My second day of teaching in India. I had an early free period so I headed to the library to catch up on my own notes. Then my solitude was broken when a class came in to choose books and read.
What struck me about the library, other than the no air conditioning (I know, spoiled American), was that the bulk of the books that I looked at were in English. Many of the books were the same titles that are in my own school’s library. As I watched, one of the middle school aged classes came in and selected books, ranging from graphic novels to large chapter books. What struck me were the similarities between American and Indian students. What I noticed most were the students behaviors. There was one table of girls diligently reading beside the table of boys holding the books up over their faces so that they could talk (thinking that their teacher couldn’t see or hear them). I tried not to giggle, because I have seen the same thing from my own classes.
In talking with my host teacher, I knew that I would be observing several classes but that I would be teaching World History. Yesterday, the department head asked me to explain American elections to her political science classes. It had been years since I had taught government and even though I know the topic I was afraid that I had forgotten everything. I spent the night before brushing up on the electoral college, and outlining a very brief overview of the United States political system.
It shocked me how interested the students were in a foreign governments election process. It is one thing to understand that you live in a globally powerful country but another to know it. Students wanted to know how things worked in the United States not just because many of them had visited but because politicians impact extends well beyond their own countries borders. Both the length of the political campaigns as well as the primary elections were interesting to the students.
Students were also interested in the voter registration process and the fact that we can easily change political party affiliation. They asked questions about the voting process and I shared my own experiences voting as on an absentee ballot, in a polling place, and early voting.
Tomorrows assignment World History as well as observations.
