This week I will begin my first classes with Get English. As you will remember, this is my very first teaching job which I obtained in November. And now finally winter break is over and classes will resume! (which is really good since I have been without work for almost two months now...oops)
I am starting with 8.5 hours of class with Get English, which includes various types of classes and learners. I will tutor Gina, a 15-year-old girl from Andorra who attends a private school which conducts some classes totally in English. I will hang out with a 9-year-old boy named Ander whose mother wants him to have some extra English practice after school. I will teach a private, general English class to two 13-year-old boys on Friday afternoons (pfff that'll be nice and productive). I will teach another general English class to two adult employees over their lunch break at the Technical University of Catalunya. And last, but certainly not least, I will teach a class of six 11-year-olds at a primary school in an after school program.
I am definitely excited to start teaching! I think I have a good variety of classes, which will be challenging but rewarding (I certainly won't grow bored with all those kids!). However, I am also a little apprehensive as I am trying something completely new. I did do well in my TEFL course, but this is teaching for real! I have real kids' lives in my hands! AH! Okay, maybe that's a bit dramatic, but still. This is going to be a big week! I have had many first days of school before, but always as a student (which more recently has really meant 'syllabus week' during four years of college). This time, I'm the one standing in front of the board and babbling some nonsense for an hour. This time, the pressure is on! I want to succeed. I want to be a good teacher. And all of that starts now.
I begin today with the two adults at the Technical University of Catalunya and then the class of 11-year-olds after that (which will probably end up being my most challenging classes. Nothing like starting out with a bang!).
For the first day, I have lots of 'get to know your cool new American teacher' activities planned. I will assess the language level of my students and talk to them about what they would like to do in class. For the little kids, we are going to sing songs, set classroom rules, learn some classroom language, and play a game (and if all else fails, I'm brining candy to bribe them with).
Well, here I go!
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| My First-Day-of-School-Oh-Snap-I-Look-Like-a-Teacher Outfit |
You look like a teacher.
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