Nalgonda | The Modern Story

In early December our APRS class worked on a documentary about food at their school and the right to food in India. We’ll show you the finished project in January. While part of the class focused on editing their work in Final Cut Express under Ilana’s guidance, I encouraged some of the others to practice the stop-motion animations we had learned earlier in the semester. Since it had previously been difficult for them to understand that they should only move their drawings small amounts with each frame, this time I tried the method of animation with chalk drawings. The boys set up the tripod, and I demonstrated by drawing a cloud, taking a photo, drawing a raindrop, taking another photo, drawing another raindrop, and repeating. Art lovers that they are, they took my simple example and elaborated with more clever ones. The first series demonstrates their talents with letters and calligraphy:

APRS Letters and Calligraphy from The Modern Story on Vimeo.

The second series is a set of “how-to” drawings:

APRS Drawing Lessons from The Modern Story on Vimeo.

Additionally, some of the students who only joined the class recently took this time to practice making video slide shows. The boys love Windows Movie Maker’s array of transition and video effects, as you’ll see in Saleem’s project below. The photos are from a day when they practiced filming scenes from their favorite films. Thanks for watching!

APRS Video Production from The Modern Story on Vimeo.

Oct, 14

tms@themodernstory.com

Classroom News, Student Writing

Andhra Pradesh, Argentina, biryani, Eid Mubarak, eid ul-fitr, fasting, haleem, holy book, Hyderabad, Iftar, India, Islam, Islam around the world, Istanbul, Mecca, Medina, mosque, Muslims, Nalgonda, Palestine, prayer, Quran, Ramadan, ramazan, Ramzan, religion, Sewiyah, Singapore, Sudan, Turkey Jordan, United States

A Very Belated Eid Mubarak

We’re back! Ilana and I have resumed classes at APRS boys’ school in Nalgonda, after an extended break for Ramzan and exams. We spent the past three days there, and after a one-day break we’ll be heading there again for the weekend. To introduce the photo slideshow project (see the photos from the first stage on Flickr) Ilana brought her Vizag and Vijayawada slideshows to share with the boys, and I created one of images of Islam around the world. A few of the photos came from my own collection from Palestine and Jordan, while the rest I found online, such as these photos from Ramadan in Sudan and Turkey:

Photo by Vit Hassan, taken in Northern Sudan

Photo by Vit Hassan, taken in Northern Sudan

Photo by Erik N., taken in Istanbul

The boys were especially excited to see photos of Saudi Arabia, being the site of two holiest cities in Islam, Mecca and Medina. But they were surprised by the range of other countries I showed pictures from, as they searched our class globe for Singapore, Argentina, and the United States.

That evening for homework each member of the class wrote a description of how they celebrate Ramzan (or Ramadan) here in India. Although Ilana and I were around to taste haleem (well, Ilana did anyway–I’m vegetarian), talk to people about the experience of fasting, and even take advantage of some holiday sales, what better way to introduce the full experience than with the writings of our boys? We were quite pleased with the detail of their descriptions, and we hope you enjoy and learn from them!

Bari

Our Ramzan.

By Bari

We are Muslims. In the ramzan Muslims will be Raza! Raza means we are not eat food and drinking water with 5 am to 6:30 pm. We eat food at 5 am that is (saher) and to Namaz to pray and read Quran. 6:30 pm in the raza we will do IFTAR. Iftar means we will eat (khajoor) means dates and some fruits this is called IFTAR.

Quran is our holy book. Its come to Ramaz month. It is the gift of God. We will give respect to Quran. We will leave Raza on 30 days. After 30 days we will do one festival that festival name is EID-UL-FITUR means we will go to EID-GHA and pray the Namaz. This namaz is read at 7:30 am. Namaz is over we will give to shake hand and hugging and say each other (EID MUBARAK) we will go to our home and eat food and drink sheer korma. Sheer korma is very famous in ramazan. Sheer koroma means the milk and shewiya means like a (magi, noodles) we will got our relatives house and we will do salam and say EID Mubarak. This is called our Ramazan festival.

Siraj

Eid-ul-Fitr, My story

By Siraj

Ramzan Festival

I will wake up on the festival at 5:00 am and go to brought the milk for Sewiyah. I brought 15 litres of milk for the Sewiyah. After that I will take a bath a have fresh. And wear the new clothes. We take the Itar (spray) on the new clothes. It was scent like a spray. After we will go to the (Eid-gah) the big mosque for the prayer. After the prayer we will back to home.

There was a my favourite and special sweet of the (Eid) festival was Sewiyah. I take one cup and drink it. My mom was cooking the Sewiyah very special. In the ramzan the Sewiyah was very special. After the drinking sewiyah we eat food of chicken biryani and curd. After we will go to meet the relatives. We shake hands and say (EID MUBARAK) to each other. After we meet our friends and enjoy. We will take (Eidi). The EIDI the gift to the childrens the relatives and parents gives. My father give me 150 rupees of (EIDI). We will enjoy the lot of the ice-creams, cakes, and burgur. After the enjoying I will get back home and eat the chicken biryani and go to the sleep.

Dec, 13

tms@themodernstory.com

Daily Updates, Photo Stories, Student Writing, Videos

graphic novels, illustrated stories, mysticism, Nalgonda, religion, rural India

Exploring religion and mysticism in rural India using digital media skills

Arbani, a student in our 9th grade class at Nalgonda has been working on an illustrated story all semester. He wanted to demonstrate the first installment. Arbani attends an all Muslim boys school on the extreme outskirts of Hyderabad in a small town called Nalgonda. He wanted to explore issues of religion and mysticism in rural India.

In this short story, notice how the student uses nature as a setting for the crossover between Christian and Muslim faiths to occur. Reading Ralph Waldo Emerson’s ‘On Nature’ may provide the reader with a poetic introduction: “in the woods is perpetual youth.” Arbani sees nature as the proper setting for religions to renew themselves and to mix together through mischief and economic need. His story lives in the rural woodlands. It emphasizes what Emerson implied but never stated, that in the woods is perpetual wonder. I hope you enjoy this short piece. You will notice a marked difference in their ability to write with an individual voice and produce original ideas. This student has done so with success and many more are to follow. The enchanted wood of childhood not yet reduced to lumber.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGLOn08r5o0]

Below is a copy of the script.

Once upon a time there was a village. In olden days there was a forest in the village.

In the village there was living a magician. One day the magician was going to the forest. Suddenly he saw two devils by the church. He took a bottle and caught the two devils. He was a very brave man. He caught the devil, who is not one man but two, and put him in the bottle. The devil said please open the bottle cap. The magician said I don’t open bottle caps…you would escape. The magician said I need so much money, I need spirit, I need a show. I’ll put on a magic show.

The magician made the devils his assistant and performed a show in the church. After, the magician took them and went to the devil’s home safely.

The devils are very powerful. The devils broke the bottle and escaped. The devils will is the magician’s will. The devils are happy. The magician is sad. Hear him cry at the mosque, at the muezzin, *his call to prayer.

*Note: Arbani also considered this for his last line:

“Hear him cry at the mosque, at the meuzzin, being alone is also his call to prayer.”

Dec, 10

tms@themodernstory.com

Classroom News, Daily Updates

human rights day, Nalgonda, social justice curriculum

Human Rights Day, December 10th

Despite warnings of a strike and ‘Maoist insurgents’ prowling the rural areas around Nalgonda, TMS had class today after a lengthy break that was due to Bakreid holidays and school closures under black out periods imposed by the Telangana Separatist Movement. It was also Human Rights Day.

Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Taken from: http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

Class today was tough. At the beginning the boys were rowdier and more listless than they have ever been. When I brought up past ideas for film projects related to human rights with one student, Rahman, his interest flagged. While talking to Rahman there seemed to be a disconnect that happened when this phrase was brought up as if the student was saying to me, ‘I know more about those two words than you could teach me with a thousand.’ I think there should be a word of caution when assuming that children who go to under privileged schools are more interested in discussing under privileged schools. There is no reason that underprivileged students need declare their rights in order to claim them – in other words, these boys are mature enough to be aware they will have to struggle to achieve many rights others take for granted. They are much more interested in activities that reinforce their humor, their capacity for wonder and creative expression with hands on exercises.

Our lesson progressed and we got into the creative writing assignment. Their interest picked back up. The boys recorded their short stories on camera. They practiced their interviewing, camera and directing skills. They are both innocent and mischievous- a quality which makes for great story telling. The atmosphere of spontaneity, interest and excitement came rushing back into the classroom.

Today, their creative writing exercise was designed to also practice interview skills. The boys were given a structured short story with blanks to fill in that involved questions and answers. These Q & A’s were designed to teach them the importance of asking ‘how’ and ‘why questions during interviews – questions that pull out more interesting threads of discussion. By the end of the activity their smiles and excitement were overflowing. Even Arshan, a troublemaker of sorts whom I adore, left class with statements of, ‘thank you sir for this opportunity today.’ Their light words replaced the heat of the afternoon.

The boys have chosen to highlight the builders working on the new wing of their school for their video. Thus, for our first short project we are focusing on themes of ‘Building a better life.’ At the individual level the boys’ will have already shared their experience creatively by recording on video short stories that deal with achieving their aims in life. At the community level, the boys plan to conduct interviews tomorrow with builders who are reinforcing this ‘building a better life’ theme at a community level. And lastly, the boys will be interacting with TED Talk videos and other on-line media that concern this theme at the national level.

After today I see it is important for social justice educators to remember that these students are all too aware of human rights issues that our lesson plans would like to preach. Indeed, there is cause for academic discussion of these issues. However, on the ground, at the local and individual level, there is a more immediate demand to celebrate the individual that such declarations try to empower. On this Human Rights Day, against the context of so much political turmoil and economic uncertainty, I can say the boys accomplished just that, waving as we rode away with a casual smile of the student declaring to be no more, and no less than himself.

Mar, 2

tms@themodernstory.com

Daily Updates, Pilot Semester, Reflections

Apple, digital storytelling, Education, Final Cut, India, Nalgonda, students, teaching abroad, technology education, video editing

The Wave

Tuesday, February 26
After two intense days of computer focused lesson plans, the boys in Nalgonda are off and running with the Final Cut video-editing software they’re using for their “A day in the life of” projects. Most of our classes begin the same way: Our 12 push through the dense ring of boys that has circled us in the computer classroom. Numerous PC’s are turned on, and traditional and disco-esque house music plays through the speakers of a couple computers. Everyone, including our 12, huddle around the computers, clicking, making elaborate posters with their names in artistic fonts using powerpoint, and playing around with the half-dozen songs they have uploaded to the computer and can now access through Windows Media Player. This all happens in the first 5 to 15 minutes before class starts. The boys pass off control of the mouse like passing a bag of M&M’s, everyone gets a few clicks, completes a few tasks, and then the mouse is passed… or grabbed. Personal space around the computer is not the issue; they are all just trying to get a peak at the screen, at the programs, at the technology.

The rush in and absorb as much of the computer as they can before being kicked out so our class can start. At the end of our class, around 4:30pm, the same scenario plays out if there is not a high-profile cricket match to watch in the courtyard. But, still, even then there is a throng of boys rushing in to switch on the computers and watch what our class has created during the time they’ve been IN THE COMPUTER CLASSROOM! I mean, really, the place is like a posh club scene with lines out of the room; several bouncers guard the door and regularly toss unruly individuals out, while the “cool few” march in and get access to the computers that are quickly turned on. The boys come to observe, ask questions about “everything technology” that they see in the classroom and in our bags, and practice their English.

A week ago, I had a discussion about computer memory with a group of class 10 boys who always eagerly approach me when our class is finished. They saw Piya hand me her pocket flash drive (aka “stick” flash memory drive – USB) and asked what it was. They told me that they were interested in computers and a couple wanted to be software/hardware engineers. I handed the flash drive to them and was floored at how attentive they were while I talked about nano technology and the future of flash memory drives in computers. The boys wanted to see more technology, to use it more often. They wanted to absorb more, to learn, to participate in the larger discussion that could just be about computers, or could be about global jobs, opportunities inside and outside of their country.

The computer room is open to students during their “computer class” period. Unfortunately, the oldest students in the school – class 10 – who are the most fluent in English and are consistently the first to greet us when we arrive, are not allowed to use the computers. Their computer education stops after class 9, as class 10 spends the entire year studying for their final Class 10 Exam, which, depending on the score a student earns, basically decides if and where the student has a chance applying to college… the opportunity to move forward in their education.

I started this post by saying that the boys in our class are off and running with the Final Cut software, and I mean it. As I half-expected, much of my instruction on the first day fell on deaf ears – the program engulfed their senses, and the group of six huddled around the computer looked at me like a smudge on the wall, I was there on the wall and that was about it. Toward the end of class, my voice was getting through, but, really, most of the learning was done through trial and error with this particular group. I watched as they found the different tools on the screens, differentiated between single and double-clicking for certain commands, and noted the various ways that video clips could be placed on the storyboard, cut, and overlapped. The boys were hands-on, using a tool and figuring out just how it acted and what it could do. The boys were editing.

The second day using the Final Cut software was quite inspiring. The boys got right down to the business of editing, remembering where and how to make the cuts, and listening to each other as they talked about everyone’s opinion of each clip. There was a genuine Socratic discussion happening around the computer – talking, deciding, and creating, together.
The group’s video of “A day in the life of” is now finished, and they will soon shift to their next and final project that will combine all of the photo, video, and writing exercises they have completed over the past 5 weeks. We’ll be posting a description/ outline soon…
In the short time before and after our class, the boys’ curiosity floods the computer classroom. Students rush in like a heavy set and wash over the computers and the room. Eagerness around learning the computer extends beyond the 12 in the class and into the minds of the boys who continuously make the most of their 5-15 minutes of “computer curiosity”…in the hot club…the computer classroom.