The Downs

So I thought the lessons with Sophia were going really well, but then she had her interview on Wednesday to go into grade 2 (the entire reason why she is taking lessons from me in the first place) and she completely failed!

It was an interesting moment when her mom told me that. At first, I did the usual, automatic, fall-into-guilt routine that I normally do. I felt really bad about it, thought that we should just stop the lessons right there (we have five more to do), and I was completely ready to pay the family back for the classes. But then, I stopped myself. I noticed that I had kind of gone off the deep end in terms of reacting and just stopped. Of course, I could feel the tension, and the fear inside my chest that stayed for pretty much the rest of the night, but at least I got some distance from it. I think in the past I would have really done a number on myself-beating myself over the head for not being "good enough." This time, however, after the lesson, I sat down and looked at the situation more objectively.

Were there things that I, as a "teacher" could have done better? Yes, the first and foremost being that I should have more aggressively looked into what interview questions Sophia was going to be asked so that I could have tried to target them more specifically. [Ironically enough, I did find this out, and, while I could have streamlined the things I was teaching her a little more, I don't think I would have changed the topics too much.] I also could have focused more on speaking with her. For instance, I used flashcards with words and pictures...next time (if there is one) I think it would be better to only use words at the beginning and then just go to the pictures. I used the words because she's pretty smart and seems to learn the word before she learns what's on the card. However, since the interview was strictly oral, I think it would have been better to have her practice supplying the words from memory.

That said, was the "entire 'failure'" my fault? (As I was so readily able to believe.)

Of course not. Sophia is really smart-and she has a firm grasp on what I have taught her thus far, I think she just gets nervous. For instance, whenever one of the other teachers asks her a question-she doesn't say anything. I wonder if part of what happened was a confidence issue?

That's something for me to look into then, how do you build a student's confidence? And comfort in speaking the language?

Also, and not that this in any way "justifies" her performance during the interview, but she also failed the Thai portion of the test. So I have to keep in mind that there are other factors involved other than me. (Surprise, surprise.)

All in all, I think the entire experience working with Sophia has taught me more about myself (and how the meditating does actually allow for distancing) than anything. I just hope she has gotten as much out of it as I have.

Using what I learned in TEFL

The other day, during Shari's* lesson, I caught myself in the middle of trying to elicit an answer from her. And again, that evening during the lesson with Sophia I found that I was not only eliciting answers from her, but I was also subtly correcting her English by mirroring her. Both eliciting and mirroring are skills I learned from TEFL. The funny thing about each situation was not necessarily the fact that I caught and acknowledged myself using TEFL skills (although that is pretty funny), but that I was actually using them in the first place.

In the TEFL course I went through, one of the first things we were taught was how to "elicit" an answer from a student. As opposed to asking the student outright if they know the answer, (something that is not reliable as more often than not the student will just say "yes") eliciting allows you, as the teacher, to really check their comprehension. As we learned, simple eliciting techniques can be anywhere from asking the student what she did that day, to asking her whether or not what she said was correct.

When I caught myself doing it, I had asked Shari to write "made" and she wrote "mad;" to which I asked: "Really? What does that [poingtingto mad] say?" She then said "mad," corrected herself (by adding the 'e') and we continued on. (Coincidentally, I have caught my Thai teacher eliciting the answer out of us on numerous occations by asking the class whether or not another student's answer is correct. It's certainly weird, and oh so very fun, to be on both sides at the same time!!)

What was really cool (if you'll allow me the use of that slang) was that during the TEFL course it was kind of hard to practice understand what eliciting meant. I wasn't sure that I was going to retain the information. However, looking back, I realize that I've been eliciting answers from students since I started teaching. Somehow, without even realizing it was happening, I really did integrate the information we received in the short four week course. Now, seeing it "in action" is really amazing, and I finally understand how it works!!

The same, if not more, can be said for mirroring: a process of correcting the students. For me, especially in the one on one groups, the hardest part has been to not correct all of their mistakes all of the time. Especially with Shari, who wants to get everything correct every time, I have to remember, especially when she is reading out loud, that she doesn't need to get every word right. It's not only time consuming to do, but it is also really tiring.

The other day I think I frusterated the both of us by trying to be too exact with my correction. I was repeating every single word she was saying incorrectly (which was a lot because she's just learning how to read) and it became pretty cumbersome. I think I was mostly frustrated because I know she knows the material, it just didn't feel like she had made progress that day. Interestingly enough, the next lesson, I found myself trying to correct her by mirroring as opposed to direct correction. I also let many of the words go, and reminded myself to focus on the "target language" (another TEFL skill). Once again, mirroring is something we learned in TEFL and something I did without thinking about it. Instead of correcting the student when she says "Yesterday I go to the market," you say, "Oh, so you went to the market yesterday, how was it?" Theoretically, and in actuality, the student picks up on the mistake and corrects herself, as opposed to the teacher always coming down on the student. Unsurprisingly, mirroring worked a lot better!

This also has been an invaluable lesson for me in terms of the crossover of being a teacher and student. It has allowed me to remind myself to go easy on myself (especially when I'm pronouncing Thai); and has helped me try new things with Shari when teaching her how to read. (For instance, I'm having her read a lot more to herself as opposed to out loud because I've finally experienced first hand what it feels like to be able to comprehend something in your head, but not necessarily be able to express it.) All in all, I think that one of the greatest things about teaching has been to watch, and be a part of, the learning process. Both as a teacher and as a student.



*NOTE: The names of my students have been changed.

Balancing Act

Tonight's class was amazing and evidence of how important it is to stay open with your students and open to change.

The seven year old I teach is extremely bright and very talented. From the first class I could tell that she has an affinity for drawing and tonight that interest really showed. I've been utilizing ESL-Kids (a great TEFL resource that has useful and convenient hand outs) to create flashcards and worksheets. However, lately the printer I use hasn't been working so tonight I was just going to have my student make her own flashcards. I had only planned for it to be a short activity, but it ended up taking most of the class and we actually never touched the "flashcards" at all. Instead, I had her draw on a white board all of the actions we were covering (sitting, hugging, drawing, etc.) and she really took an interest in it.

At first, she only drew pictures similar to the ones I had shown her, or similar to the ones I had drawn. However, it didn't take her long to really get into it and after four words she was already drawing me teaching, drawing her sister reading, and drawing herself running. It was really amazing and the pictures she drew were, in my opinion, pretty detailed for a seven year old. I think the part I enjoyed the most was being able to see things through her eyes (like the picture of me teaching!!!).

Likewise, during the process I learned more about her than I've managed to find out after talking with her for two weeks. For instance, for the picture of her running she drew herself and then filled in all of the elements of a race. Through questioning her, I found out more about the race. She told me the picture was of her as a baby and I was able to find out that was six years old at the time and that she was the only one in her family who ran.

All in all, I'd say that to be able to interact with her and understand her through something as simple as drawing was a very unexpected joy. Actually, to watch her learn and build her confidence day after day has been just plain fun!!

Three weeks in....

The February TEFL class is heading into their last week, so we all know what that means:

I've been teaching on my own now for almost four weeks!!! (Okay, it's really been about three weeks and a day, but who's counting???)

And my how time flies. Thus far I've had only two groups of students. (One was a two week gig for a local eyeglass store, the other has been a one-on-one with a 23 year old.) All in all, though, I must say I've been pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoy teaching. Both my parents were teachers, and I think now I'm beginning to see why. There's something really gratifying in seeing the "light turn on" (so to speak) with the people you've been working with day after day. I love it when I sit down with my private student and she is able to red something she had now clue about when we first started. I've always loved learning and it's really exciting to watch that process from the other side.

I think I still have to work on the "fun factor" though. Many times I catch myself taking things too seriously, and in this culture they just aren't interested when things stop being fun. At Island Optic, the owner pretty much stopped participating in the class when I was teaching-I just don't think I was entertaining enough. With my private student it's been really about encouragement more than anything else. She was pretty shy the first day, but seemed to open up the more I relaxed and got excited when she would do something correctly.

I suppose I will really be put to the test in the up coming weeks: my newest student is a seven year old!!! If I can't get the "fun factor" figured out in time...well, the next post might be all about how I am back to one student!!!