Teaching students of the English Advanced II class was most certainly a challenge.
Although I am in my final year and acording to many teachers I should be already acostumed to teach subjects to a class, I still get nervious and if I do not constantly see my notes I totally get lost.
I envy those who can smoothly teach a subject. And it is not that I can not speak in public.
It is the fact that the responsability for those brains to actually retain and understand the content falls over my shoulders. I have to correct mistakes in a correct way since everybody is different. Some may not care if they are corrected in public at the moment the make the mistake in or later in private.
Since everybody is different so was this group. I came to find a class full of knowledge and a high level of understanding. I was put on the spot several times, but even if I was a 50 years old teacher, I would still be put on the spot once in a while for forgetting grammar rules or maybe a period at the end of a sentence. Students are critics and critics are good for a competitive teacher. I saw a few people following talking in the back. What did I do?. I moved them forward. I like for everybody to have peace and quiet in a class. It is the time for learning, not for talking, and the activity was to listen. Now, there is a check mark for classroom managment, I like to walk around the classroom to check on every student to see if they are really seating and listening only. NO TEXTING WAS ALLOWED. Unless is work, of course, but even then.
Not knowing their names is always a challenge. My God it always is. I remembered most names and to remember the rest I played a guessing game. They liked it. Since this was the first class we met. I try to start the class asking how they were feeling on that day, mentioned the weather and they followed lowering the affective filter. I did a brainstorm on the topic, and as mentioned before, their level of English high. Homework, of course, is a eternal surprise to not be brought by the entire class. There were some last minute filling in. I saw it. I did not say anything. The class lasted for 45 minutes which were enough to prepare the double next time I would meat with them. I can not believe my time with them was over and that I was cleared to them. I got responses and I got to see them work in pairs, and share information. And most important to me, they gave opinion on the different exercises.
Having dinamic people as students boos adrenaline. I must say that if I entered into a classroom with introvertive students, I would have had a hard time. When there is no communication, there is no way for a teacher to find out if they are having difficulties with anything at all.
More to come in my next class...
