My Classes & Teaching
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Liz and I went hiking up the mountain again this last Sunday (before we got sick) but forgot our camera, so the amazing vista we saw will have to be photographed later. If we get well, you'll get to see it this Sunday.
I took my camera into school today. Most of my classes don't want to be photographed, and in the bigger ones trying to get a picture will be a hassle, but I did manage to get a picture of one of my favorite classes: TMK5, but more of them later.
The first class I tried to get pictures of was Wake Up 4A, a class of about eleven. Wake Up is an elementary text, and the children are usually about 8-11, depending on their ability. As you can see, though, James didn't want to get his picture taken.
I managed to snap one of Greg and John. They're the two smartest in the class, and really get the material.
Before the bell rang, I got Fiona in a picture. She's nine (I think), really quite, sweet, and also one of the best students in the class.
One of the kids snapped a picture of me when I was about to get on to someone else.
My last class of the day today was TMK5. I'm not sure what TMK stands for, but 5 stands for 5th grade. All the kids in it are about 12. There is a TMK6 class I teach too. These are the only two classes that come to ECC every single day of the week, and sometimes on weekends for tests. TMK is a sort of intensive course this ECC instituted to try an compete with other TMK courses in neighboring English academies.
Here they are:
Melody is standing by me. Cara is in front of me, Tony is in the black shirt next to her, Shawn is in the yellow shirt up front, Jack is in glasses behind him, Eddie is next to Jack and in front of Melody, Alex is in the purple and white shirt, and Steven is next to him. Here's another shot:
Here's Steven again. He's a good kid and has a sweet disposition. He always tries to help me out by carrying my stuff to the office after class. When the class gets really noisy and is hard to control, he writes "OH MY GOD" on his paper and holds it up for me to see. ;-p
After the pictures Cara somehow managed to get herself behind the door. She laughs at anything and thought this was hilarious. So, instead of letting her out, I took a picture.
TMK5 is the youngest of my "older" classes. Between TMK5, TMK6, ICB1/2 and my TOEIC class my older, more advanced students rage from 12 (TMK5) to 15 (TOEIC and ICB2). These are by far my favorite age groups, and more importantly, my favorite performance levels. I've learned what I will be good at and what I won't be good at in the teaching; while I could substitute for a day, do not hire me as an elementary school teacher. Do hire me as an upper level high school English teacher. I can tell I will have fun with the material (which was just pure speculation until recently), and that makes all the difference in the world per one's job performance. If I can have some fun teaching what I can in terms of composition and reading comprehension to these upper level classes, then I know that getting into Shakespeare and Hemingway for American classes will be like a party.
Liz and I have decided that if I can get a university position here, or something teaching adults, or something with less hours for her, we're staying. Otherwise, we're coming back. Truth be told, I would love to stay 1-2 more years (whatever the contract dictated) just to get a good university position here. My resume back in America would look so much better, and I'm nervous about landing a good high school teaching job: at a reputable private school that's not associated with any Protestant churches. That...narrows it down a bit. I think that leaves Catholic, Jewish, and Montessori schools. How do I prove I'm the best English teacher they could hire? I'd like to start somewhere with a decent salary because Liz and I don't want to wait to have children for much longer. I get so worried sometimes. I don't feel like a very good provider.
So, before I depress myself, let's switch too one of my favorite topics: books! I'm trying to keep my mind limber and educated now that I'm out of school (once again) and a world away from an English bookstore. I'm currently reading the "Merchant of Venice," along with Peter Ackroyd's dense Shakespeare: The Biography and select chapters from Reading the Classics with C. S. Lewis. "Hamlet" is next (again!), along with A. C. Bradley's amazing lecture/essay on it in his book Shakespearean Tragedy (published 1913). If you want to read and discuss with me, feel free. I can group-call on Skype! Once my stash of books runs dry though, I might be having some of you ship me various paperbacks if I cna't locate them here (at my expense).
I took my camera into school today. Most of my classes don't want to be photographed, and in the bigger ones trying to get a picture will be a hassle, but I did manage to get a picture of one of my favorite classes: TMK5, but more of them later.
The first class I tried to get pictures of was Wake Up 4A, a class of about eleven. Wake Up is an elementary text, and the children are usually about 8-11, depending on their ability. As you can see, though, James didn't want to get his picture taken.
I managed to snap one of Greg and John. They're the two smartest in the class, and really get the material.
Before the bell rang, I got Fiona in a picture. She's nine (I think), really quite, sweet, and also one of the best students in the class.
One of the kids snapped a picture of me when I was about to get on to someone else.
My last class of the day today was TMK5. I'm not sure what TMK stands for, but 5 stands for 5th grade. All the kids in it are about 12. There is a TMK6 class I teach too. These are the only two classes that come to ECC every single day of the week, and sometimes on weekends for tests. TMK is a sort of intensive course this ECC instituted to try an compete with other TMK courses in neighboring English academies.
Here they are:
Melody is standing by me. Cara is in front of me, Tony is in the black shirt next to her, Shawn is in the yellow shirt up front, Jack is in glasses behind him, Eddie is next to Jack and in front of Melody, Alex is in the purple and white shirt, and Steven is next to him. Here's another shot:
Here's Steven again. He's a good kid and has a sweet disposition. He always tries to help me out by carrying my stuff to the office after class. When the class gets really noisy and is hard to control, he writes "OH MY GOD" on his paper and holds it up for me to see. ;-p
After the pictures Cara somehow managed to get herself behind the door. She laughs at anything and thought this was hilarious. So, instead of letting her out, I took a picture.
TMK5 is the youngest of my "older" classes. Between TMK5, TMK6, ICB1/2 and my TOEIC class my older, more advanced students rage from 12 (TMK5) to 15 (TOEIC and ICB2). These are by far my favorite age groups, and more importantly, my favorite performance levels. I've learned what I will be good at and what I won't be good at in the teaching; while I could substitute for a day, do not hire me as an elementary school teacher. Do hire me as an upper level high school English teacher. I can tell I will have fun with the material (which was just pure speculation until recently), and that makes all the difference in the world per one's job performance. If I can have some fun teaching what I can in terms of composition and reading comprehension to these upper level classes, then I know that getting into Shakespeare and Hemingway for American classes will be like a party.
Liz and I have decided that if I can get a university position here, or something teaching adults, or something with less hours for her, we're staying. Otherwise, we're coming back. Truth be told, I would love to stay 1-2 more years (whatever the contract dictated) just to get a good university position here. My resume back in America would look so much better, and I'm nervous about landing a good high school teaching job: at a reputable private school that's not associated with any Protestant churches. That...narrows it down a bit. I think that leaves Catholic, Jewish, and Montessori schools. How do I prove I'm the best English teacher they could hire? I'd like to start somewhere with a decent salary because Liz and I don't want to wait to have children for much longer. I get so worried sometimes. I don't feel like a very good provider.
So, before I depress myself, let's switch too one of my favorite topics: books! I'm trying to keep my mind limber and educated now that I'm out of school (once again) and a world away from an English bookstore. I'm currently reading the "Merchant of Venice," along with Peter Ackroyd's dense Shakespeare: The Biography and select chapters from Reading the Classics with C. S. Lewis. "Hamlet" is next (again!), along with A. C. Bradley's amazing lecture/essay on it in his book Shakespearean Tragedy (published 1913). If you want to read and discuss with me, feel free. I can group-call on Skype! Once my stash of books runs dry though, I might be having some of you ship me various paperbacks if I cna't locate them here (at my expense).
