Namas-theta

The Lohri holiday is celebrated to recognized newborn babies and newlywed couples. It is the first holiday celebrated in the year, and people recognize it as the start of a new beginning. They also recognize this day as the closing of the winter season. A bonfire is made at night, and families gather around to eat supper together. Peanuts are thrown into the fire to represent the bad things in life being burned away, leaving all the good things remaining. To celebrate this holiday at Drishti, the 2nd standard students put on a show! Since secondary students are preparing for exams these days, it was nice that teachers and students alike got to take this break. The sun finally popped out from behind the clouds, and the warmth of the sunshine felt so good! They burned a large bonfire and students were given peanuts to throw into the flames. At the beginning of each school year, a list of programs are sent out to the teachers. Each standard gets the opportunity to host a prog...

...and a warm welcome it was. My first day on school grounds was the last day of winter break for students and teachers. Teachers were rushing around getting last minute preparations done and grade books approved by department coordinators. Meanwhile, I was given the grand tour of the school by Manpreet, my mentor teacher for one of the 6th grade classes I am with. After touring the school, I met with four math teachers who I am working with to discuss curriculum and next steps. Since students will be taking exams throughout these next few months, it's time for teachers to hit the ground running with the last few chapters in order to prepare students well. Of all the math to jump into teaching right off the bat, I jump into the same topic as I did when I began student teaching in the states - geometric constructions. The teachers told me that I will be introducing geometric constructions in sixth standard and rules of exponents in seventh standard. Here, grades  are called stan...

In August 2018, I went to my university advisor to ask how I could get ahead for missing a week of school due to an international trip I had planned mid-semester. "I love international experiences!" my advisor exclaimed. "I did some of my student teaching in Australia!" I paused and considered what it would be like to student teach overseas. "...Is that still a thing?"  Thus the research began for our quest to find how we could make this "a thing" at Tennessee Tech. By the end of the fall semester, we found a program at Indiana University (IU) called the Global Gateway for Teachers. I submitted my registration set through the mail in March and received the confirmation email soon after. Global Gateway has a large selection of countries to choose from. Since I am a secondary education math major, I could only choose countries where that was allowed in which the school's main instruction is in English. After narrowing down my choices,...