Back to School

(Double entry coming up -  please bear with me!)


Well, on Thursday I got to visit the first of my two schools (turns out I'm teaching at two different ones), and see where I would be involved in teaching English. Turns out it's a middle school (so kids aged 11-14) about half an hours bus ride from where I live, kind of out in the countryside. I'll put up photos when I have them.

Anyway, thanks to my co-teacher who was generous enough to give me a lift on my first day, I arrived there, and was asked to put together a brief presentation on myself and where I have come from for the two classes I was going to be with that day. So I spent a little while prepping a Powerpoint presentation at my new desk (complete with computer and gift pen, very nice of them) before heading with my co-teacher to the classroom.

Just how different this was going to be from teaching in England was demonstrated when I entered the classroom. All of the students in the class broke into one of the biggest rounds of applause I have ever seen. Um....

So, caught between being gratified and disconcerted at this, I introduced myself, and went through my presentation, asking and answering a couple of questions too. It was done after about 15 minutes, then I quickly went over to my coteacher, expecting her to take over.

Her response: "Do you have any more?"

Oh, shi whoops.

Turns out she wanted me to spend the whole lesson (another 30 minutes) talking to the students. So I had approximately 10 seconds to come up with an idea for a good English lesson before everyone would lose interest and anarchy would reign. Well, that's the way I saw it in my head, anyway.

So I had to wing it for the remaining half hour. Fortunately I managed it (though what exactly I did I have forgotten, guess pressure does that to you) and afterward I had an hour to improve my presentation so it was actually fit for a 45-minute lesson. As a result, after my second lesson of the day, my coteacher actually remarked to me about how good a lesson it was, even though I'd just ran a PP and run the students through a few words! Another measure of how different it is to England - far far less pressure, which is nice, but given what I've experienced in the past I think it'll be a while before I stop looking over my shoulder for self-obsessed little Hitlers with clipboards (which, as every teacher in England knows, are pervasive throughout the English school system).

Friday went pretty much the same, kept finetuning my presentation for the different classes, and it all went ok. Got invited to a game of tennis by one of my fellow teachers too, which is nice!

And so I went onto the weekend...which needs another post to describe!

Bonus pics - my room - complete with mess!!!

 
PS. Shoutout to Joey - for without his massive support in manifold different ways I wouldn't be out here. Massive thanks, mate. Seriously. :-)