catching up
Well, I've stayed pretty busy with work and haven't had much time to write about any of it! But today I had the day off (kind of) so now's as good a time as any.
Teaching ESL has gotten better. I honestly didn't like it at first. Beginner levels are hard to teach because they know so little, it's hard to get them talking. I originally taught level 2 and had anywhere from 3-8 students, but the level 1 teacher left and a new one hasn't been hired, so I'm teaching both levels now. Not getting paid any differently mind you. And I have 14-18 students a day. The room is packed full of desks. 14-18 sounds like a good number for a public school class. Most nowadays are 30+. But for ESL that's pretty difficult. Even in foreign countries where native English speakers teach in large public school classrooms, they are usually language assistants and have another teacher helping them. I also teach from 9am-1:30pm. Four days a week. It's a lot! I say all of that but I don't mean to complain. That's just the way it is. And it's hard. But, it's a job and sometimes jobs are hard.
My students are mostly from South Korea. A few are Chinese and one is African. Classes are supposed to be immersion without the native language of the students being spolen. Easily done on my part. I don't speak Korean, Mandarin or... whatever language my African student speaks. She's new as of Thursday. But the level 1 teacher before me was bilingual and spoke Korean in the classroom. Getting the students to use English at all times is very difficult! Because of the varying levels in the class, I allow them to speak to each other in their native tongues when needed, like to explain the instructions to a class member who may not understand. At least that way, everyone can participate in the activities. Anyway, they are good students. All adults except one. I don't know if they are learning anything or not. I hope so. There haven't been any complaints made, so that's a good sign. And they all keep coming to class. Another good sign.
My second job is teaching theatre after school. It is hectic. But I like it! The kids are great.Their shows are progressing, though not as quickly as I'd hoped in some instances. It's difficult to block a play when two leads don't show up... on the same day! Grrrr... I'm the director at 4 schools, which I think may prove to be too many. We'll see. I may not want to do that many next fall. Today I thought I the day off for Presidents Day. I didn't have ESL today so I just assumed it was a school holiday everywhere. Not quite! I found out when I got a text from my boss at the theatre academy regarding another teacher's class today and went, "Uh... there's class today?" This was at 3:15. Class starts at 3:05 and ends at 4:05. I live 30 minutes away from work. So, yeah. Someone had to fill in for me. Whoops!
FUNimation is finally announcing some stuff that I worked on last year, namely Fairy Tail and Shiki. It's nice to have things to post about on my FB fan page apart from conventions! Not that there's anything wrong with conventions. I'm exctied for March to get here! Toronto and Columbia, SC!
And now I'm gonna go watch TV or something. Tony is sick and in bed. Boo.
Teaching ESL has gotten better. I honestly didn't like it at first. Beginner levels are hard to teach because they know so little, it's hard to get them talking. I originally taught level 2 and had anywhere from 3-8 students, but the level 1 teacher left and a new one hasn't been hired, so I'm teaching both levels now. Not getting paid any differently mind you. And I have 14-18 students a day. The room is packed full of desks. 14-18 sounds like a good number for a public school class. Most nowadays are 30+. But for ESL that's pretty difficult. Even in foreign countries where native English speakers teach in large public school classrooms, they are usually language assistants and have another teacher helping them. I also teach from 9am-1:30pm. Four days a week. It's a lot! I say all of that but I don't mean to complain. That's just the way it is. And it's hard. But, it's a job and sometimes jobs are hard.
My students are mostly from South Korea. A few are Chinese and one is African. Classes are supposed to be immersion without the native language of the students being spolen. Easily done on my part. I don't speak Korean, Mandarin or... whatever language my African student speaks. She's new as of Thursday. But the level 1 teacher before me was bilingual and spoke Korean in the classroom. Getting the students to use English at all times is very difficult! Because of the varying levels in the class, I allow them to speak to each other in their native tongues when needed, like to explain the instructions to a class member who may not understand. At least that way, everyone can participate in the activities. Anyway, they are good students. All adults except one. I don't know if they are learning anything or not. I hope so. There haven't been any complaints made, so that's a good sign. And they all keep coming to class. Another good sign.
My second job is teaching theatre after school. It is hectic. But I like it! The kids are great.Their shows are progressing, though not as quickly as I'd hoped in some instances. It's difficult to block a play when two leads don't show up... on the same day! Grrrr... I'm the director at 4 schools, which I think may prove to be too many. We'll see. I may not want to do that many next fall. Today I thought I the day off for Presidents Day. I didn't have ESL today so I just assumed it was a school holiday everywhere. Not quite! I found out when I got a text from my boss at the theatre academy regarding another teacher's class today and went, "Uh... there's class today?" This was at 3:15. Class starts at 3:05 and ends at 4:05. I live 30 minutes away from work. So, yeah. Someone had to fill in for me. Whoops!
FUNimation is finally announcing some stuff that I worked on last year, namely Fairy Tail and Shiki. It's nice to have things to post about on my FB fan page apart from conventions! Not that there's anything wrong with conventions. I'm exctied for March to get here! Toronto and Columbia, SC!
And now I'm gonna go watch TV or something. Tony is sick and in bed. Boo.