Today we were at Baba Campus of the Mahatma Schools. It is on the same property as the school we've been at for the last two days, but a different part. Baba also has K-12 students. Once again I felt like royalty. We were welcomed with a military salute, more flowers and another great morning assembly. It was high school students welcoming us today and they performed skits and held a debate. Prof Kelly addressed the students briefly too. It's always nice to hear what he has to say!
The principal, Ms. Jackie, shared with us a portfolio slideshow of the school's activities and again I was amazed by how well rounded the curriculum is here. The students take part in so many wonderful hands on and interactive activities to supplement their learning and observe special events and holidays/festivals. The costumes are quite elaborate and definitely beautiful! Each day I am completely amazed by the detail and effort the students put into every event.
We spent most of the rest of the day visiting classrooms, observing teachers and talking with students. Grade two students have a class on animals and I talked with two adorable little boys about what they've learned about chimpanzees and foxes. The students at Baba Campus are also very well behaved and studious, just like those we saw before. One of the interesting things I learned today was that the students in Mahatma schools have an assigned classroom, and the teachers move from class to class. Most of the schools I've seen in the US assign a teacher to the classroom and send the students on the move. I'm not sure which, if either, is more beneficial, but it seems an odd way of doing things (probably just because it's different than I'm used to).
One of the things I saw today that I really liked was co-teaching. A 3rd grade class was split into 3 sections with one learning science, one English and one math. This isn't a new concept, but certainly one I like. The teachers are sticking to their expertise and the students benefit greatly, in my opinion.
We had a wonderful opportunity to leave campus for lunch today and travel to a local restaurant owned by a dear friend of the founder of Mahatma Schools. She had visited us yesterday at the school and wanted to provide us lunch at her restaurant. The food was amazing, but it was quite a spread and I wanted to try everything so I ended up eating way too much! She did serve us a few things I wasn't particularly fond of, including some kind of treat that is supposed to aid digestion. It was some kind of mixture contained within rolled leaves. I spit it out as soon as it hit my tongue! I thought it tasted like the smell of that sand stuff they use to clean up vomit in the school! YUCK! Most of the other dishes were wonderful though, and she served coffee after. I've come to really love Indian coffee, a shock because I don't even like coffee, but theirs is much sweeter.
This experience continues to be amazing!! Thanks for all the comments and well wishes!
Oh, and happy birthday to Grandma Ruby (yesterday), Olyvia (tomorrow) and Gunnar!! With the time change its difficult to remember what day it is there! :-)
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