TIIE-EL-Qualitative findings

Teacher Reflections- TIIE Sessions

Manjula – GHPS Byrasandra

Subjects Taught- 4th,5th,7th- English, Science- 6^th, 7^th

Manjula is an active and energetic teacher who gave constatnt support throughout the program and she had observed very few sessions. According to her, the general participation of the students in the class (6^th and 7^th) participate actively in hands on activities but do not attend to do homework, Children share their ideas openly with teachers without any hesitation. Especially those children who were reserved have started sharing their thoughts and ideas with teachers, and participates actively in the class. Initially they used to be negligent and used to exhibit the attitude that others are anyhow answering and why should I answer and would participate for the sake of doing. Now, each child feels and understands that his/her thoughts and ideas are valued and considered and hence they share their opinion frankly.

Teacher said that, she had observed few classes on storytelling sessions(Language lab) done using projector, It has impacted on children ability to use and work on Computer independently without any fear due to the individual attention that was given during the sessions. They feel that all of your classes will be very good. They never want to miss your class in any case. Children also Share that “you people talk to them with love, teach well. Its not just other children if you take Eshwar, Amrita and Pavitra they will also be very comfortable with you. They do talk to me without any inhibitions because I also talk to them with love. Even if they don’t do homework I know that they can’t because they don’t have that ability that’s why I don’t punish them. Even those children enjoy being in your class because you treat them with so much care and love. They would always wait to attend your classes. They don’t mind if they miss our class but they don’t want to miss your classes”.

Children accept and embrace your sessions unlike sessions over the years where they were not so happy and complain about it. Your sessions would have impacted positively on children as the activities and games that were taught about numbers have brought in confidence among children that they also can perform better. “In the pressure to complete the syllabus we can’t have all the classes like you do but your classes with activities will have a different impact on these children as a result we are able to see changes among them. If I were to take an example of a child Mounesh he was just talking before but now with greater confidence he talks about various things. Sanjay and Vijay was clever before also now, they have mastered computer skills to a greater extent”.

We are able to see changes in the behaviour of the children who used to be very rough before. “Children like sandeep and shailesh used to talk so rude even with us, now they still do funny and crazy things, but they have come to a point to apologize for the mistake done”. Children would have missed computer sessions and the games that were taught if there were no sessions to them. The sessions also led us complete all the assigned pending administrative tasks. The activities planned for Self-evaluation after story telling was very good because children would make an effort to try to give answer even the language was not known to them. I personally have learnt to download videos, MP3 etc., “we never regret for the classes that we spared because you have helped the children so much by giving them individual attention and have taken children with Learning difficulties for further diagnosis which no NGO will do, and our children love and miss your classes so much. I knew ItfC from long time, if they are coming for class they never just come and go they will put effort to aid learning, and we are happy with your sessions”. Since I was on long leave and was also assigned pending administrative works during your classes due to lack of sufficient teachers and clerk at school I was not able to participate in your class.

The teacher suggested including teacher during the activities and also let them know what has been done,why its done, perhaps she requested to do a small discussion with the teacher on what has been done after the class as it will help us and the teacher as well in focusing on children with difficulties. “Our children need the learning that has been given even for the upcoming years because the plans that you have for teaching children are so good as you give so much individual attention to children and you work with single child sitting on stairs using mobile and its helping children very much. Even the computer sessions have benefited children much.”

Cleaning and maintenance staff along with few infrastructures are the existing challenges of School.

According to the teacher, same classes has to be extended for 4^th and 5^th children as its being very effective it can have better impact on these children too.

Lakshmi(HM) - GHPS Byrasandra

Lakshmi is a Headmaster, even though she was not able to attend any of our sessions she would regularly interact with us for the successful implementation of the program. According to HM, children participation has improved when compared to initial days after covid, they are progressing in reading and writing but classroom behaviour needs to be improved as they have come after 2 years of gap to school, even though they are improving they still need some time to cope up with the change.

Children happily come to the classes by IT for Change and Computer classes. They will be eagerly waiting for your sessions.

The sessions have impacted on children in helping them develop and upgrade their computer skills.

The reason for not being in the sessions was due to administrative work pressure.

The focus of the session in the upcoming years should be on language and enabling children to speak fluently in English Along with basic Maths and computer training that has been already included. It should also focus on helping teachers and children for accessing classroom resources.

HM was positive about our sessions. She was ready to learn things from us, looking for continuation of the prog for the upcoming year also.

Ambika- GHPS Bilekhalli

Subjects Taught- Computer

Teacher used to always present in computer room where we used to conduct session, and she would observe all our sessions. According to her, Children participation is good during the Academic year. Children were interested to learn about computer since from the beginning, after Covid I was not able to take classes regularly to them now they are happy that they are learning about computer. “Children used to ask me to call you people to check whether you were coming” The sessions have helped the children in developing interest towards learning. The activities used in computer like stories, games, problems have increased children interest. Particularly the sessions have had a great impact on their language because of the stories that were used with children. The teacher has also attempted to introduce this to other children from grade 5 and 6 as she had a good response from 7^th std children.

When asked about the session, children said that “we like the sessions because it is different from how the teachers have taught, A teacher in a class can definitely teach orally but you people used to demonstrate and do it hand on like a science lesson. Children used to like these sessions much and I have heard children sharing about this with each other,. Moreover, children have also shared with me about the sessions saying that they liked, and they did this”. Since children got an opportunity to use and work with various devices, earphones, speakers even though it’s a govt. School and learn something new in every session they were very happy. They were so happy about it that even if the facilitator is absent they would come and work on the system and do all those that was taught to them. Making children do the craft activity and Maths activities helped them develop interest and utilize that to the fullest potential.

“The sessions have impacted on children, If we take the example of Harish, Anitha, Mahalakshmi, Nagraj and few other children would sit seperate when I asked them to work on computer. Now, they come forward to work and participate actively in the class and showed interest in Maths. They also showed greater interest when the language activity was done. Whether or not the answer is correct, they would get up and answer confidently in English Language activity. They became active”. These children would become proactive while learning and would learn with greater interest. The sessions have had impact on dull students. We need such sessions even in future as these sessions have really helped and impacted on these children. Children learning to use the approaches that was shared had developed interest among them.

The teacher said that “I like your approach for teaching, the interactions had with children, love and care that were given to the children. Sometimes they were not keeping quiet even while during our class but your sessions were their favorite sessions. The facilitator used to make children understand better through her teaching, and they would demonstrate interest throughout the session and would await for your sessions”.

The teacher was not able to attend all class as she was on leave for some days and splitting the class into 2 groups.

She was very happy about the sessions as they had a very good impact on the children and enable children to develop more interest. Requested us to continue taking classes even for the upcoming year.

Revathi P- GHPS Bilekhalli

Subjects Taught- 6th Maths, Kannada and Social

7th- maths, science, social

Initially the teacher used to participate in our sessions. According to her Children participation during the academic year is very good. Children who were not participating in the initial days have begun to be active and participating in the later days. The problems faced during the academic year were

- All the children experienced learning loss due to covid

- Health problems – children used to be absent to classes due to health issues

- lack of content knowledge

- problem with Kannada reading, writing

- lack of listening skills

- lack of time

- infrastructure problem

“I like each and every activity that was done,. The encouragement that you gave for children learning helped to improve the quality of learning. Children have shared many times about your sessions, and they like the days when they have your sessions. For example, when children were asked to draw about the story that they heard, all children shared about that”.

Your classes have impacted on the children because the encouragement that was given to children and dedication in conducting the activities was same from beginning to end. What I like most about your session is that, through your activities you have made sure that if we measure the quality of learning in the schools that you are working with our school is not less than any other. You have handled the sessions sensitively without discriminating any teacher in the class.You have taught about various activities and computer skills happily to our children”.

“I felt that you have completely optimized the time in our school.It would be good if you had taken classes for 6^th standard as well as it would help them in attaining more clarity when they come to 6^th standard. I know that its our mistake that we are the ones who told you take 7^th std when you opted 6^th in the beginning. Heartful thanks to the team for coming to our school and teaching games, lesson and activities using technology”.

Suma – GHPS Ejipura

Subjects taught- 7^th class teacher, Science- 5^th, 6^th

The teacher have observed very few sessions and she was of the opinion that participation of the children in the initial days after covid was not good but now, they participate actively in doing experiments and they have interest in learning.

Children have independently come and shared about Math activities and language games that were did in the class.

“The session would have had helped children attain incremental improvement like it might have helped children who were writing letters to write words, and words to sentences or if you take math it might have helped them solve addition and subtraction”.The sessions have had impact on general participation of the children. One student Pratap who had joined this year had fear and was not participating, now he has begun to show interest and eagerness to do science activities and experiments.

“Since your sessions had pairing and group activities, leadership qualities will be developed among children,and they show eagerness to complete the given tasks. Even we use these strategies but, there was individual attention given to each child, hence it was good. If you take an example of tan gram activity it was helpful for individual child in developing its creativity and other child was showing another way of arranging it”.

The teacher was not able to attend the sessions as she would be engaged in other class during the session. She requested for worksheets after the activity has been completed to help children to aid in self learning and retain whatever has been learn t. She was also of the opinion that there will be no continuity for children as we go to take sessions only once a week.

You have helped us in addressing multilingual problems, and also working on basic Maths which are the existing problems of the School.

Helen- GHPS Ejipura

Subjects taught- Eng, Hindi - 5^th and 6^th

She had observed 2-3 sessions. According to her, During the initial days of Covid, many students had lost track, now, Children language proficiency in English has improved so much that with little prompt children they can complete the activities on their own. Their reading skills have improved a lot because of the strategies that she try with children. According to her, children should improve with Hindi reading and writing.

“The sessions have benefited a lot to the students, since you are emphasizing on Maths basics and addition which is very important for further understanding. You are also teaching about basics of computer which helps children to develop confidence.”

She could not observe the sessions as she had many things to attend like TC issue, exams, etc,

She insisted taking sessions for other subjects like Kannada, English, Science, Social.

She showed positive response towards the sessions. As the sessions not only educated students but also educated teachers with digital skills which is very helpful to carry on day to day administrative tasks. She also requested to work with teachers in the upcoming year.

Summary of Teachers feedback about TIIE implementation in 4 Schools

Even though It was challenging to involve the Teachers completely while during the sessions because of various reasons as mentioned below in their feedback, few teachers participated in some of our sessions and have given their valuable feedback on our sessions to help us improve upon further.

The challenges faced by teachers during the initial days of the academic year were lack of concentration, behavior issues, difficulty in reading and writing, inhibition to answer,health problems etc., The sessions conducted as part of the project TIIE was satisfactory as it had indicated positive impact on children inhibition to participate, control their distracting behavior, ability to take up an initiative to do the tasks over the year, and their level of confidence has improved over the year and it helped children to develop interest towards learning. Few teachers have mentioned specific examples of few children and how it had impacted on their participation and behavior. All teachers liked the sessions because of two important factors, one was the activities conducted in the sessions like story telling, asking children to draw about the story they listened, language games, dice games and activities strengthening basic literacy and numeracy skills. And secondly, the strategies that were integrated as part of the session like group work, individual attention, focussing on each and every child, working individually with the child who has difficulty in learning, demonstrating care and concern towards children. They shared positive feedback for digital literacy sessions saying that it has exhibited positive impact on children ability to use and work on computer independently and setting up a computer lab in a govt. school function effectively helps children to expose to a digital world. Few teachers were of the opinion that the session had benefited not just students but teachers as well. They shared some of the instances of children coming to them and share about it as well as sharing among-st themselves where children had expressed their eagerness to participate in the sessions, enjoy being in the session, never want to miss the session, being able to understand better by mentioning the strategies and activities like Math games, language games and exploring maths concepts and story telling using computer were mentioned. Few teachers expressed their resentment to not be able to use these strategies because of the limit of time and pressure to complete syllabus.

Some of the reasons that the teachers shared for not being able to be part of the session were assigning some administrative works to them during session, need to engage other classes, pressure to complete the pending work, etc,. Teachers expressed their desire for continued engagement with the school with the following suggestions/recommendations:

• Involving Teachers in classroom sessions, discussion about classroom plans with teachers
• Extending the scope of work to Lower grades
• Focussing on other subjects like Science, Social, spoken english and Kannada
• Activities aligned with textbook/ syllabus
• Orientation sessions for teachers on Digital Literacy
• Classroom resources for teaching

Students Feedback

1. Bilekahalli

Keerthana:

Language: She loved the story “Bheema the sleepy ahead” because she too is lazy and sleeps more hours and his dad scoulds him daily that she doesn’t wake up. After watching the story she decided herself to never give up for anything.

She didn’t like doing model using clay.

Even I know the multiplication in regular method, After Introducing to Area model I felt that method is simple and interesting.

I used to wait for your classes on Tuesdays. Thursday and Friday’s. I used to be very happy when I see all of you coming.

Marilinga:

I like all your sessions mostly the tux math which has addition, subtraction, multiplication of different levels. I liked Multiplication using Area Model because it was simple to understand and interesting. I liked all the stories in the language lab sessions except “Lost and found” because that story had new words and felt boring.

Suri:

I like all our sessions, among those few most likely activities were to enact for a given task and their friends had to guess the word. I was finding difficulty in multiplication but after your sessions i felt it as simple. I learnt the usage of Computer. In the language Every time we use to have new stories and helped us to understand it and few activities were given to us which was very Interested and helpful.

Initially I used to get panicked that you may tell anything or treat harshly with us but as days passed I felt you all are very friendly and polite to us, They constantly built the confidence in reading and speaking. I liked that all of them helped us whenever we were struggling and personally helped us.

I feel that you should continue this kind of work in all the Government schools which is very much needed for the students like us, also for upcoming students should also benefit from this so that we also get improved which reflects the government school betterment.

I did not like “lost and found” story because I felt difficult to understand it.

Jayanth:

I was getting confused in multiplication but after introducing to Area model I felt it was very simple and easy. Language was taught effectively using stories. All the facilitators were very friendly and explained us in a simple way which was able to comprehend. I felt your sessions were different from the classroom teaching.

Pooja:

I liked the story “Rani’s first day at school” in the Language because I made me remember my olden days when I went to school on first day and my friends.

I was able to learn multiplication effectively in a very simple way.

I did not like using clay because my hands became dirty and nails.

2. Dc halli

Smitha:

I liked My fish! No my fish! Story because in that story the two boys did not listen to anyone they did what ever they feel is correct and at last they themself realized the mistake.

In mathematics I liked FLU Model which was explained

All of the facilitators were very friendly and polite to us, you never spoke harshly or raised your voice/ shouted on us. Although we were make you irritated/ troubled you never felt bad. You motivated us every time what we wanted to learn.

Conditions/ Rules should had been made in the classroom for our effective learning and also you should had kept the fear of you so that both boys and girls would had followed your instructions.

Amrutha:

Multi lingual(Kannada, English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu) approach was implemented to make it understand for every child in the class and it also helped us to comprehend better by repeating the the same story in different languages, Perhaps It also helped to learn other language too.

Initially I was struggling in few concept of Multiplication, when the facilitators explained by giving real life examples then I was able to understand the meaning of multiplication also has built the confidence to find any multiple using groups and objects or using grids and dots. Even though you find it challenging to handle our class (especially boys used to disturb) you never felt discouraged to take the sessions for us. Me and my friends felt very bad and wanted to make them realize the importance of your classes but No one was ready to listen instead they used to tell “Nin yavale namage helakke”. We reached out to teachers also but they also could not help us.

Vaishnavi:

I was one who used to struggle in Multiplication of single digit numbers when you introduced the simple and easy way of finding the solution using the grids and dots or the group and the objects that was very useful for me to learn, I also teach my younger brother this concept even he was able to learn it easily. Coming to language I liked “My fish! No my fish!” story because I learnt a moral that is “ If we don’t fight for some thing then we can get what we wanted, perhaps if we are together we will get/ achieve everything”. We were liking your session and could help to learn effectively because you would teach us with friendly and love.

Khushi:

One of the most favorite session among all was “Too big too small” story which was projected on the screen in different languages (English and translated in Kannada and Hindi Language), We enjoyed the story, as we learnt how to respect the Elders, also what is the right work to our appropriate age. As a recalling the story was enacted by me and my friends. I really enjoyed doing the skit because I love doing drama or a skit so you provided an opportunity to show our talents. I was very happy when doing it. In mathematics concepts I was struggling in Number operation (Multiplication using area model) once you introduced this concept in a simple and easy way that helped to learn better.

We greet the teacher when they entered the classroom but when facilitators entered the classroom we used to hug them you with lots of love, that made us very happy.