(no subject)
Last week was mid-term week, so I basically stood in the back of the class and made sure they didn't cheat. Well, on Monday I mostly browsed the internet while they studied. Tue-Fri, I stood. And watched. And counted down to the end of the week.
Now it's time to start actually teaching. Now that I've had some time to prepare, I feel like I have a decent first lesson planned. But we'll see. If I start the lesson, and they just stare at me without participating, I don't really know what I'll do... Panic? Panic sounds about right. I got an idea from a guy who's been teaching here a while to do a "guess the question" game. You put an answer on the board (say, "Ryan") and they have to guess the question ("What is your name?"). The answers become gradually more obscure. The idea is that the students will blurt out questions. Whether they are right or wrong, at least they're speaking English. This sounds iffy to me, but he swears by it, so I'm going to try it. I do have a couple backup plans in case it doesn't work (and for filler, if need be).
I've been playing a decent amount of badminton and tennis. It's been so god damn long since I've played tennis (5 years?), and it feels great. My first time playing again was straight up embarrassing. I went with Ogechi, a cool chick from New York who happens to have two tennis rackets with her here in Korea, to a nearby tennis court. There was a group of Koreans there who were all too excited to play against a couple foreigners. Or with a couple foreigners. Whatever. So I pair up with a Korean dude, Ogechi pairs up with a Korean dude, and we play doubles. I used to have a decent slice serve back in the day, right? So I toss the ball, pull my racket back, and SWING! ......right into my partner's racket, missing his body by maybe an inch. Ugh. Way to get back into the swing of things (lame pun, yes!).
Well, I sucked. But then Ogechi and I played at a more remote tennis court a couple days ago, and I began to get the feel of it again. My backhand is awful, but my serve and forehand are back on track. Probably not as good as they used to be, technically, but I do have more power than when I was a middle school kid. I'm looking forward to playing more and more over the next year.
Oh shit. Class is about to start. I'm nervous...
Now it's time to start actually teaching. Now that I've had some time to prepare, I feel like I have a decent first lesson planned. But we'll see. If I start the lesson, and they just stare at me without participating, I don't really know what I'll do... Panic? Panic sounds about right. I got an idea from a guy who's been teaching here a while to do a "guess the question" game. You put an answer on the board (say, "Ryan") and they have to guess the question ("What is your name?"). The answers become gradually more obscure. The idea is that the students will blurt out questions. Whether they are right or wrong, at least they're speaking English. This sounds iffy to me, but he swears by it, so I'm going to try it. I do have a couple backup plans in case it doesn't work (and for filler, if need be).
I've been playing a decent amount of badminton and tennis. It's been so god damn long since I've played tennis (5 years?), and it feels great. My first time playing again was straight up embarrassing. I went with Ogechi, a cool chick from New York who happens to have two tennis rackets with her here in Korea, to a nearby tennis court. There was a group of Koreans there who were all too excited to play against a couple foreigners. Or with a couple foreigners. Whatever. So I pair up with a Korean dude, Ogechi pairs up with a Korean dude, and we play doubles. I used to have a decent slice serve back in the day, right? So I toss the ball, pull my racket back, and SWING! ......right into my partner's racket, missing his body by maybe an inch. Ugh. Way to get back into the swing of things (lame pun, yes!).
Well, I sucked. But then Ogechi and I played at a more remote tennis court a couple days ago, and I began to get the feel of it again. My backhand is awful, but my serve and forehand are back on track. Probably not as good as they used to be, technically, but I do have more power than when I was a middle school kid. I'm looking forward to playing more and more over the next year.
Oh shit. Class is about to start. I'm nervous...