Student Intervention Program-Teach English to Municipal School Children

This web-page /blog-spot is mainly intended for volunteers from Teach-India Initiative enrolled in the weekend 2-hours Spoken English Language / Communication program at Kumud Vidyamandir and other schools organized by Kotak Education Foundation (KEF). This is a temporary site prepared and posted by volunteers to help each other. This is not an official web-site of KEF.The solutions given here to some of the problem situations have come from the volunteers themselves. In general, the suggestions follow the basic guidelines proposed by the KEF Student Intervention Program (SIP).

Volunteering to teach is an admirable action. There are many ways to give back to society. Giving money is one way of giving back. However, the giving of one’s time seems to be more difficult in the contemporary world. Many people say – money, if lost, can be recovered later. Time, once gone, never comes back. Time spent in teaching means increasing the level of difficulty for oneself. Not only does the volunteer give time, but the volunteer is now interacting with a human being – with all its attendant joys and frustrations. Most importantly the volunteer can see the results of that interaction immediately – on the child’s face. The volunteer can also monitor progress and follow the child’s learning and development path.

Teaching comes close to parenting as one of the most important functions in society and plays a huge role in social reproduction. Teaching is one of the foundations of learning for the next generation.

Teaching is very powerful but it is also a responsibility.Teaching brings a lot of joy to both student and teacher. However, “creating joy” has its own difficulties and frustrations.
Remember - these obstacles, difficulties and frustrations are completely surmountable. Someone – some teacher overcame them when you were a child.

When we start teaching or anything new for that matter, it is natural to have apprehensions. All the volunteers who returned to the 2nd session were bubbling with happiness and joy of meeting their students again, however, it would also be right to say that all of them had anxieties, question, and reservations at the start. They were concerned – “Did I do this right?” “I hope I did not damage this child permanently with my bad teaching” J

Of course there are teething problems in any new activity. Of course we can overcome them. Of course we can help each other in the process. After all we volunteered because we wanted to share something in the first place.

This blog-spot is a site for sharing our experiences, concerns, problems and their potential solutions and it is intended to act as a discussion forum for volunteers for this program.

The THREE main objectives of the Blog are

1) List some of the common issues faced by the volunteers and articulated by them at the end of each session

2) List of potential solutions attempted by volunteers or arrived at by discussion to overcome them is provided.

3) To share your specific experiences with the child you are teaching and the progress you are making with them
Please feel free to add your problems and the potential solutions you have tried and have succeeded and write as many comments as possible for each of the posts here!
There are no correct answers or best strategies. This program is a learning process for the teacher as well as the student
Remember that just like every CEO / Manager has her / his own management style. Every teacher also develops her / his own style of teaching. There are general guidelines that can be shared. We can learn from each other’s experiences.

BOTTOM LINE!!
You are there to help the child – not evaluate and judge the child. Help the child to comprehend and form sentences and speak in sentences spontaneously. Be the child’s friend. Remember when you turn the alphabets around in T-E-A-C-H, you get the word c-h-e-a-t. So, don’t examine and evaluate the child from Session One. Help the child along. Ask a question and then - whisper the correct answer in their ears even as they are answering (or simply move your lips to mouth the words without saying it aloud).
HELP THE CHILD – PLAY GAMES – HAVE FUN.

(This site is managed by Shilpa Sehgal, a volunteer from the first batch. Any questions or suggestions can be emailed to her at shilpa.sehgal@gmail.com)

What do I talk to a child who is not of my gender?

Potential Solution 1: Find common ground with the child and treat him/her like any other person you would meet of the opposite or SAME gender! Despite all the hype about gender differences, we still share many things in common – this planet for one! You can start a list of things boys and girls share in common.
You will find that many children of this age group do differentiate between boys and girls. There is a lot of gender-socialization in India. Girls do women’s work and boys do men’s things. You can help bridge some of these issues by playing the game – What do we have in common?

I want to teach grammar more systematically so student will understand

Potential Solution 1: The objective of the program is to teach spoken English and not formal grammar. Correct the child when he speaks the wrong syntax and don’t worry about formal teaching of grammar rules. Please listen to the student’s speech, and rectify as you go along.
Most of us learn language at a very early age (less than 2 years) and no one talks to an infant with a grammar book.
To the best of our knowledge, there seems to be no documented case in the world where someone suffered fatal injuries due to bad grammar. We have asked friends and colleagues to find out J

I need a syllabus or textbook - that will help me to gauge progress

Potential Solution 1: See that as a blessing. Here is a rare opportunity to make an individualized learning plan for the child and set individual goals for her. There is no standard syllabus and no exam at the end of the session.
Remember how Shane Warne took his team to victory in the inaugural IPL. He identified each player’s strengths and weaknesses. Based on that he gave specific roles to each person and appreciated and motivated them at each step.

I feel nervous because I do not know if I am teaching the right way. I am not teaching grammar from a textbook. Am I doing the right thing?

Potential Solution 1: There is no right way. You will evolve your own style. Flow with the process. Do not offend anyone. Do not say insensitive things. Ask questions and make the child speak more. If you do not know something, acknowledge it and make a team with the child – Decide to find out together.If you are nervous, ask another volunteer or some of the staff members in the school / hall for help. Play a Game. You cannot be nervous while playing..

Student is very shy and does not communicate

Potential Solution 1: Activities and games can help to break the ice.

Potential Solution 2: Slowly win the Childs trust. Make him your friend and try to talk to him

Student does not understand my question in English.

Potential Solution 1: Speak slowly. Let the child hear the words. You can also use appropriate actions / gestures.

Potential Solution 2:Translate the question for him in Hindi/Marati and then repeat it in English. Make the child repeat the question back for you in English

There is a variation (a gap) in the abilities or skills of spoken English between the two students allotted to me. Should I seek uniformity??!!

Potential Solution 1: Diversity is inherent in nature and society. Embrace variation. Don’t be afraid of differences. Your embracing attitude towards differences / variation will be observed and learnt by the students. If you shun difference, if you are afraid of difference, it will be apparent to the student (consciously or unconsciously). Remember this “teaching experience” is as much of a learning experience for you as it is for the child. Be open about differences. Children already know it. But play a “What do we have in common game?” List all the things that the three or four of you (teacher included) have in common. Make one column per person. You will be surprised to see how much we have in common with each other.
Potential Solution 2: List the strengths of each child. Do not highlight weaknesses of the children. They know it already. They have been told that a 1000 times by all of society (including themselves). List their strengths. Keep asking till you find their strengths. Re-arrange your mind to see strengths (and not weaknesses and deficiencies). The glass is half-full (not half-empty. For example - Coming to school on time is discipline; helping a friend is cooperation; playing with friends is teamwork; sharing a toy, book, or homework demonstrates good social skill.
Potential Solution 3: Encourage children to talk in turns and play a game to facilitate children speaking in turns. Let the child with better skills help the child with weaker skills.
Potential Solution 4: Use this opportunity to build soft skills and listening skills in the children.

How can I sustain a conversation with a child with whom I have nothing in common for 45 - 50 minutes!!??!!

Potential Solution 1: Try and make everything you do with a child into a game. Play Games – Games – Games.

Potential Solution 2: Ask her to name everything she sees in the room/outside the window/In a picture in English. Ask the question: What do I see? Point out. Then say: “I see a fan.” After you have demonstrated once (Please demonstrate once before asking the child to do something. Many of us expect our students or even staff and especially spouses to read our minds). The key to good communication is telling the other person exactly what you expect.

Potential Solution 3: Later, you may encourage the child to describe an object in 3 to 5 sentences. E.g.- What can you tell me about this pen/chair/tube light? Guide her to talk about different aspects of the object. We can describe an object by its uses / functions; by the materials used in it; by how it looks or appears. E.g.- Physical features/use of the object/how it works/how is it made/who uses it/When is it used, etc .First, you describe an object to a child. Encourage her to as you questions about the object.

Potential Solution 4: Please use your judgment and sensitivity here. Do not use pictures that are offensive or gory. Show the child pictures of people or cut-outs from the newspaper or magazines. Ask him questions on how the characters are feeling? Ask him why he thinks so? Take a photograph / picture (or picture book) with multiple characters and you describe the feelings of one of the character. Encourage the child to speak in sentences. Help the child along as he / she forms the sentence. Applaud and appreciate when he / she completes the sentence (even though it was with your help). Then ask the child to repeat the sentence. Monitor and provide feedback. Make corrections as you go along.

Potential Solution 5: Play the game of “Word Antakshari” with the children. Ask them to name an object. For example - “Pen”…the next child has to name an object with N….”Nail”….the third child has to say something with L….Lion etc etc. And the show goes on …

Problem 1: I do not know how to start a conversation with the child?

Potential Solution 1: Introduce yourself and ask the child to introduce himselfTell him the purpose of this session and ask him what he expects to learn

Potential Solution 2: Make up an imaginary reason or excuse for the meeting. It could be a fun thing. This will definitely make the child smile if not laugh). That is always a good start. Remember – a smile is the shortest distance between two people. You are basically asking how do I reduce this gap / distance. Create smiles as you can during the meeting.

Potential Solution 3: Play the game “dumb charades.” Tell the child that you will enact something (a simple action word such as the action of - flying) and the child will have to guess the right word. The child can guess in any language. You can ask the child to say it in “English.” Help the child in finding the right word. Then, make the child do the same thing – enact a word and you guess it. Make mistakes and let the child teach you.