jobless no more

So, after a couple of weeks of being home and holidaying, I now have a job. This morning I gave a sample spelling workshop to students at a tiny little school inside one of Delhi's many villages. Of course they were completely disorganized: my planned 60 minute workshop became 6 ten-minute workshops when i got there, each with a different grade (from 1 to 6). I went into that classroom wondering what the heck was going on; first they changed my workshop from high school to elementary school, then they made it spelling instead of creative writing, and now this?!

Much to my surprise, though, we had lots of fun. We worked with just 2 spelling rules (of course, each 10 minute workshop was just one rule), then played a version of tic tac toe with words using those rules. Trust me, you haven't truly enjoyed teaching until you have seen 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 year olds literally beg you for a new word they can try spelling! It worked out so well that I now look forward even to doing another spelling workshop! I really realized how much nicer the classroom is when you don't have to think exams and grades, and can instead focus on learning; I could never have created this classroom if I then had to grade them on what they learned today (some other teacher probably will, but that is her headache!).

March will be low-key on this job since that is when the academic year ends and kids are busy with finals; April is when things get more hectic. But as a freelancer with this program, I have quite a lot of flexibility. Exciting stuff.

There are other possibilities around the corner as well... but they are too premature to talk of right now. Still, it's good to see life falling together and realize that my super-cross-disciplinary and weird (by Indian standards!) education at SUA hasn't made me completely unemployable in India!