Teacher Academy

We started the teacher academy yesterday. The teachers are so friendly and eager to learn. They have so much to learn. All they know how to teach is rote learning. Their class sizes are unreasonable. They will have as many as 50 prek+ !!!! and only one teacher. How in the world are they expected to teach under those circumstances and yet they are so willing to learn more to make themselves better. Amazing. It is only the second day of class and already we are having so much fun building relationships with these teacher friends/collegues. I don't know why it amazes me but teachers everywhere struggle with the same problems. A funny spot was when we introduced ourselves I said I have a husband and a dog at home who are missing me very much. That the dog had taken over my side of the bed. Then the teachers got to ask us questions. One guy started saying something about our cultures - he was talking in a mean kind of voice - I thought he was mad - then he said he wanted to know why our cultures are so very different that in HIS country the dogs are outside (there are literally thousands if not millions of stray dogs here - and they are all the same breed of dog!!!) and in America the dog sleeps in the bed with you!!! It was funny! we all had a good laugh at my expense. We have a tea break every day - chai tea - I would love to adopt that custom in America. We eat lunch on a concrete slab - just like in slumdog millionaire. These two times as well as the group time during the day have allowed us to build relationships. I personally have latched onto a special group of 5 indian men that are just precious. Their english is very limited. very. so when they were asked to do group work, they were at a loss b/c they have such limited english to begin with they weren't sure what to do etc. So I took it upon myself to sit with them whenever they are asked to do group work - by the second time, they had my chair waiting for me! :) By the third time the group next to us had turned their chairs to join us. :) It is so weird. It's almost like we are celebrities :) The 5 men have come from a long ways away - a village away from Delhi. They are sleeping in the school. They toured with us the day we went to the Taj so I already had some connection with them. On the way to and from the Taj we played some games on the bus etc so I could tell at that time that their english was limited. I'm not sure why they got to go to the Taj with us ... I think they know the interpreter that is working with our friends that live here in Delhi, but I'm not sure. The teachers at the Academy all teach at Christian schools which is nice. We sing Christian songs, we pray together - it's wonderful. They openly talk about their faith. Pray that we can help them find a way to teach in a new, loving way for the children here and for them to show God's love in their school. Love and miss all of you, Jane