So this might be a boring post for people not interested in teaching, but hey. This week I started some of my new classes at The British School where I'm going to be a full time teacher. I have one group of 6 ten-year olds, all beginners, and one of 6 teenagers, ranging from 14-17, who are really good at English - upper-intermediate level, ie they can understand what I say, which is reeeeeeeeeeally useful.
The kids are quite fun, once I got over my initial panic - somehow standing up in front of children and telling them what to do seemed really overwhelming on the first day, but once I pulled myself together it went well. They're all quite sweet and enthusiastic, and they go along with the games I make up which is good news. I can't deal with how quickly they do things though, compared to adults - they're all competitive so they race through the exercises, shove their hands in the air and yell "Finito!!" which keeps me busy finding new things for them to do. On wednesday we were making up sentences for a game of my own devising ("If you've got a brother, jump in the air" etc) and one of the boys came up with "If you haven't got a toilet, stand up". I think he was waiting to see if I got angry or not, but I didn't think it was worth it (plus the sentence was constructed correctly) so I just pointed out that he'd spelt "Toilet" wrong ("toilette"). haha.
The teenagers, on the other hand, are more challenging as they're all a bit cynical and grumpy. They're nice kids, and all really good at english, but not nearly as enthusiastic as my adult classes. I had a bad moment where I tried to make them repeat phrases after the CD, in chorus - a technique on which all ESL textbooks are heavily reliant - and they just refused: too self-conscious, too cool for school. As I looked at their blank faces it occurred to me what a stupid and pointless exercise it was, so I just told them to practise the phrases in a conversation instead. They're prone to talking all the time in Italian, which I have to keep telling them to stop, but they do do what I tell them in general so it's not too bad.
On Monday I'm working from 1.30 - 9pm with barely a break, so wish me luck!!
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1 comment:
Hi Mary,
Thought I better leave a comment just to let you know I have been following your journey with interest and have been thoroughly enjoying your blogs. You seem to be having heaps of fun and also enjoying teaching.
Ciao!
Fiona ( from Brisbane soon to be moving to Edinburgh)
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