Kashmir is beautiful

I went to Kashmir because when I met Waseem Aziz two years ago through his Fulbright exchange, he told me that there are ski resorts in the Himalayas. The place did not disappoint.  Waseem took me on a whirlwind tour of some of the sights over four days of perfect weather. We started in at the mountain town of Sonamarg, where the Thajiwas Glacier nearly sinks into town from snow-capped peaks. We took a short trek into the mountains, passing scores of Indian tourists on horseback and a couple of school groups. The air was clear and thin, but we made it to a small waterfall and I got to do some boot-skiing down a snowfield. This area is protected from development, but there are nomadic tribal Kashmiris who make their homes there in the summer herding goats, and take people sledding down July snowfields on traditional toboggans. Sonamarg is also on the route of a Hindu pilgrimige to the Amarnath caves, and on the route to the high mountain area of Ladakh. We saw a a lot of traffic going this way, and did some shopping in the shops along the muddy main road.

Next up was Goulmarg, where we stayed in a traditional vacation hut, which was decked out with intricate Kashmiri wood carvings from floor to ceiling. We skipped the horseback rides, and opted instead for a ride on fat bikes, which I loved, and Waseem thought may have been over-rated. The scenery was not as dramatic as Sonamarg, but, this area stays open all year round. I would love to come back for skiing.

While getting a glimpse of these sites while in Kashmir was exciting, I am also always interseted in everyday experiences. Waseem and I ate a lot of meat, lamb kabobs and lamb balls, red and white sauce, at roadside resteraunts all along our trip. We also stopped at Waseem's hometown, where I got to meet two of his three brothers, his father, mother an uncle and some cousins. Kashmiri living rooms feature a carpet, and pillows around the walls where we leaned back and drank tea. The Aziz family is intense, and within three minutes of meeting his older brother, we were debating religion and morality over tea.

We ended the weekend trip cruising through Srinigar in Waseem's car with his younger brother as a driver. Dal lake is beautiful, and is peppered with more intricately carved houseboats and leisure boats lined up along the shore. I even saw a water skiier cursing in the distance. We also visited the Mogul gardens, where scores of Kashmiri families were relaxing the day away in and out of these this 12 level fountain.

Indeed Kashmir is beautiful, but, I would be remiss if I didn't also mention that Kashmir also feels occupied. The Indian army is everywhere, with heavily armed troops posted every 500 meters along the main roads, as well as armored cars, and long convoys with soldiers posted out of the top of cabs holding automatic weapons. This is because many Kashmiris do not want to be part of India, and in some recent instances individuals have taken up arms against the Indian army, and have been killed.

In talking to people about it, there is clearly a lot of resentment at this heavy military presence. People I spoke with would say things like "in India, things are different than here," not even acknowledging the fact that Kashmir is part of India. This was identified to me as the language of resistance. Many Kashmiri's want their own state, independent of India. I don't know how that is going to work out. I never felt unsafe at any point, crime rates are much lower than they are in other parts of India. But, the unfortunate status quo is a heavy, persistent military state, warnings from the U.S. State department for foreigners to travel there, and thus untapped potential for tourism and development.

Incredible Educators

I am delighted and honoured to have been selected as a Fulbright Teacher for Global Exchange. The experience has helped me focus on how I can bring global competencies into my own classroom, whether that be using mathematical tools to help students understand global concerns, or simply connecting students in my classes with those from other classes around the world. It has also brought me together with some incredible educators, including the twelve Fulbrighters who were in my cohort here in India.

I want to give special recognition, however, to two incredible educators that I have had the privilege of working with during this experience.

I knew I would get along great with Rathnakaran Kozhukkunnon Othayoth (Rathna) within three minutes of him picking us up at the airport, when he pulled out his phone and opened up the Desmos app. I spent a week with him touring his school and others, and taking in the sights of Kerala. At all times he was friendly yet professional, and constantly on the phone or signing papers for his teachers. The work of a principal at a JNV boarding school is 24 hours, so when he left campus he phone generally rang off the hook. I was impressed with his leadership skills as a principal, and with the respect shown to him by his teachers.

He, too, was a Fulbright Scholar in the U.S., where he spent 5 months at the University of Indiana, Bloomington. His focus during the program was using Information and Communication Tools, which he had clearly brought back to his school. His teachers were using Kahoots, had been trained as a Kahn Academy school, and were eager to learn more. This week he will be on the phone with the wise folks at Desmos to see what kind of support they can bring to India.

Rathna is also a very humble, and kind man. He welcomed Bill and I into his home for dinner, where we met his son, a computer engineer, and his daughter, who is top of her grade 10 class, and an incredible ping pong player. He also took care of me when I got a stomach bug, and insisted that he call his doctor son-in-law for a consultation, which was the right thing to do.

I'm glad to have made a new friend, and excited to continue to work with Rathna in the future.

Dr. Bill Clark told me that he doesn't like much being called Dr., but, if you earn a PhD like he did, then there it is. He is what a second (or third/fourth?) career teacher should be. He is passionate about his students, passionate about being in the classroom, and a prolific writer. Check out his blog if you want to see a better day to day experience than this one.

Bill's school is unique; Winooski is a small town in Vermont that has definied itself as a refugee resettlement area. In contrast to neighboring school districts, a significant proportion of his students are foreign born, many from Nepal and Somalia. From his description, it sounds like the kind of progressive rural community I would enjoy. What impressed me so much about Bill is that his students are why he was interested in the program. Despite having a long and varied career, this trip to India was his first out of the country. He wanted to better understand the lives that his students were coming from, so that he could better reach them. I can think of no better motivation to become a Fulbright Scholar.

He was also a solid travel companion; he is a good planner, and also soaked up the culture. Indeed, my laissaiz-faire "cool guy traveler" attitude left me with a stomach bug for two days, while he was diving into everything that was presented to him, jumping right out his comfort zone at every occasion. He is well-spoken, and sincere, and I was always glad that at official events he would be asked to speak first, because he set the standard. I loved watching him connect with students teaching Emily Dickinson's poem, I'm Nobody. Last I heard from him he was off on a train to ride camels in Rajastan. I hope to work with Dr. Clark again soon.

The Project - Best practices to engage Indian math classrooms

At three JNV schools, and a regional gathering of students, I had the opportunity to teach demo lessons. My best practices have evolved over my career; currently, my big question is how to balance content knowledge with conceptual understanding. In addition to teaching content, like formulas, I look for activities for students to engage in NCTM's Strategies for Mathematical Thinking. These have included strategies like 3-Act Tasks, Which One Doesn't Belong, Open Middle, Estimation180, and the powerful Desmos Activities.

I demoed some of these strategies for students, and not surprisingly they went well. In talking to mathematics teachers, they also were impressed with the level of engagement, and strategic thinking required of students. I ran a short workshop with a few JNV-Mahe teachers on these strategies; many of them were excited to learn more.

So, the project that I have been working to develop includes a training of teachers on these types of practices within the JNV network of 600+ boarding schools. Rathnakaran K.O., principal of JNV-Mahe has already dones some trainings on Desmos, and is excited to be doing more. I also connected with Dr. Usha Kamari, principal of JNV-Jaffapur outside of Dehli, whose teachers were also eager to learn more.

The challenges for Indian teachers to adopt these practices are surprisingly similar to what American teachers face. There is a lot of content to "cover," and sometimes these activities can feel less important. Indian teachers have to prepare their students for high stakes tests at the end of each year, with Grade 10 and 12 being exams that can have significant impact on their futures. Resources can also be variable, with some schools having great tech resources, and others having none. However, I am optimistic about this program through the JNV network for two reasons: first, these are boarding schools, students and teachers already regularly have extended classes in the afternoon. Essentially, JNV schools are ready for flipped classrooms. Secondly, each of the 600+ JNV schools have at least one Samsung Smart Classroom. Even two years ago, they were working well enough for Gurpreet and I to have a cross-cultural exchange between his school, and mine.

Our next steps are for me and Rathnankaran to work out the details of how this training of teachers, or training of trainers will work logistically. We're thinking about starting it as a pilot project within the schools that we've made connections, and, then approach the broader JNV network to expand. As Fulbright Alumnus, we have access to grant funding which should help to more the project forward. Stay tuned to find out how it all works!

Secular means all, not, none

Religion and spirituality seem to be deeply ingrained into much of everyday life. Across this huge country, Hindus, Christians, Muslims and Sikhs seem to be represented everywhere. What has struck me most is not just the inclusion of religion in public life, but the color, depth of beauty and commitment to service demonstrated by the faithful.

I cannot say that I have a handle on the beliefs and history of Hinduism, but I can say that it is among the most colorful religions I have experienced. From the traditional dance performances at my host school in Mahe, to the temples around every block that I've seen in my couple days in the state of Tamil Nadu, to the three day festival that aligned with my stay in Pondicherry, where drumming, music, dancing, fireworks and many colored powdered faces and heads filled the days and nights, there seems to be a joy in celebration of this ancient faith.

I was introduced to the Sikh faith when I was partnered with Gurpreet Singh in 2017 through the ILEP program. His overview then was that the Sikh believe that there is just one god, and all things flow through him. After visiting two Sikh houses of worship, "gurudwaras," I started thinking of them as the original social justice warriors. Their history is full of stories of their ten Gurus and followers not just sticking up for the poor and marginalized against aggressive proselytizers, but, fighting and being martyred. Gurudwara Bangla Sahib is among the largest gurudwaras, and it is as beautiful as any house of worship. But, what made the most impression on me is how service to the poor is a fundamental part of their faith. Below the gleaming, carpeted worship rooms is a maze of remarkably practical infrastructure designed to allow volunteers to continuously cook and serve meals to anyone, all day, every day. This is called the Langar. This even includes the shoe check, where volunteers line up to help you store your shoes while in the gurudwara, and even polish them if they're dirty.

I also went to Gurudwara Sisganj Sahib with Gurpreet and actually sat down to wash dishes for about an hour. It was a truly religious experience for me. I sat with Sikh men and women, young and old, washing metal plate after metal plate, while all around us the cogs of serving the Langar moved on with remarkable efficiency. It felt great to be participating in this service, and I am still impressed with how fundamental the Langar is to the faith. The audio portion of the short video someone took of me washing dishes features the constant signing from the Sikh holy book, along with the clangs and bangs of metal plates captures some of that feeling.

My own faith, Unitarian Universalism, also focuses on social justice, only without the requirement of theism or beards or turbans. Our church could learn a lot from the Langar.

The other ILEP fellow I visited is from Kashmir, where a majority of folks are Muslim. Waseem has three brothers, all of whom are extremely intelligent, and not afraid to delve into religion and politics at the drop of a hat. Not five minutes after being welcomed into his home in Baramula, Waseem's onlder brother engaged me in a conversation about theism and morality that ranged from Richard Dawkins, to St. Anselm, to Hamza Andreas Tzortzis. While my secular mind was not convinced that god is necessary for morality, it rounded out my religious education in India.

Buildings and Patterns because #iteachmath

This trip to India has included many instances of me taking pictures of buildings, and floors. I teach lessons on symmetry a lot, and so I like to use interesting images from real life, rather than just thinking about capital letters. So, this post is mostly pictures that I'll use for my classes.

Hotel De 1942 and the Taj Mahal.
Here are tile patterns of the Taj Mahal, nearly 400 years old.
Kashmiris are known for wood carvings. Everywhere I went there were intricately detailed patterns on the walls and ceilings. Also below is the "Crown of Srinigar," the Shalimar Bagh Mughal Garden, a 12 tier fountain and public park where Kashmiri children swam, and families picnicked.
Even the JNV schools had pleasingly symetric designs.