are absolutely awful when they have nothing to copy from, at all ages. When you consider how good their speaking, listening and reading is it surprises me a lot, but I guess they're good with the most practical aspects of the language. They just seem to be spoon fed and are not so good at thinking on their feet. I think one of the reason's Maria wants all the links with England is to try and make them get used to listening to and understanding different accents and maybe trying to get our way of learning across, but the problem is that won't get them through the exams.

Anyway, a brief update became very long without me intending it to, just shows what you can find to write about when you search about. Hope you're all well.

Rob.

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Comments

[Mum]

Very astute observations there Rob. The tension between spoon feeding in order to pass exams and allowing individual thought is constant. Possibly more in the Independent sector than the Comprehensives. Glad to hear you're using your maths!

[Duncan and Liz McKenzie]

India experiences
Rob, your journal is great, we look forward to every installment.Teaching sounds like a real experience and a challenge,as does travelling around!! Keep drinking the bottled water!!