They are all so different. They are of different ages, different backgrounds, and different development. Some go to government schools in the morning, some don't go to any schools at all. Some work in the fields, some take care of younger ones in the family, some are even married! Yes, don't be surprised, child marriage is practiced here in Rajasthan (here is a recent piece of news on legalization of child marriages in Rajasthan).
Some have better knowledge of English than others, some are more eager to learn, some will return many times and some will only appear once in a blue moon. They are all so different and very unique.
So, the question is how to deal with such a diverse crowd when teaching a simple concept of numbers? At the beginning I was sure that if working in groups the group leaders or the eldest/advanced kids will incorporate the others into learning process but today I realize there are many obstacles and pit holes even in this process.
One of the things is that each day different kids would come to DAAN school. The new kids do not have any idea of the activities we have been doing and the material learnt. To deal with this problem we decided to introduce material slowly in small chunks so that the new information is absorbed effectively by all members of the groups. For example, today we taught numbers 1 through 40, only introducing 30-40 as new numbers. The same game was played as a day before (each group has a number and the other groups ask questions trying to guess it). In addition each group is tested on the numbers and the performance prize is given to the group and special performance prize is given to the group leader.
The weirdest thing happened. Right in the middle of the class a man came in and started giving us blessings by placing a red dot on the forehead and then giving out sweets. I didn't really understand what was going on but did wonder a bit. So after we were all blessed class continued when I noticed chunks of the lower part of the wall started to fall on the floor from excessively vigorous drilling occurring from the other side. I realized then that we were all blessed because some well was being dug and the pipes were being put through the concrete. I still did not understand why the classroom wall needed to be drilled. The pipes could have put behind the wall. It's India. Hard to understand.
India, diversity, the whole unusualness of everything. I thought I have gone through all this before in 2006-2007 when I spent a long time in this country. Apparently I forgot what it felt like. The new awakening started.
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