Palmera Projects
First Day of School
Posted on Saturday, Dec 26 2009
Day 1: 21st December 2009
Adjective. Subject. Past continuous tense. Past simple tense.
What do these mean again??? How do I explain this to my students?
Even though my 1st language is English and I have been speaking it since young, teaching someone English feels alien and is out of my comfort zone. I am really glad that we all have been paired up with another volunteer to assist our assigned teacher. It really helps to bounce off ideas off one other and figure out together with the teachers the best way to approach a certain topic. It is also a great opportunity for the teachers to find out about how we have learnt English in school and to compare different teaching methods.
Ada and I have 3 classes that we teach and the kids are absolutley fantastic. We have one elementary and 2 beginner classes. The kids are absolutely adorable. They love singing, playing Simon says and you definately need a lot of energy to keep up with them. Even though I was tired at times, I could still go on as it's honestly satisfying seeing them enjoying themselves and for selfsh reasons such as the hugs that we get at the end of the class. yup! hugs! the little ones literally rush toward Ada and myself at the end of class to hug or shake hands or even give high fives. In my first class, I had a kid no higher than my knee run up to me and hug my legs tightly and then scurried off. I was shocked and all I could do then was to put my hands on her back. I've learnt to now squat down to say bye so that I can actually hug them properly.
The simple act of touch - hugs, a handshake even high fives can be spiritually uplifting.
Lesson 1: "HUG MORE OFTEN".
Caroline