"Hi, teacher!"

             I know most of my posts have been about the different places I’ve visited in Mexico and things I’ve done, but let’s not forget that the reason I’m here is for school and teaching.  I thought dedicating a post to my teaching experiences would only be appropriate. 

             Before doing my teaching practicum, I was pretty nervous about having a large class to myself and teaching full lessons while being observed.  However, as I spent more time with my students, I began to feel more comfortable in the classroom, as I got to know them better and figure out their interests and English level.  It wasn’t until the second week that I felt like I had found my place in the classroom. 

I especially began to feel like a teacher when I would run into students outside of class and they would say, “Hi, teacher!”  I’m not going to lie, it took a while to get used to being called “teacher” when most of my students are my age.  There's something about being called "teacher" outside the classroom that felt new to me.  Soon, when students would say “teacher” in class, there was confusion as to which teacher they were talking to: me or their full-time teacher.  Students even started asking ME for permission to go to the restroom, and permission to enter the room, instead of their original teacher. 

My Practicum University: Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro

I was lucky to have the opportunity to teach such wonderful advanced-English students, who were so supportive for each of my lessons.  Before my second lesson they even started chanting my name.  I had two one-hour observed lessons, both of which went really well.  Before and after my lessons, some of my students would ask me how I felt, or say something that always encouraged me. It’s the small things and the relationships built with students that make preparing lessons worth all the effort.  If I learned one thing from this experience, it’s that I’ve gained a greater love for teaching international students.  Seeing a student finally grasp a concept or seeing them having fun learning English is… priceless.

Me with my mentoring teacher and one of my classes

I’ve always joked with my friends that I’ll go to school for life because I love learning so much.  But now I think I’ve found a way to do that realistically: teaching.  The last four weeks I learned a lot from just having to teach my students.  Teaching advanced grammar, sometimes I would have to teach myself the concept first, before explaining it to the class. For example, inversion of negative and limiting adverbials, or hedging.  Other times, I would learn new vocabulary words, such as “rashers of bacon” or “slog.”  I think I’ve gained a greater appreciation for my own language as well.  You don’t realize exactly how complex your native language is until you are forced to explain it to someone.  My students would make me think about my language in ways I have never thought about it before. Let me ask you, what’s the difference between a tree’s shadow and a tree’s shade?  I know, I had never thought about that subtle difference before either.

Working with international students, I not only get to learn more about my own language, but I get to learn more about the languages and cultures of my students as well.  What’s better than learning while simultaneously helping others learn?

             At the end of all of this, I can finally say that I’m a French and Linguistics graduate from Western with a certificate to teach English to speakers of other languages!

TESL certified!

Western Washington University graduates!