Millo at Large

I woke up, did my morning routine, and was on my way to school. That day, I felt a little more confident; people had seen me before, and I knew my way around. I went to the staff room, sat for a minute, and read my book before starting the exciting day ahead.

My colleagues and I headed upstairs to start the morning test. While walking around the room and answering questions about the test, I found that students were unable to understand my explanations because their main language is Hindi, not English. I set a goal to learn classroom Hindi words and started with “sit down” (“baithna”), which came in handy when kids would leave their seats to walk around. I then learned the word “digestion” in Hindi, “pachan,” since it was a science test. I have added many words to my vocabulary and can now almost pick up 1 out of 100 words.

The test was over, and it was time for English class. The teacher pulled out an English text that I read during my last teaching experience, “Who Did Patrick’s Homework?” It is an amazing story about a boy who found an elf to do his homework, but in the end, he did it himself and learned that he should have just done it in the first place.

I read chapter by chapter, asking questions in between to check for understanding and explaining words like “nag,” “ignoramus,” and “slyly.” Before I knew it, the story was over, and all the kids were ready for lunch. I had just experienced my first solo teaching at the school, which felt amazing. The whole time, I imagined that what I had just done was what I could do for the rest of my life. I continued pacing around the room, looking up from the text to see if anyone looked confused, and hoping to spark a love for reading in a student.

The afternoon period started, and I sat in a corner of the room observing. I slowly realized that not understanding Hindi was almost a blessing; even though I could not understand what the teacher was saying half the time, I could analyze the students’ reactions to different material, mentally noting what they responded well to and what they did not.

Before I knew it, the day was over, and it was time to go home and relax, but all I could find myself thinking about was the next day.