Week 3 - The Fun Continues

Feb 6th and 7th

Slept pretty late on Saturday as we were out late on Friday night. Had a blast and was totally worth it.

Woke up without an alarm at about 10:30 and treated myself to brunch out. It was lovely - smoked salmon eggs Benedict and cafe.

Then I went to the food store. When I got home and was putting my groceries away - I realized that the lasagna I got to be able to have a quick dinner by popping it into the oven to heat was worthless because we don't even have an oven. That's how much I cook - I've been here two weeks and never noticed we don't have an oven. So back to the store I went to return it. Then I ran a few other errands and got home at about 4 and started my homework. I did homework pretty much all day and into the night. I was trying to get it done because I was invited out on Sunday with a few gals from class.

Feb 8th

Had a great day of classes. Learned more grammar and we learned about corrections. Then I taught my first course. It went really well. I felt really comfortable and at ease. According the my feedback - I did everything well and tested all the different techniques we've been learning. My grade was a very good (exactly in the middle) because I didn't manage my time very well. If I can get that down - I think I'll do pretty well.

Had drinks with two Brits from my class.

Feb 9th

Not much to report today. We learned about more grammar, lesson planning and how funk up our classes. No teaching today - but tomorrow I have to teach a group of 3 A1s. They are the very beginning level so they don't know much. It will probably be pretty challenging. Went out and grabbed a sandwich for dinner. Went home and did homework. I'm trying to stay on top of things so I'm doing stuff tonight that isn't due till Monday. Maybe I have a hope of taking Sunday off this weekend. Fingers crossed!!!

Feb 10th

Today we learned more grammar. Also we learned about the materials we use to demonstrate our target language.

Also, I taught my first group class. In addition, they were A1 so they knew very little. I didn't think I did so well - in fact I thought I crashed and burned. The feedback I got was extremely positive. Apparently, many people have the same reaction to teaching beginners. It's frustrating as you judge yourself on the lowest level of student instead of the ones who do well. I got a pretty good grade :). My strengths are rapport (shockingly enough) and praise. The gal who was evaluating me said I would do really well at teaching the level because I enunciate and I have a lot of empathy. This is something I never considered. I thought I'd be a lot better at one on one with higher levels.

Feb 11th

Not much to report - school, learning course work oh my!! There sure is a lot to learn. It's amazing - I've been speaking English my whole life and I never really knew the reasons why some things are said when.

Feb 12th

It's finally Friday and I really need a drink tonight. This course is amazing but it really is intense. Not only do we have to teach 6 classes in 4 weeks, creating a lesson plan and materials for each but we have a group project where we are working with a student to assess their needs, determine their level and test their comprehension, reading, writing and listening skills. We have to analyze it all and write a report. And as if that's not enough, I also started learning Croatian and watched a class learning Russian. And shockingly enough we have to write reports on those as well. Yes, have I mentioned that the course is intensive?!?!?!

So, again I needed a drink after this week and I went out with some folks from school.

As I mentioned, we now have to create own materials this week and I did pretty well. It was fun creating our own stuff. I wrote a reading, one paragraph on 'A Day in Court', comprehension questions and some true and false questions. Can you guess my topic? It is 'this will kill you, that will not'. Of course my brain went to a real gun vs. a toy gun and hunting knives vs. plastic cutlery knives. After talking to the teacher I think she was thinking along the lines of saccharine will kill you sugar will not. Hmmm - maybe it's the American in me coming out...

This weekend is again going to be full of homework. I have lots to do but some of it is fun so that helps. I need to create 2 games for my class on Tuesday.

I can't wait until I have my weekend free for traveling around Spain. I have a list of places to see and am itching to get started.

Feel free to comment and join the conversation. I'm hoping to be able to start posting during the week so check back periodically.

Blog - My Spanish Sojourn