Good morning lovely people (a very early morning, may I add.)
After getting up at 5am to start my day, I thought it was about time for that week two update on the CELTA course I’m studying for.
Unfortunately I have to re-submit my first assignment, for which I am kicking myself! It’s a fairly rotten feeling to not pass an assignment, as you can imagine, and something I am definitely not used to happening to me.
Week two went by in a flash. We had two lots of teaching observations at the sister school down the road (BEET language school) which were fantastic – two completely different teachers, two totally different teaching styles! Seeing a strict teacher teach with humor, and a quiet teacher teach with drama and movement – the observations were fascinating and extremely helpful for moving forward in the course. It made me realize that my (future) teaching style can always be adapted!
I couldn’t make my Monday teaching session due to a hospital appointment, but Tuesday’s session was fairly disastrous, yet there were improvements on my second lesson, yet I still came away feeling that I’d let the students down. My feedback suggested otherwise, I’d like to add!
However, my teaching session on Thursday was my biggest improvement so far. I finally came out of my little shell! I was teaching articles (the, a/an, and zero article) – and boy was I nervous!
“What if I can’t teach them?”
“What if I forget how to use them correctly?”
“What if I tell them the wrong rules?”
Rubbish! The more I thought about it, the more flustered I became. I felt sick. I was ridiculously nervous and had convinced myself I was going to mess up and ruin the entire lesson. However, it’s safe to say I did an alright job. My confidence magically re-appeared and I think it’s fair to say we all had an enjoyable lesson. My colleague’s topic in the previous lesson was China, so I was able to create a fun follow-on with some photos and a little story from my time living there.
Thursday was the day when I finally felt that I could be a teacher. Not just that I wanted to be one, but that I was actually capable of becoming a teacher – and now I’m pumped! I’m full of determination and motivation and desperately want to do well on this course.
On Friday, we swapped tutors and student groups – so having taught Upper-Intermediate level for the past two weeks, with the most loveliest students, we are now teaching Pre-Intermediate, with another lovely group.
We were given the morning to plan out a short lesson, as an introduction to the group change. Thankfully, I was able to work on the reading task. Now, I have always read to a high standard, even as a child, and reading with/to people who don’t is something I find challenging. Reading with people who are learning English is something I’ve never done before, and desperately wanted to test the waters. It’s safe to say I thoroughly enjoyed it! I never thought I would have, but I did. My patience came through in waves and despite the drastic contrast in levels of English among the students, I think we all had an enjoyable lesson.
So, to wrap up week two –
really getting stuck in with assignments, teaching sessions and lesson planning
the remainder of my weekend will be focusing on my re-submission and the second assignment.
Wish me luck guys and please share your thoughts! xo
There’s a little expression I always carry with me and that’s “enjoy the process” it applies to anything but especially when you’re lesson planning, teaching etc makes it a little more enriching rather than mentally looking towards the finishing line. All the best with your course! I’ve just completed mine with a pass B so any questions you may have feel free to ask.
Great, thanks very much!