School Visits in Pune 7/5-7/12

You can tell I’ve been extremely busy by the lack of postings on my blog! Days at my host school started around 7:30 a.m. or earlier and end about midnight. My host teacher is determined to show me everything she possibly can in the 7 days I am with her in Pune. Since I cam paired with a science teacher from NC, we are seeing many high school science and English classes as well as making school visits to pre-schools, public schools (called government schools here), non-aided private schools (they don’t receive any gov’t funds), aided private schools (they receive some gov’t funds), slum schools, schools teaching only in English and schools teaching in the state language of Mathari. In general, the classrooms are much smaller than American classrooms, have no air-conditioning, whiteboards or computers. Needless to say, the physical conditions are challenging and I haven’t even mentioned the 60 students sitting side by side in close rows!  The students are quite adept at dealing with the heat, close quarters and noise level. I find it very difficult to hear what the teachers are saying and to hear the students’ questions because of the background racket. The constant sound of students in a nearby class reciting material out loud, children at recess, and car horns honking were extremely distracting for me. I asked a teacher if that was an issue for the students and she said, “No, the children are use to it.” Guess I will get use to it too.

A kindergarten class in a private school.

Students in my host teacher's science classroom.

I wonder how the students take tests without noticing their close neighbor's answers!