The Kempty Village in Mussoorie has one local school where the children from the village go for learning. The school provides education up till grade 8, and is a small place with barely any lights or resources.
We decided to go to the school and teach the kids over there, not only with books but also make them do fun activities. Our primary aim was to not only teach them how to solve sums and write english words, but to teach them how to communicate well and how to use math in real life scenarios.
LO1: I have a considerate nature and often enjoy getting involved in social services. I had put my best efforts to come up with creative activities for the children to enjoy learning with us. I was confident and effectively communicated with the children to help them with any doubts or queries. I ensured that everyone gets a chance while we were playing games and quizzes – maximum participation and involvement. On the other hand, I feel that I need to work on developing my patience; I am often irritated when someone doesn’t cooperate well with me, or things do not go as planned. While teaching the children, there were few kids who weren’t
On the other hand, I feel that I need to work on my patience; I was getting frustrated when some of the kids did not cooperate well with me. However I understand that they are not as literate and have unique backgrounds which I am not familiar with, that might lead to some of them being overwhelmed and some being hesitant. As an individual, I need to develop patience and control my emotions when I am working with many people.
LO2: After 2-3 sessions with them, I was familiar with their attitudes and learning behavior. As I learnt what they enjoyed and what they did not like, I tried to modify and change the learning activities along with my group-mates. There were often fights and arguments among the children; some were too shy to participate and a few were ignorant of all. However, most of them were enthusiastic to learn and always had great smiles on their faces. After 2 sessions, we made the children work in groups to develop their bonding with one another. This also led them to synergise well with one another and not fight between our classes.
LO4: Being in a boarding school, we are always involved in some or the other event. The weekends provided us with plenty of time to self study and work on our assignments. Taking out 4-5 hours for service was tough, but I feel that it was totally worth it. After 1-2 sessions, I always felt like going and spending time with those kids. It really made me feel good because those children were always excited and curious to learn. This experience taught me a lot as well, most of all, to appreciate my priviledge and be grateful.
LO5: We divided ourselves into groups of 4 and catered to a set of students. My group and I coordinated pretty well, such as working on subjects which we were good at. I taught maths because I really like the subject and I also came up with different activities to make math more fun and interesting for the students. This is how my groupmates worked too, which ensured a smooth flow of learning.
LO6: Teaching routine subjects inside classrooms does give them knowledge, but some important skills are often neglected. Our aim was to make them learn through interaction and communication. They should not only know how to read and write, but what to speak and how to speak. Maybe giving them a few classes wouldn’t make much of a difference, but at least it would make them feel accepted and valued. Each student felt important as we demanded 100% participation and involvement. Underprivileged people are often ignored, especially their opinions or ideas. We aimed to listen to them and make their ideas heard. I feel every human should be treated with respect, and their income levels shouldn’t define their worth.
