Teaching Trainings, News Prep, & Settling In

My first weekend at Shanti Bhavan was very relaxed, as volunteers are not scheduled to teach and students only have school for half the day on Saturday. Most volunteers use the free time to head into Bangalore, but I decided to stay on campus this weekend. On Saturday, I attended morning assembly and had a couple of meetings about working with the students who present the news each day. On Sunday, I joined PT (playtime) with the older girls, and we played an intense game of basketball. I was shocked by how competitive everyone was and impressed by the girls' ability to handle criticism - it felt very different from PE in the U.S.

The guest house where all of the volunteers stay. I have two roommates - one from London and another from Australia!

The biggest role I’ve taken on so far is helping the four students who deliver the news during morning assembly. The group rotates every two weeks, but their term can be extended if the staff feels their performance hasn’t met expectations. It’s made up of two 9th graders and two 11th graders, with each student assigned a different topic: one on India, one on the U.S., one on science, and one on uplifting or positive global news. The night before, we meet for an hour so they can research their topics, write their summaries, and prepare for audience questions. Then, the next morning, we meet again for an hour to practice presenting and responding to those questions. I love researching the news alongside them and hearing their opinions on Indian national stories.

Another role for volunteers is to supervise morning PT - though we usually end up joining the games. :) Everyone wakes up at 6am and the younger kids head off to play time while the older kids study. I was assigned to the soccer field for boys grades 4-7 on Monday morning!

Morning PT with the 4-7th grade boys

The weekday schedule is very full, starting at 6am and ending at 10:30pm. There are nine class periods each day, and every student attends all of them - unlike in U.S. high schools, where you might have a free period. The younger grades head to bed after dinner, but students in grade 8 and above stay up for a news session led by a teacher, followed by additional study time.

Student schedule Monday - Friday

As part of training, volunteers spend the first week shadowing classes and getting a feel for the teaching style and classroom management. Over the past few days, I’ve been shadowing and providing individual support in Kindergarten, 2nd grade reading, and 4th grade creative writing. Since several volunteers are leaving this week, I’ll be taking over some of these classes, so this transition period helps make the shift smoother for both the teachers and the students.

4th grade creative writing class

For the rest of this week, my main focus will be creating a curriculum and building the new public speaking class that Shanti Bhavan is launching next week. More on that coming soon!

A couple of my meals from last week: breakfast on the left (dosa, chutney, and fried eggs) & dinner on the right (lentil and potato curry over rice, papad, and vegetable sambar with squash, okra, and corn).