I started teaching four new classes this week! Well, so far I've only taught two, and I'm teaching two more tomorrow. I'm so excited this semester. I feel like I have more confidence and am more willing to be creative with my lessons.
On Wednesday, we had orientation, which was less chaotic than the first time, but a bit ridiculous. About 35 students had shown up to be split into two classes, and all but about seven had already sat through orientation earlier in the week. The rest sat there and groaned that they had to hear the same speech repeated. By the time orientation was finished, we only had about 40 minutes left of my normally two-hour vocabulary class. I spent the time having the students introduce themselves and then tested them on their memory of names. My goal this semester is for all of the students to really get to know each other. This is particularly important for the non-Polish students who make up a small percentage of the class.
I have one Thai student who seems very shy, although he did seem to warm up to my Ukrainian student when I paired them together for course #2 - Conversational English. I had the students pair up and conduct interviews and then introduce their partner to the class. We all learned a little about each other and of course, they were required to utilize their knowledge of English.
We also played the "Name Game," in which one person would say his name along with a fact about himself. Then the next person would say that person's name and fact and then introduce herself. And then the next person would say the names and facts of the first two and so on and so forth around the room. By the time we get to the last person, it was pretty amusing, even though a few people cheated by taking notes. Oh well...what can you do? Some of the "facts" were: I play basketball; I like fast cars; I've always wanted an older brother; and I can't live without water (my person fave).
It was a game we played in one of my grad school teaching classes as an example of a first-day icebreaker, and I'd always wanted to try it with a class. Last semester, I was afraid they'd think it way babyish, but this semester I figured, what the heck. It's a fun way to learn everyone's names, and I think it works for all age groups.
Anyway, this class should be interesting. While the other classes have more formally designed curricula and books for students to work through, this class is new, bookless, and open to my creative control. I've decided to do a conversational theme each night, and use video clips, music and articles to accompany the class. It should be a fun semester!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Collectible Moments
It's been a while since I wrote anything here, so let me just ramble a bit about the last couple of months. Actually, as the semester for one school comes to an end and the semester for my other school is about to begin, I think I need to reflect on some of my favorite moments of the past few months. As much as I love my job, I seem to get to a certain point every few months in which I lose my excitement and momentum a bit. After teaching a certain course for a while, I don't necessarily walk into the classroom brimming with wonder at what the day will bring. I get into a comfortable routine, and it always helps to re-affirm why I'm doing this so that I can continue to be as creative and interested as possible.
So...some of my favorite moments of the past term:
1. In my vocabulary class, one of my favorite students (I know, I know...I shouldn't have favorites, but seriously, doesn't every teacher have a few faves?) told me that I was the best teacher she'd had at the school. I was so flattered, I nearly cried. This students was a bit older than most of my others - probably about 50, and I remember on the first day of class, I had wondered how I could possibly gain the respect of my much older students who had way more life experience than me. Well, I guess I shouldn't have worried so much. Somehow, I managed to do it.
2. On one particular day, we talked about tongue twisters in one of my classes. The Polish students asked me and other non-Polish students to repeat tongue twisters from their language and then the rest of us did the same in our native languages. Needless to say, much laughter ensued! That all sounds so dorky, but if you had been there, you'd have laughed too. My Thai student attempting to repeat a Polish tongue twister - absolutely priceless moment.
The intense discussions we had in my American film class were incredible, particularly for the movies American Beauty, Crash and The Visitor. My students' perspectives on these films are so interesting. They approach them from the standpoint of people who weren't raised in American culture, and so their observations are often completely different from my own.
On the last day of my vocab/grammar classes, we played the game Apples to Apples. If you're not familiar, one person chooses a card with an adjective and the other players choose a word from their stack of cards that is best described by that adjective. Explaining the game doesn't do it justice - it's always hilarious and just happens to be educational at the same time. I felt that my students bonded over this game, as cheesy as that sounds.
And then of course, all the little moments: students grasping something for the first time, students telling me their personal stories, joking around with them, seeing pictures or eating food from their home countries, etc., etc.
I'm so ready for the new semester and new favorite moments to add to my collection!
So...some of my favorite moments of the past term:
1. In my vocabulary class, one of my favorite students (I know, I know...I shouldn't have favorites, but seriously, doesn't every teacher have a few faves?) told me that I was the best teacher she'd had at the school. I was so flattered, I nearly cried. This students was a bit older than most of my others - probably about 50, and I remember on the first day of class, I had wondered how I could possibly gain the respect of my much older students who had way more life experience than me. Well, I guess I shouldn't have worried so much. Somehow, I managed to do it.
2. On one particular day, we talked about tongue twisters in one of my classes. The Polish students asked me and other non-Polish students to repeat tongue twisters from their language and then the rest of us did the same in our native languages. Needless to say, much laughter ensued! That all sounds so dorky, but if you had been there, you'd have laughed too. My Thai student attempting to repeat a Polish tongue twister - absolutely priceless moment.
The intense discussions we had in my American film class were incredible, particularly for the movies American Beauty, Crash and The Visitor. My students' perspectives on these films are so interesting. They approach them from the standpoint of people who weren't raised in American culture, and so their observations are often completely different from my own.
On the last day of my vocab/grammar classes, we played the game Apples to Apples. If you're not familiar, one person chooses a card with an adjective and the other players choose a word from their stack of cards that is best described by that adjective. Explaining the game doesn't do it justice - it's always hilarious and just happens to be educational at the same time. I felt that my students bonded over this game, as cheesy as that sounds.
And then of course, all the little moments: students grasping something for the first time, students telling me their personal stories, joking around with them, seeing pictures or eating food from their home countries, etc., etc.
I'm so ready for the new semester and new favorite moments to add to my collection!
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