8
Jul

Optimistic Hearts Abound

Hi, Nelle here! It is with a small bow that I welcome you to our second week in India. Our world is still topsy-turvy, but with two days at Railway Girls High School under our belts, the semester’s trajectory has become clearer. The biggest challenge of this first week has been to wrap my head around the extremes of Hyderabad. I have found extremes of communication and non-communication, of comfort and dis-comfort, of welcome and threat, of crowds and intimate friendship. Finding familiar rituals has been important, and also a spirit of “getting back on the horse that threw me.” Oh, it took 3.5 hours to get home because we got lost in the bus system? Write clearer directions and try again tomorrow.

Finding rituals in waking and in breakfast is always my go-to; it grounds me to start a day with something familiar, even rote. Wake to “Good Day Sunshine,” make coffee for now and iced tea for later, eat cereal on the balcony while reading or listening to more Beatles. A beginning ritual in the classroom has always been helpful in past teaching, and I think it will be especially important with the language barrier. I think the more space I can create for all of us (students, teachers, assistants, administrators) to clearly understand what is happening, the better.

note to self: watch Doremon cartoons

note to self: watch Doremon cartoons

We began the first class with a dancing name game, and then a drawing activity with name cards. During this time, I got to travel around our circle and have small exchanges with most of the girls, learning about favorite cartoons and answering questions about my life in the US. Next was camera basics.The girls were smart and respectful with the equipment, and as a result I left school on Friday with an entire set of portraits + name tags: an incredibly helpful tool for learning names.

After the first day I studied hard, and memorized names in alphabetical order. At the beginning of class I had the girls get themselves in alphabetical order without talking! Then I went down the row and guessed each person’s name. The happy giggles I got in return was well worth the studying. On the second day, we also launched into the “what is a story?” discussion, focusing on the intentions of story-telling, construction of story arcs, and the meaning of a modern story or digital story-telling. As always, I appreciated the translation help of my amazing assistant Asma, but also felt clear communication and understanding from the girls in the discussion.

My partner Thanuja shared about a trip to Bay of Bengal. Vacation field trip, anyone?

My partner Thanuja shared about a trip to Bay of Bengal. Vacation field trip, anyone?

We ended class by sharing childhood memories with a class partner, and then outlining their story arc. Check out picture to the right of the girls taking English notes in their journals as their partners tell their stories. I am excited for next week, when the girls will complete the same exercise with a family member and bring those stories back to class.

Although both had their moments of chaos and of peace, the improvement from the first to second day at Railway for me was great. After just one day, the girls are better able to understand my accent, and I better understand what they need from me to be successful using the equipment and discussing ideas. I feel confident that the flow will keep improving, and that together were are going to make some really awesome work.

The moment I realized I will have my pic taken this semester more than ever in my life. Paparazzi ain't got nothin' on Railway.

The moment I realized I will have my pic taken this semester more than ever in my life.
Britney Spears paparazzi ain’t got nothin’ on Railway.

 

 

 

Comments
  1. Dana

    July 11, 2013 - 3:03 pm

    So good! And I hope you don’t mind me being the first comment, but I was too excited for you to contain myself. I love your description of your morning ritual. It’s obvious the students are going to have such a good semester!!

    • Nelle Dunlap

      July 17, 2013 - 5:32 pm

      Dana! I love excited people! And talking about my breakfast…
      xo Nelle
      p.s. Ravi says “HI DANA” and is so excited you are coming backkkk.

  2. punam

    July 16, 2013 - 1:24 am

    It will only get better from here on- accents and all. Your sunny optimism is infectious and the students are so lucky to have another trio of amazing TMS fellows start the semester. The Railway students look so spiffy in their uniforms and they will surprise you!! Good luck and keep blogging!
    P.S. I am Piya’s mom and a huge TMS fan!!

    • Nelle Dunlap

      July 17, 2013 - 5:30 pm

      Oh, thank you thank you! As you could probably guess, it has already gotten smoother in the week since I wrote this post. They are SO spiffy. It’s quite an effort to keep up :-)

  3. david dunlap

    July 28, 2013 - 9:54 pm

    Today I will write clearer instructions and will try again tomorrow.

    So this is the way I can learn what you Nelle, are up to. O I like this story, these stories.

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