The other exciting thing is that I've got kids who were taught by other TFC fellows (Tim, Laura, Sasha) so those kids are pretty excited about English, and already know a decent amount. It's going to be fun to talk with them about how their former students are doing, and I think they're going to do great. One girl, Rachel, whom Sasha taught, has already really impressed me by greeting me, asking how I was doing, and being able to tell me her name in English. That's a lot, and it's awesome that she's being brave on the first day.
The schedule is manageable as well. While I'm spending a lot more time in the classroom, I don't need to do as much prep work as I did last year. Grading is going to be tough, but I'll hopefully be able to come up with a system that has students doing some of the work, or, alternatively, I just won't have a life.
All of it is fabulous - but I do hope you come up with ideas for grading aside from not having a life. Definitely check with other teaching friends for ideas.
ReplyDeleteThat is cool that some of your students are on their second year of having instruction in English from a native speaker. It is bound to raise the bar for spoken English in Yunnan!
ReplyDeletePlus, it is great that you are not having to do as much prep work.