I made it through my first couple days of school--GO ME! And I have to give a special acknowledgement to Scott for helping me plan my first lessons--they went amazingly, by the way (and of course all of my students already know what "amazing" means--it is pretty much the most important word in the English language)! The students (I really want to write "kids," but most of them are only a couple years younger than me. Some of them are even older than me) are all really great, although some of them are really frightened! I've tried to catch some of the most timid ones and talk to them one on one in Spanish so that they aren't so nervous (and see that I am learning a language, too). The abilities in my classes vary a ton!
This semester, I am teaching three different levels--Basic I, Intermediate I, and Intermediate II. Some of the students in Basic I understand everything I am saying, where some in Intermediate II can barely tell me their names! I am not really sure how to deal with such varied levels, because I can see that some of the advanced students are already bored by the second day with the activities! I guess I will teach towards the middle of the range and offer extra hours for the students who need more help. Unfortunately, I don't have any personal space at the campus, so I don't know where we would meet. There is a cafeteria, though, so that could work! I'll work on that part, later. I have so many different things to keep track of! Some people only have one level to teach--I'm kind of jealous of that! Oh, well, this will give me good practice!
My schedule is kind of weird--I've had two classes with some groups, and some I haven't even met yet (I will today, though). Mondays and Wednesdays are my super long days--my first class starts at 8:30 am and my last ends at 10:00 pm! I have breaks in between, but that almost makes it more tiring, because I can't really fully relax during the interim periods, but I'm not really working full speed either... I think it will be nice though because I can use most of that time to plan the next lessons, instead of having to do it all during the weekends. In fact, I should probably be working on that right now, but I'm going to procrastinate instead. I just missed you guys so much that I figured I should probably update the blog first. I am going to be very proud of myself if I manage to update it once a week. Help me realize my goals (by nagging me if I don't)! We aren't supposed to give out a lot of homework, so at least I won't have very much to grade! We also don't have to write our own tests, which is nice (less pressure), but also a bit worrisome because all the English classes use the same test (making it easier to cheat).
Apparently cheating is a big problem here, and I'm not quite sure how to deal with it. I already talked to one student who wasn't doing the work I told them to do. When I asked him why he wasn't working, he said he was waiting for his friend to finish so that he could copy him! I had told them to work in pairs, but that wasn't exactly the idea I had in mind! I asked him what he was going to do on the test if he didn't learn how to do it himself now, and he said he would still copy from his friend. Then I asked what would happen when he got a great job and had to speak English as part of it; he paused for a moment, but then replied that he would just bring his friend to the job with him! Tricky kid! But he did start doing his own work after that.
I have mostly day classes, so that means that most of my students are traditional--they are studying towards a "carrera" (career), and are taking English as part of the requirement to graduate. They are college-aged (18-22), so they have a lot of energy and like to move around and do active games. They like to make fun of me a lot too (I am now Professor Britney Spears)! Even the ones that say they are shy come up and talk to me. In my very first class of the semester, I wrote a lot of things wrong on the board (they don't get a sylabbus, so I have to copy everything onto the board for them to copy onto their papers), and I said "oops!" a lot. The students thought that was hilarious, so now whenever they see me, they say "Hello! Oops!" Well, at least they are learning interjections. That could come in useful at some point. I find that "oops" is one of my most frequently used words...
Two of my classes are evening classes, so these are the older students who are coming from jobs and are learning English as part of their continuing education. I think they have a hard time with me because I look (I am) so young. They gave me a look of great pity when they realized that that I was here alone. They were very concerned that my parents were not coming. Here in Chile, it is very common for kids to live with their parents until they are married or until they get their first job, so most people are in their late 20's before they move out. The night students are a lot more serious than the day students, so I don't know if a lot of my activities will work for them. They are more afraid of making mistakes, and they also probably think that a lot of the games are juvenile. I'm not quite sure how to deal with that just yet... I guess we can do more writing activities or working in small groups, instead of moving around and large group activities. I would welcome suggestions *hint* *hint*!
Speaking of planning, I'd better get on that! I have a class in one hour!
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