My first day teaching was today! Less then a week after I arrived and I already have a class to teach. I have absolutely been thrown into the deep end and expected to swim. Its a lot of work, mostly because I do not know what I am doing, since I have never taught before, but the other teachers are helpful and I've been given a ton of reading material to do to get me into the swing of things. It is pretty stressful. This school I am working for is still really new and they do not have a curriculum. So I have no material to be guided by. I just have to create class material out of thin air. At first this was absolutely terrifying. I have no idea what to teach a class let alone where to find material for classes. This isn't anything I have ever done before. And without anyone to guide me or tell me what to do I totally freaked out. Inside. But after sitting and reading and reading and going through old lesson plans and last months class materials, I began to get the outline of things. Still, Im not out of the woods and have a lot of learning to do inside and outside of the classroom. For example - I have a teacher's meeting to go to tomorrow, where I am supposed to present some material? I don't really know what I am supposed to be doing most of the time but so far have been able to pull it together at the last minuet. I'm guessing this will last for the next few weeks or so or until I am able to get into the rhythm of the work. Its hard enough starting a new job with a lot of responsibility and expectations without having to figure out how to live in a foreign country. Besides the obvious stress of not knowing what to do or how to do something while getting ready to stand in front of a class...I actually really enjoy the work. Once I am in the class and working with the kids, it's not stressful at all. And the other teachers that have observed my classes have given me really great feedback and suggestions. So, in time I may actually be a pretty good teacher! The children I am working with are ages 5-7. Half of my classes are absolute beginner who don't speak any English and I am working with them on their ABC's. The other class speaks more English but it is still pretty basic. All the kids are in kindergarten. And into my second class, I realized that its really only about having fun for them. So, thats what I do! I teach kindergarten skills, music class, social studies, Speak Out, listening and phonics. In other words I do arts and craft class, dance class, learn-about-other-cultures class, repeat-after-me-class, read-them-a-book class and ABC class. The kids actually really seem to like to me and listen to me, thankfully, so hopefully my classes continue to unfold in this positive manner. Anyway, much more to come on that subject.
Any teacher's out there reading this have any suggestions?! I could absolutely use any advice/tips/suggestions you have.
Once upon a time, in a land below the equator, I needed to teach a group of executives English. They didn't speak a word (one word) of English so we began with Hello!Good-bye, my name is--- the real basics. Just think of all the basics that you want to know in Korean and think of the kids who want to learn English. Girls/Boy/dog/cat, on and on.colors, numbers1-10, months of the year, Remember Sesame street? How funny would it be to teach all the kids Ebonics? Teach the kids how to break dance and rap. All in all? You're going to be a great teacher.
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