TOUGH LOVE

No one ever said teaching was easy, but in the course of this week I've come to think of teaching in the same manner as extreme sports like ultramarathons and cave diving. All three require specialized knowledge and preparation, but it is the performer's endurance that is tested. In teaching I can plan my lessons, my classroom management strategies, my routines and goals — but what matters is how I execute those plans while actually teaching. In the classroom, the real test is keeping the class engaged. This week I'm engaging the students by increasing discipline and pacing.

Last week, my biggest difficulty was with students talking and becoming distracted throughout my lessons, so that I was constantly having to call their attention back to me and ask them to be quiet. The problem came both from my newness as a teacher and the nature of the lesson. I was doing an introductory lesson aiming to tell the students about myself and learn a little about their English levels (and personalities).

Since I was already planning to make journaling a part of our classroom routine I decided to have the students introduce themselves by making covers for their journals including their names, a picture of themselves and several sentences describing their personalities and things they like. For practical reasons it made sense for the students to make the journals as well. (I was not buying 735 journals, nor was I planning on making 735 journals by myself either. Someone told me that in teaching 'never do anything yourself that the students can do' and I think it was very good advice.)

However, making the journals required several separate steps as well as some translation from my co-teachers on the trickier instructions, both of which drew the class's attention away from me. Once we moved into the actual drawing and writing things went much smoother and the final results ranged from thoughtful to hilarious.

A sampling of my favorites (students' names removed for privacy):

One of my more eloquent students. Love the attitude in the portrait.

And then I get journals like this. Trolling indeed.

Sometimes those that don't follow the directions are most revealing. I am charmed by this student's stag beetles.

One of the best drawings I received and a classic self description. All students like chicken.

And of course there are a few odd-balls. I'm not sure what makes this one so good, the flying oranges, the tiny chorus line, or the emphasis of "I feel good ~ and cool ~".