The First Day of Teaching ...
...came slightly earlier than we expected. In what I am told is typical fashion up here, we were sitting at our desks on Friday afternoon (minding our own business) when we were told that we would be teaching that day, and more specifically in 45 minutes!
Let me paint this picture for you: not only have I never taught ESL before, but I didn't even know what books my classes were using, where they were in these books AND what classrooms they were even being taught in! So, to say that I was thrown slightly off guard is a bit of an understatement, I was definitely outside my comfort zone and completely clueless.
I would say that we rallied pretty well (after a few english curse words and some sweat) and ended up teaching 4 classes each. Phew. And now that it's over, I will admit that, that might have been the best way to start. No sleepless night the night before, no hours spent planning for something that you cannot anticipate - just thrown to the wolves and forced to sink or swim! And for the most part, I think that I swam, or at the very least doggy paddled in the deep end:)
I have 4 classes in total (Wayne has 5, I suppose that's why they pay him the big bucks!) and they are all back to back and have students at different levels and ages. My youngest student is 9 and the oldest 13 - and they are all adorable. I love them.
They each get to make up their own names - so I have a Tim, a Tom, a Rachel ...and then on the other end of the spectrum - I have a Stewi, Nice, a Candy and a Dick!! Too funny. But it definitely shows their personalilities. My largest class has about 9 in it, and my smallest has 5 students. Classes are 45 minutes each and have 5 minute breaks in between, so I was pretty exhausted at the end of my first day. But felt really positive and excited about my students.
And that pretty much concludes my first day ...and now I am preparing for the 2nd, feeling a bit more aware, slightly more comfortable - but still pretty clueless and thinking that the doggy paddle is a vastly underappreciated exercise:)
2 comments:
I love that you have a student named "strict". I would give them an automatic A.
I love the update with the pictures - I am such a visual person - needed to see you and your "stuff". Thank you for sharing! Keep it comin'! xxx Mom
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