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| Team Fresh all psyched to get the show on the road! |
There is a saying that on the first day of school, the teacher is actually
more nervous than the students. This statement holds so much truth, especially
when experienced first hand. The beautiful thing about teaching [that no
college textbook will ever tell you] is that it’s just like riding a bike {that
is, as long as the proper amount of work and preparation have gone forth before
the actual lesson day :)}
It was a morning to gather thoughts and to gather plans and handouts. This
was the hour that Team Fresh(man) had been preparing for for over a week. Laura
and I met in the office, talking through our plans, piggy-backing on one
another as the lesson-child that we had created was preparing for takeoff. We
posed for pictures, cracked some jokes, and spurred on our fellow teammates who
are now one-week seasoned teachers. The time was
drawing close, our posters gathered, I soon became one of those people who
wanted every pencil in a straight line, perfectly aligned. With minutes
remaining, Laura pulled out her laptop and there, in the foreign teachers
office, Team Fresh and Lauren took part in a Katy Perry dance party to rev
ourselves up for the upcoming class, reminding ourselves that “Baby, you are a
firework!”. Down the stairs we went, confused by the numbering of the
classrooms. “I teach in 411. Why do all of these doors say 09-2?” Lauren guided
me to where I was supposed to go, and there I set up camp. In the far corner
were two girls sweeping the classroom, their jaws dropping upon my entrance.
“Hello!” Giggles. Time was drawing closer and students were coming back to
their classrooms.
“Oh no, you are the teacher! You
are so beautiful!”
(if I had a dollar for every time
I heard those four words…)
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| "Gaga" and "W", two peas in a pod. |
Class was about to begin; as the
students poured in the weary faces changed into
fresh bubbles of excitement as something new was about to happen. Anything that
I did brought entertainment, applause, and [always] giggles. On Tuesdays I teach two oral
English classes with 38 students in each. These are all freshman business
English majors, all of whom come from Heilongjiang
province. Some of my favorite names include ‘Pretty’, ‘Rock’, ‘Eleven’, ‘W’…and
yes, even a ‘Gaga’.
Have no fear, most of my students
have common English names as well [but we all know there are always those
‘special’ people that make the class more interesting].
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| Simon and Peter sit next to each other. Oh, the irony. |
As our first class ended, Laura
and I traded classrooms {I mentioned earlier that we are co-teachers, literally
teaching each others classes}. This was such an awesome opportunity for our
students to see the friendship between Miss Laura and myself, what an awesome
testament to our community and the importance of relationships! Our students
often don’t get to see teachers (or foreigners for that matter) interacting on
a day-to-day basis. After round 2 of our lesson-child, Miss Laura and I were
beat tired; overall, we quickly agreed that our day was nothing but a huge
success and a major Blessing!
As I poured over the “needs
analysis” of my students, I could feel bubbling emotion and joy, eagerness, and
hope for all that is to come in this upcoming semester and year. I am so very
excited to get to know them, to help them, to love them.
Before I go, I thought I would
leave you with a few words from my classes that made me smile.
“Firstly, I think my English
speaking is not very well. So how can I improve fastly? Secondly, it’s a stupid
question: do you like Twilight’s team Jacob?”
-Vicky
“I like dancing and singing. Maybe
every girl like doing it! That’s my hobby! I like High School Musical. I always
hope I can sing with a boy who sings song well! That’s my second dream! And I
like English teacher very much. I will study hard!! I always don’t concentrate
on one thing. So please help me solve it!”
-Jessica
“I like listening to music. I like
the word ‘hope’. I think we must have ‘hope’ in our heart in life. We can
firmly believe tomorrow is very great.”
-Hope
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