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 ~

Waves

That sounds interesting and entertaining !

I hope you can enjoy it and teach your beautiful language to this student. Im sure you are great teaching

HOw exciting!!!!! WOW!!!!
that is big news
Thanks for sharing!
bizi

Thanks Majo and Bizi for the support!

shaking nerves aside, i do feel happy about this. and yes, excited too! t's like, i was just starting to feel better again (or less bad - i'm cycling below baseline) and the powers that be picked just that moment to reach out to me... i am pretty wowed. it lit a fire under my butt, and i am moving. i have to pace myself, and i have had to take the odd lorazepam...

the lesson planning is a steep learning curve, and to my sole benefit. it is a part of teaching which i haven't had to do before. i do hope that i manage to pull it off well though - for the student i mean. i get paid... but she's paying - as well as putting time in!

i have been trying to reassure myself... i remind myself that i got good reviews from former students, and even the highschool kids i subbed for here liked me by the time i left... so, hopefully it will be OK. i have subbed for adults before and played things by ear, and things went ok even then.

and i keep reminding myself, one day at a time... we used to say that all the time... but i had forgotten it. tg i am reading my "mindfulness" book about taking a moment at a time, and it reminded me.

~ waves ~

YOu are going to do great!
bizi

Dear Waves,
You sound mostly good about the work. I hope you find after Monday that teaching in these circumstances works for you.

M

i am so very happy for you
love
bobby
you will so super

Waves

I am so proud to know you. I personally think, this is the change
you have been looking for.

And yes, just keep saying one day at a time. Or even at times,
it might be one hour at a time.

I believe you can do anything you set your mind to.

Donna

Dear Bizi, Bobby, Mari.

thanks so much for your support!

I have decided "adopting" a book might be as much work.

I am going to prep my own lessons.

There is plenty of material on the internet where i can get an idea of what is too little/too much - first issue i have. My second issue is with certain rules - natural use is one thing... expressing the usage as rules is another. Again, i can check this information while developing the lesson plan, to make sure i express it accurately to the student.

School "standards" : When i took the C# class at this school, the "manual" they were supposed to provide did not exist. teacher recommended a book which they bought for me - it was great and appropriate for my professional standing, but nothing to do with the course. Their English courses do not even include a manual. the "course" i was taught was totally adlibbed from stuff ripped off the internet - literally, from different sources, and i received no material other than the few exercises. The course content did not even totally correspond to what they advertised... LOL.

I believe i can put together something more cohesive than that! I have to remind myself i cannot be perfect. perfection does not exist. it just needs to be good enough. i am pretty fussy and meticulous - to a fault in fact, so most likely it will be good enough - certainly for the standards of this school. In fact the hardest part for me, will be not over-doing.

The student does not have their very skeletal "requirements list," only i do, and it basically turns out i can really just teach what i see fit. She expects to learn some English from scratch. On the first day, i will ask her if she has specific needs (any particular reason for taking the course?) I will tailor the content accordingly.

FACT: Short of a natural disaster or similar, the student SHALL learn some basic English. That is the whole point.

My dad said something cool. He said, don't worry about getting a textbook, just go there and once you start you'll be fine, you'll see.

~ waves ~

I like your dad's thoughts on this.


I think he is right. So go with that in mind. And go for it.

I personally think the no book is a good idea.

Donna