For at least two Fridays in a row now, I've had this one boy come up to me after class and tell me he hopes to speak better English. I usually respond by saying I hope to be a better English teacher. He grins and tells me, "You will be". These kids have already stolen my heart but it's this one little exchange in particular that I think about after a day of feeling very tired. I'm happy to see my lively students but exhausted from being that articulate, energetic teacher they see once every week. It's this exchange that makes me think about how to be the teacher these kids deserve as I go home for the day, what more I can give them, how to better bridge where they're at with where I want them to be, and just generally warms me to think that I have such awesome students who are growing with me. Do I have to shake them awake sometimes after a hard day? Yeah. Do I have to push a little to get everyone's attention? Yes. Is it tiring to stay up all night making big colorful posters, lesson plans, and monthly and term-long plans so I can be sure my students will have the foundation they need for the next activity I have planned? Yes, but every time I see them light up with something as small as waving Homer Simpson's face around in the front of the classroom or teaching them the English names for the cartoons they recognize I remember how it's so, so worth it.
I asked "Jim" (my motivated student) what he wanted to know about English or learn about English. He seemed unsure about how to say what he wanted or maybe my question was too broad, or maybe the possible answers are too broad and difficult to articulate given that I'm the one teaching him what I know about my native tongue and the place I grew up. I'll give him some time to come back with an answer. I'd love to get more input from my students about the things they want from my class, I can see how hard they work to understand me whenever they pull out their books and turn to the index or the dictionary. At first I forbid myself from using Chinese, but now that I understand the level that they are at, I understand that what few bilingual instructions I can give are actually very much appreciated and I have more students speaking to me now that they've heard my bad Chinese. I still limit my Chinese a lot and I hope to use less in the classroom as time goes on, especially since it's always so thrilling to hear them speak a little more. Here, teachers go up a grade along with the students they teach. I sometimes think that I wouldn't mind staying if it meant I could follow them for another year, continue answering their questions, andlet them see what their capable of with each activity. I've built my lesson plans this month primarily to ensure my students would be able to understand most of the song "This is Halloween" because there are few things I want more than to say "Look, you say you are not very good, but you understood a song in English!"
They are worth every late night, hours of marker fumes and scouring books for grammar and vocabulary that are new and provide new challenges but are not impossible to achieve. I really hope I can get a solid collection of Playaway devices set up in a secure space so that my students always have the option of not only reading, but hearing English spoken by someone other than myself. I'd give them the world if I could, but I am a limited human being and they are middle schoolers with many other things to learn still.
I asked "Jim" (my motivated student) what he wanted to know about English or learn about English. He seemed unsure about how to say what he wanted or maybe my question was too broad, or maybe the possible answers are too broad and difficult to articulate given that I'm the one teaching him what I know about my native tongue and the place I grew up. I'll give him some time to come back with an answer. I'd love to get more input from my students about the things they want from my class, I can see how hard they work to understand me whenever they pull out their books and turn to the index or the dictionary. At first I forbid myself from using Chinese, but now that I understand the level that they are at, I understand that what few bilingual instructions I can give are actually very much appreciated and I have more students speaking to me now that they've heard my bad Chinese. I still limit my Chinese a lot and I hope to use less in the classroom as time goes on, especially since it's always so thrilling to hear them speak a little more. Here, teachers go up a grade along with the students they teach. I sometimes think that I wouldn't mind staying if it meant I could follow them for another year, continue answering their questions, andlet them see what their capable of with each activity. I've built my lesson plans this month primarily to ensure my students would be able to understand most of the song "This is Halloween" because there are few things I want more than to say "Look, you say you are not very good, but you understood a song in English!"
They are worth every late night, hours of marker fumes and scouring books for grammar and vocabulary that are new and provide new challenges but are not impossible to achieve. I really hope I can get a solid collection of Playaway devices set up in a secure space so that my students always have the option of not only reading, but hearing English spoken by someone other than myself. I'd give them the world if I could, but I am a limited human being and they are middle schoolers with many other things to learn still.
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