Wednesday, March 31, 2010

I'm back!


Wowza, this week has been INTENSE! Monday was my first day of teaching and I was quite terrified beforehand. I didn't really enjoy the weekend as I kept thinking about the unknown territory I was about to enter :) It actually went decently well. In the mornings I teach General English - the core curriculum which includes grammar, vocabulary, listening, various exercises all out of a lovely textbook that I simply have to follow. The structure's all there so it's stress-free. My students in that class are so lovely, funny, and sweet that it's a pleasure to teach them :) The afternoon is a bit trickier as it's less structured and focuses more on conversation, and I have different students in both of the afternoon classes so it's a bit all over the place. It takes more planning to teach the afternoon lessons, but there's more freedom/room for creativity and the students get to talk a lot more (after a morning full of grammar!).

So yes, today was my third day, whew! The first couple of days I felt a bit like I was acting and pretending to do something I didn't really know how to do. Today I felt a lot better...even though I still haven't had that much experience! Hopefully now that I know what to expect and now that I feel more at ease I will keep improving as a teacher.

April starts tomorrow! How exciting! The sun was shining so brightly today, I even took off my jacket on the way home. This is the perfect time of year for big changes, the fruition of goals and dreams, and making room for new experiences and adventures!

Do you feel different when Spring rolls around? Energized, refreshed, more active perhaps?

Cheerio!

3 comments:

  1. Congrats! So happy to hear it's going well. I think it's totally true that a new position/responsibility can feel like you're "playing a role" - but eventually you just stop "wearing" the role, and eventually you just "become" it. I'm sure you're doing great!

    And, can I just say I love what you've said here:
    "This is the perfect time of year for big changes, the fruition of goals and dreams, and making room for new experiences and adventures!"

    So positive! Love it! :D

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  2. Sounds like you've been having some very full days! I'm glad that you're enjoying your students - you must be a really good teacher for them to be responding to you so well :) I'm sure the students are eager for some conversation after a morning of lessons. Your classes really sound like so much fun :) For how long will you have these students?

    I agree with Darryn on the above quote. There's just something about Spring that makes me want to start afresh, try something new, get out there and do something outdoors! Happy April 1st! :D

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  3. Oooh, I love what you said about eventually "becoming"...I think a lot of the most important things also seem to happen without you even noticing/realizing, and then one day you're in the middle of something and you realize how easy and flow-y it has become. Does that make sense? I'm a bit sleepy so maybe it sounds like gibberish :)

    I'll have these students for four weeks I think. Students are always coming and going though since most of them come to Canada for a short period of time. Yesterday was Graduation Day and many students got their certificates and celebrated completing their course, it was fun :)

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