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!!!