My lesson today didn’t really go as planned. Whilst I think I met my goals as stated on my plan (present models of obligation / no obligation / prohibition and then provide writing practice), I did so in a pretty shoddy manner. Hhm, I may have failed it actually – I’m looking forward to receiving constructive criticism from my supervisor in the morning. It all helps me become a better teacher!
It was a really good experience to go through, sweat though I did at the time. My presentation of the grammar seemed to go on forever – I felt trapped by the way i was going about doing it, and found it hard to move things on.
I have to remember to not be too hard on myself. I’ve only been teaching in a classroom setting for a total of about 4 hours so far. That’s only half a day. Having said that, it’s astonishing how much progress has been made in those 4 hours with this intense learning model. Everyone is so much better than when we gave our first lessons two weeks ago.
We’ve now received our second assignments back (reflective writing, I passed first time this time, hurrah!), and have been given our third assignment, about which I’ll tell you more at the weekend, as that’s pretty much all I’ll be doing 🙂
I can’t believe we only have a week left. I’ve grown pretty close to my coursemates, and feel very lucky to have been able to be a part if this with them.
We do all get on remarkably well. Perhaps too well: today there was much hilarity as Alice took a look at the magazine I’d bought to use in my lesson to introduce my students to problem pages. I’d picked Bliss, which is aimed at teenage girls. The man at WHSMITH at London St. Pancreas failed to stifle his laugh when I bought it.
I’d innocently imagined that there would be some problems along the lines of “I fancy this boy at school and don’t know what to say to him” and “My dad is an alcoholic – what should I do?”
But no. The questions sent in are pornographic in nature. We’re talking a lot of detail, and some pretty bizarre misconceptions. (The only one missing was “can I get pregnant if I French kiss my boyfriend?”
We’re all shocked at how things have changed ‘since we were young’, and imagine the situation whereby I go into class without having checked the suitability of the magazine. References to the problems page pop up in class throughout the rest of the day.
I can scarcely believe that in two weeks from now I’ll be flying to Japan to start my new life.
I’m now in week 4 of the second in a series of coaching courses I’m taking with TSI. This one lasts 8 weeks, and consists of weekly written assignments, action steps, and a series of hour-long one-on-one calls.
I’m finding this very beneficial. I’m using it to focus upon career / locating my passion. It’s not so much a process designed to make me find ‘the answer’, but rather, it is helping me to identify the blockages that prevent me from figuring it out in my own time.
I’ll keep you informed.
Well, I must sleep now. I can hear the sushi calling 7 hours from now.