We are so excited to be posting our first photostory!

One of the first assignments I gave my students at Seethaphalmandi was to bring in an object that was precious to them and share it with the class so that I could get to know them better.  The class implored me to do the same and, the next day, I obliged by bringing in a handful of postcards from my friends’ travels.  At first, the postcards were a simple tool to help explain the basics of creating a storyboard for a photostory.  I had my students shout out what they could infer about Portugal from an image of a white church next to a lighthouse, or Washington, D.C. from a shot of the capital building or Israel from a close-up of a decked out camel.  Then, I read the accompanying text aloud to demonstrate how even more can be gleaned from a detailed written description.  Immediately, the students began to reflect on their own surroundings and to quiz me on how much I was able to understand about the culture of Hyderabad based on what I had seen so far.  They wanted to know what my friends thought of India, what had I taught them.  One student asked: “Teacher, have you sent any postcards yet?

And thus, the idea for our digital postcard was born.

Many ideas were thrown out in that first brainstorming session and I really hope that we get a chance to return to some of them- but partly because these students are naturally inclined to be in front of the camera and the idea of dressing up at school was exciting and partly because of my inability to pronounce or spell any of the things I was wearing they decided first to educate the masses about traditional Indian dress.

Digital Postcard: Indian Dress from The Modern Story on Vimeo.

I wrote in an earlier post about creative confidence about our goals of serving more as facilitators than teachers, of actively listening more than we lecture, and of our desire to see students confidently share what they know and think and feel with us.  And in this class my students really had no option but to muster that creative confidence (please refer back to my previously mentioned ignorance).  When we needed to write a scene identifying the pieces of a half saree or decide whether a photograph should be a portrait of one student or a group shot the students quickly realized that I wasn’t the one with the “right” answer- they were.  It was wonderful to watch them step up and be the experts that they are and it’s led to our classroom having a much more open and egalitarian feel.

On a typical Thursday I’ll come in and ask them about what’s happened in the city since the last time I saw them- it’s festival season so there’s almost always been something exciting.  One week, a Muslim student taught me as well as the Hindu and Christian students in the class about Eid.  The following week, I explained absurd and amazing spectacle that is Halloween.  And this past week, a student named Nityanand explained the upcoming Ganesha festival- he’s an expert and counts it as his favorite since it happens around his birthday.  I can’t wait to continue learning from and alongside these students, but I think we’ll start off this week with a mini celebratory festival of our own!