Back to School, Back to School....
Trip Start
Oct 24, 2005
1
7
150
Trip End
Ongoing
Bangkok,
Thailand
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
So I started this email a few weeks ago. Probably time to finish it, as we embark on our fourth and final week of the course (and here it is a few days later still!). What to say, what to say....
Well, it's been a lot of work, but I've really enjoyed it. It's nice to be learning something again! And the way the program is set up, we are given a chance nearly every day to apply what we learn (through teaching). There have been a few long nights (and all have been long days), but all in all, it hasn't been too stressful (don't get me wrong -- there have been some incredibly stressful and exhausting times...)
CELTA Group
. We start class at 9:00 AM each morning. There are 16 people in our class: a few other Americans, a Canadian, a few Aussies, a Singaporean, a Dutch, and a number of Brits. Typically, we have one class for 1 1/2 hours, then 1/2 hour break, followed by another 1 1/2 hour lesson. At that point (12:30), we get 1 1/2 hour lunch (which is usually spent working on lessons, etc. - like we actually get a real lunch!). In the afternoons, we are in smaller groups (our group is 5 people) for teaching. We start teaching at 2:00, and go until 4:00 (sometimes later). That's followed by "feedback" on our lessons. Then we stick around school and plan for the next day. Most days we get home around 9:00 or 10:00, and usually work until midnight.
..> Week One:
We were with the elementary class the first week of the course. We all taught the very first day of the course: 15 minutes a piece. We also taught Wednesday (35 mins) and Friday (40 mins). The elementary students were really tough -- they simply didn't have much listening or speaking background, so we encountered a lot of blank faces that week (especially when you are wordy, like me). Of course we learned tons that first week (b/c we hadn't taught before), so our lessons improved dramatically
CELTA Group II
. During the first week, we had to interview one of our students for a paper. Again, we were dealing w/the elementary group, so it was quite difficult to interview them (they just didn't understand any of the questions, and they didn't know how to say what they wanted to). They are probably the sweetest group of all though -- I still say hi to them in the halls, and they ask me how I am, etc.
Week 2:
During the second week, we moved on to a new tutor, and a new class - the pre-intermediates. We were extremely impressed with this group (in comparison to the elementary students, they were leaps and bounds ahead of them). We both taught Tuesday & Thursday (40 mins each) that week. On Thursday, we were surprised by an infusion of new students from the refuge center. We had been told we were going to have two new Cambodian students, so we planned accordingly. Just before the lesson, I noticed scads of students in the cafeteria, and we found out we were getting nearly 12 new students (just enough time to make more copies - barely). Of course, the new students were nowhere near the skill level of the old, so we had to revamp our lessons a bit, but it was fun. We also got to teach in quite an international environment: we had Thai, Vietnamese, Burmese, Cambodian, Sri Lankan, and Nepali students
CELTA Group III
.Week 3:
We stuck w/the pre-intermediates through Wednesday of the third week. We both taught on Mon (40 mins) & Wed (40 mins). On Thursday, we moved on to the intermediates. Again, another jump in abilities - although not as much as I had expected. I taught Friday (55 mins) as well. When we moved up to this group, we also ended up w/the toughest tutor. He can be quite nasty, and we were all a bit worried about it. Fortunately, his bark is worse than his bite (or maybe we just work so much harder b/c we're living in fear?) - he's really been quite nice (supportive comments on our lesson plans, etc.).
Week 4:
To the present....
Still w/the intermediates. Konrad taught (55 mins) Monday - he had the students write one another's biographies -- it went really well. I taught today (last lesson!!!) - also 55 mins. I presented movie reviews, and had the students write their own. Tomorrow Konrad teaches his ninth and final lesson - yeah! Friday is more or less just an administrative day, so the pressure will really be off by about 3:00 tomorrow (he teaches 1st).
And then we're off to the beach to relax a bit....
Our hotel wouldn't let us pay the same rate for less than a month, so we're going to hold on to it as a home base until the end (nearly) of the month. We'll head south to relax on the beach a bit, then we're going to come back to Bangkok for a few days. After that, we'll head north, and into Myanmar for a few days (need to extend our visas). Back to Bangkok, then head east. At least that's our plan for now.
Anyhow, I've once again written a tome, so I'll let you digest a bit (I need to do a bit of the same, actually - haven't really eaten since 8:00! Growlllll) - hope to hear from you soon. Cheers.
