Hi

news. a very part-time job landed in my lap.

some of you may remember october before last i took a C# class. well when i completed it, i spoke to the course coordinator about the possibility of teaching English for them - told her i was a native speaker, some experience, etc. she said they didn't have much demand but would keep me in mind. they did have a teacher they normally called on already. i figured nothing would come of it.

Well, whaddaya know! i got an email last week from her, to see if i was still available! Result: i will be teaching a beginner's English course, to a single student for a local training institute. 30 hours total, 2 hour sessions 2-3 times per week. i start this coming Monday (March 5th.)

it is less simple than it might sound, but it's as simple a start as i can hope for... especially with such a sparse schedule, and flexible days. (i have to do mornings UGH. but i'll survive.)

need to go get a textbook tomorrow... i am already working on lesson plans based on their "content sheet." the latter is very schematic, however, and very grammar-based. i took issue with some of the content (it lacked some basic themes, but included some rather advanced constructs). the course coordinator agreed for me to change it as i saw fit. i have a lot of freedom. freedom means a lot of work. that's why i need a text. and then i will have to play match-the-concepts to use its exercises etc... but i don't want to reinvent the wheel.

i did consider doing it all myself. but that would really be a lot of work. i will resort to that only if i cannot find a semi-suitable text.

i am vascillating between excitement and terror.

The good news is this will be low profile. If i mess up somehow it won't kill prospective employment in the field. This school mostly does computer literacy and programming classes - it is not one of the specialized English Schools that i will eventually apply to. Even if i do well, it is unlikely this place will have another request for ... ???? maybe another year and a half!

well if nothing else i did do pretty detailed plans for the first 2 lessons. and i can write exercises for those on the fly.

But.... the rest of the stuff is a quagmire that has me thinking in circles and cutting and pasting the same way... ARGHHHHH!

~ waves ~