Through the Kalabharati School I got assigned to teach weekly classes to 11th grade and 12th grade high school students in a town neighboring Los Hornillos called Las Rabonas. I am having a wonderful time and am teaching three weekly classes at the school:
Yoga
Mathematics/Physics
Presentation Hour (presentation of my choosing)
It’s been quite an experience teaching 12th graders none of whom had ever had a yoga class. They were very curious about it and once we started class, I could see the anxiety level go down. There were a few more interruptions compared to my adult classes, but overall the environment was respectful and even a bit playful.
At one point students had a hard time balancing in Pandagusthana and I half joked they could use each other for support. I never expected them to form a triangle to help each other! It was so innovative! These students here are very intelligent and hardworking and it’s evident, given the proper support and guidance they will do very well.
Even two of the teachers supported each other as well! It was wonderful!
The students are really enjoying the yoga and they are getting less and less anxious about math. Among the many lessons I gave them, the one that they were the most interactive with was a trigonometry lesson where I was teaching them how to find the angle for a certain trig value.
For example sin x = 0.5
One might think that the simple answer is just 30° but actually there are infinitely many answers. The students did not know this and were fascinated.
It has been a joy teaching these students and I especially feel honored to have gotten this opportunity to teach math to 12th graders who are about to embark on a journey to university after December. Having taught university level mathematics for the last 20 years as a full-time community college professor I feel as though I really found the best place to offer expertise, be challenged to teach all my classes in Spanish and really experiment with yoga and math to implement yoga as a way of reducing math anxiety not only here in Las Rabonas, Cordoba, but also back at Ohlone College in Fremont.
Tablas classes are also going great at the Kalabharati School and I am still working on some Paltas for Kaida 3. I have also been teaching yoga to the students of the Kalabharati Music School once a week.
Overall the Sabbatical has been rewarding in many many ways. Stay tuned for more!
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