The world looks pretty good from here. Fiona (my current roommate) and I just indulged in the best brownie sundaes at Cafe Yejj. I'm feeling quite pleased with the afternoon so far.
I taught classes every day this week, and aside from my apprehension about feeling out lesson plans amidst more experienced teachers, I think the week was a success. My intuitive lesson plan about death and dying, though a bit grim, provided the students a window into how the West handles the funeral process; and in return, I got to learn about the Cambodian rituals. The best part of my plan was making the card for Delma. Students were able to use the vocabulary we learned in their messages, and they were able to tell Delma how much they appreciated her work at CWF. It was very encouraging to see how much the students cared for their teacher, and how eager they were to learn new material.
Because CWF focuses on conversational English, I am trying to figure out how best to introduce vocabulary as a part of conversation. The obvious solution is to get students speaking for as much of the class time as possible. Some students would be happy to just chat for the entire hour, but other students are less willing to speak. The challenge is getting the chatty students to focus on the new vocabulary and to encourage the quiet students to practice speaking. None of this is ground-breaking discovery, but as a fledgling teacher, it's all new to me.
CWF tests incoming students and ranks them in classes from level 1 (very beginning) to 8 (fluent). Students may also choose Advanced Communication or Advanced Discussion if they are looking to continue practicing. My classes are level 4 and 5, which puts their abilities at medium, with lots of variation among the students. Most of my level 5's are business people in accounting and finance, so their existing vocabulary is very tailored around money, banking, and work. My 4's are an endearing bunch, one older woman who works for an NGO, and three university students. The hard part about this group is figuring out concepts that will challenge them but not be too hard (my stereotype lesson was overly ambitious). Today's lesson, Driving in America, went over well. We even had a mock driving lesson and a through discussion of American laws regarding seat belts and child safety seats.
I can tell that teaching isn't going to be as easy as I thought, but I'm up for the challenge because I'm already feeling the rewards. One of my students even friended me on Facebook.
It's so nice of you to work on the cards with the students. I hope Delma will find the room for breathing through such good students' pure kindness.
ReplyDelete"Good" students usually end up teaching at school; but not all of them will become good teachers! I was very passionate about what I was learning and tried to absorb as much as possible when I was a student. But since I was good at teaching many things to myself (so I thought) and loved learning very much, I expected that it would be infinitely easy to make my students academically on fire... (well this doesn't sound right but you get the image? No? Who is the teacher now! -just kidding lol)
So anyway, I used to get upset with fellow students who asked our teachers meaningless questions, teachers who wasted so much time for explaining the easiest concepts and then those students kept sugarcoating their remarks purely with their personal opinions. They didn't seem to learn no matter how much their teachers guide them not to do it in class. I was so furious and frustrated!!!! Yes it's not hard for an intelligent person to become a pompous scholar with big words and no heart.
As a teachear now, however, I learn everyday how important it is to engage all students in each class and encourage all of them to learn in accord with each one's capacity. It's a bit like raising children. You don't favor one child at the cost of another but try the best you can to make both of them become better than you are (as Plato says). I love how each class has its own personality and some students bring me the questions that I never thought of. Of course, some of them are brilliant and others are crap shot. But I always appreciate all of their tying. Facing students' questions are like getting presents that you never wanted. You would either love or hate them if you are looking for something good for yourself; but you will love all of them if you care about the persons that are giving you :) Okay I talked about myself like a boring teacher at UNK seminar class! we would love to hear more about your teaching!!!