It’s been a few months. Classes are moving along and the weeks are going by incredibly fast. Before things really get fired up, I figure it’s now time to look back on the early moments that I will forever remember and now can actually laugh at.
You see, every parent of a student at my school is able to watch their child live via a video camera placed in the classroom. Being monitored can be a bit of a frustrating business as you never know what the parent is looking for in regards to the learning environment. In my experience over the past few months, I’ve discovered that having high expectations on a seemingly perfect lesson plan can sometimes result in panic, disappointment and eventual hilarity.
Here are some of the highlights:
Preschool – very first monitoring.
Eleven bright students have just finished singing and dancing one of the many tunes they know in month 2. It’s time to sit down and get ready for storybook time.
Rule #1 – never change the seating arrangement on the day you’re being monitored.
Three children (whom we’ll call A, B, and C) are being monitored in this class, so they are seated together to be in perfect view of the camera. Horrible idea. The kids sit down. Student A decides to start rubbing Student B’s head. “A!!! Please stop rubbing B’s head!” Repeat. Repeat. Student B’s hair is sticking up. What fun! Student A continues to rub Student B’s head to create static electricity. “A!!!! Stop!!!” Then Student C starts laughing hysterically and refuses to sit down. Other children are yelling at Student A and Student C (the troublemakers in the class)…”Students A & C! Be quiet and listen to the teacher!!!” In walks Manner’s Teacher – my savior. She speaks a little native language and the kids become well-behaved students…I however, receive several bad ratings that stick with me for the rest of the day.
Preschool – round 2, different class.
Everything is going swimmingly. The kids have sung and danced and are listening to the teacher. It’s now time to read our storybook. The students are supposed to repeat the phrase after me. Silence. Crap. “Let’s try that again.” Silence…again. We keep moving forward. “Teachor, story bad.” Lovely. But at least they’re speaking English right?
Hi Kids – Level 1. Afternoon program.
This class is WILD!!!! They’re actually a lot of fun once tamed. As you can probably guess, this was not the day of control. One student in particular decides to talk and repeat everything I say for the entire class. There’s not much I can do.
The lesson continues and the kids cannot handle the conversation activity in pairs. I have to stop it 1 minute in and change it to a more controlled activity…BORING.
Then out of nowhere my hyper active student gets up and starts running around the classroom like a mad man. “NO STARS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK!!!!” “Teacher why?” Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh…
Overall, things have improved over time. There are still some classes that don’t go as well as I would like but I’m starting to figure out what makes the kids more participatory in class and more willing to listen. Some days can be very long but other days you have these moments of greatness where a preschooler may shout “Pegasus” for his p-word or a student may give you a complete sentence without any teacher instruction. I try to remember these good moments whenever I’m having a rough day in class…and then I take away all of my students’ stars…wha ha ha ha ha ha.
