...am currently stressing about the cover sheet, as the title might suggest... Tomorrow I am going to arrange and observe my class, and prepare the language analysis, and all that. Again, it's really writing by default, and the assignment is now complete, at 2442 words, 12 references to materials and 7 different sources in the bibliography... Then, I think of Linda and her great essays and lessons, and of how she only just passed...and I think of the interview on Friday, which went so well, and how the girl asked me why I decided to do the Delta after only two years...yes, interesting question. I think we all embarked on that suicidal trip to find some stability in this life of uncertainty, of going from place to place, of not knowing if this room will be the same in two months' time, if we will be in the same city next week.
For the past 6 months I have lived in 4 different places; I haven't been able to cook one meal for myself; I have panicked and stressed over my things, crammed in my friend's flat, because I have nowhere to store them. I have been thinking of going back "home", where I would have my room, my family and my friends, and I wouldn't be so lonely that I cry most days, unable to see the future. One more interview tomorrow, and a hostile city, that's what it's proved to be, that I want to run away from. I envy the ones who have their own life, and a house, and a family, because these are things that I have tried to have for the past 5 years, and I have worked so hard, and nothing has changed.
Still, here we go, working hard and hoping that eventually all these efforts will be rewarded. The interview went really well, and I feel quite optimistic about it. And next week it's my birthday, which I am going to celebrate alone, since I don't have any friends here - ok, I'm seeing theatre friend the day before for the makeover thing in central London. But there's only so much I can ask of one single person.
On the plus side, having been to Bournemouth, I have finally have my precious boxes with me, and this means my Parrot, my Underhill, Hewings, my dictionary, and my biography of London and of Turner; yes, this prompts the questions "where the hell am I going to put them when Christmas comes and I have to leave this place", and I'm afraid the answer is yet again "theatre friend's flat", but fingers crossed my books and I will have a job and a place to stay in a few weeks.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
More on LSA4 - reload, and a rant on the Cambridge people
The assignment is nearly done: I am at the stage where you have analysed the topic and you have presented the potential issues regarding teaching it, the learners, and so on.
I can't stop thinking of the appaling essay that I have recently read, which was beyond fail, it was simply unbelievable: things thrown in with no logical order, random paragraphs, only two references, spelling mistakes, NO reference whatsoever to any materials, the bibliography a simple list of titles and authors where the "An A-Z of ELT" had become simply "ELZ", and I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT PASSED, AND MINE DIDN'T!
Anyway, the worksheet is nearly complete too, and tomorrow I am going to see who my students will be; I am just going to find out names and nationalities, and maybe arrange to observe a lesson on Tuesday, so I can get an idea for the class profile. Little by little, again, things are shaping up, except it feels that it will be right, and then there's this horrible feeling that somehow Cambridge wants the moon from me, and I don't have it. And I would love to show them my feedback forms from all my previous jobs, and my promotion to senior teacher on day two of my job last summer, and the beautiful feedback from all my students, which counts so much more than their stupid boxes to tick. But of course, if I want the diploma, I have to speak their own metalanguage, and try and think in their own little world, where nothing real happens. Sad people. I am pretty sure that none of them remembers what it's like to teach, and none of them would be able to teach a class properly. Of course, in theory they are geniuses, and they know their Thornbury and Parrot backwards. But put them in a class of lazy Arabs, or of traditional Germans, or forgetful Italian and Spanish,then we'll see.
Man, when is this going to end.
I can't stop thinking of the appaling essay that I have recently read, which was beyond fail, it was simply unbelievable: things thrown in with no logical order, random paragraphs, only two references, spelling mistakes, NO reference whatsoever to any materials, the bibliography a simple list of titles and authors where the "An A-Z of ELT" had become simply "ELZ", and I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT PASSED, AND MINE DIDN'T!
Anyway, the worksheet is nearly complete too, and tomorrow I am going to see who my students will be; I am just going to find out names and nationalities, and maybe arrange to observe a lesson on Tuesday, so I can get an idea for the class profile. Little by little, again, things are shaping up, except it feels that it will be right, and then there's this horrible feeling that somehow Cambridge wants the moon from me, and I don't have it. And I would love to show them my feedback forms from all my previous jobs, and my promotion to senior teacher on day two of my job last summer, and the beautiful feedback from all my students, which counts so much more than their stupid boxes to tick. But of course, if I want the diploma, I have to speak their own metalanguage, and try and think in their own little world, where nothing real happens. Sad people. I am pretty sure that none of them remembers what it's like to teach, and none of them would be able to teach a class properly. Of course, in theory they are geniuses, and they know their Thornbury and Parrot backwards. But put them in a class of lazy Arabs, or of traditional Germans, or forgetful Italian and Spanish,then we'll see.
Man, when is this going to end.
Monday, November 08, 2010
On pronunciation
Focus of my LSA4 - reload...
I experimented the lesson with my last class, on Friday, my last day at work. The results are:
- counting the number of syllables: dangerous (two syllables?). I will need to make sure that no funny questions are asked, although, not being God, I hope the assessor will be lenient...
- deciding where the stress goes: better. As in, that's where I can see students struggle, so my theory holds, and we can have a chat and a revision and they all practice, so it's good. I think.
- deciding where the stress goes in a sentence: not so easy as it looks, and that's also good. Some students are quicker than others, and with a bit of support we all made it there.
- the practice with Spiderman: awesome. It was really good, andI had the right balance of boys and girls to play the part, it was fun, it was good, it ended well.
The whole lesson, with improvised material, took just over an hour, and considering that we were faffing about, it's ok. I could imagine the assessor walking out just as we were repeating the lines while watching the movie, and it would make a good impression, I believe...It's practice, it's doing what they were supposed to do, and so on...
Currently working on the assignment, which is being written by default, having written so many by now... The only thing is: will it be good enough? Who knows what these Cambridge people want. I can only do my best, again, and pray for the best.
Meanwhile, it's still raining, so my plans of morning gym and afternoon study have gone in the gutter, which means a whole day of study and preparation, followed by a day of nothing at all, by which I mean gym and a trip to London for tea and shopping...sounds nice, and it should help my gloomy mood too.
I experimented the lesson with my last class, on Friday, my last day at work. The results are:
- counting the number of syllables: dangerous (two syllables?). I will need to make sure that no funny questions are asked, although, not being God, I hope the assessor will be lenient...
- deciding where the stress goes: better. As in, that's where I can see students struggle, so my theory holds, and we can have a chat and a revision and they all practice, so it's good. I think.
- deciding where the stress goes in a sentence: not so easy as it looks, and that's also good. Some students are quicker than others, and with a bit of support we all made it there.
- the practice with Spiderman: awesome. It was really good, andI had the right balance of boys and girls to play the part, it was fun, it was good, it ended well.
The whole lesson, with improvised material, took just over an hour, and considering that we were faffing about, it's ok. I could imagine the assessor walking out just as we were repeating the lines while watching the movie, and it would make a good impression, I believe...It's practice, it's doing what they were supposed to do, and so on...
Currently working on the assignment, which is being written by default, having written so many by now... The only thing is: will it be good enough? Who knows what these Cambridge people want. I can only do my best, again, and pray for the best.
Meanwhile, it's still raining, so my plans of morning gym and afternoon study have gone in the gutter, which means a whole day of study and preparation, followed by a day of nothing at all, by which I mean gym and a trip to London for tea and shopping...sounds nice, and it should help my gloomy mood too.
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
No resources in the teacher's room...
Observation at school tomorrow morning…uff. The day before my contract terminates, and there is no work for me after that there, so why bother, I wonder? It just means wasting time on a silly lesson plan, which by the way is the same that the teachers had to prepare on the days of the BC inspection – and it’s funny, in a ridiculous way, because there is such a box as the timetable fit, Delta-style…except it’s silly to fill that in, and in total rebel-style, this is what I have written:
“The lesson opens the new unit in the book, having just finished unit 6. (…). In future lessons the focus will be on unit 8 (…)”.
…what else could I have written? It’s a short-term class, the two students who have been here the most have been here for 2 weeks and are leaving this week, so what’s the point?
This conveyor belt teaching style, with lack of extra resources, is very disappointing, and above all depressing: going by the book is boring and dry, especially when it’s a book that seems to focus on teenagers in lots of activities, and crams in grammar and random vocabulary, with silly exercises that are the opposite of memorable. And I can’t really integrate these lessons with anything, which is really sad, because I have no other resources in the teacher’s room, and clearly my own materials are somewhere else. And in any case it seems that the focus here is on a traditional teaching style, with lots of TTT, grammar, exercises, and the like of it. I’m not totally against it, but it feels dry, forced, useless: what’s the point of me explaining a million rules per lesson, and talking for most of the 3 hours we spend together, when I already know the grammar and can use it properly, and don’t need any speaking or listening practice, this being (sort of) my own language? Speak, dammit!
In other news, assignment for LSA4 – reload, is going ok, and with a lot of effort (and headache, backache, and sleepless nights) I will have the necessary materials to test the lesson on Friday. Shame that, as I said, these guys are not really great for speaking and practicing pronunciation… Well, at least I can get an idea of the time, then, and prepare lots of back-up, or simply change it to a 45 minute lesson.
So, back to study now, and two more days before leaving the school…
“The lesson opens the new unit in the book, having just finished unit 6. (…). In future lessons the focus will be on unit 8 (…)”.
…what else could I have written? It’s a short-term class, the two students who have been here the most have been here for 2 weeks and are leaving this week, so what’s the point?
This conveyor belt teaching style, with lack of extra resources, is very disappointing, and above all depressing: going by the book is boring and dry, especially when it’s a book that seems to focus on teenagers in lots of activities, and crams in grammar and random vocabulary, with silly exercises that are the opposite of memorable. And I can’t really integrate these lessons with anything, which is really sad, because I have no other resources in the teacher’s room, and clearly my own materials are somewhere else. And in any case it seems that the focus here is on a traditional teaching style, with lots of TTT, grammar, exercises, and the like of it. I’m not totally against it, but it feels dry, forced, useless: what’s the point of me explaining a million rules per lesson, and talking for most of the 3 hours we spend together, when I already know the grammar and can use it properly, and don’t need any speaking or listening practice, this being (sort of) my own language? Speak, dammit!
In other news, assignment for LSA4 – reload, is going ok, and with a lot of effort (and headache, backache, and sleepless nights) I will have the necessary materials to test the lesson on Friday. Shame that, as I said, these guys are not really great for speaking and practicing pronunciation… Well, at least I can get an idea of the time, then, and prepare lots of back-up, or simply change it to a 45 minute lesson.
So, back to study now, and two more days before leaving the school…
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Pronounciation and another observation
Long time no see, mostly because I've been busy teaching in London, teaching in Hull, finding another job in London, finding a place to live in London, trying to find more work...
LSA4 - reload, is coming soon. Having said that, I have no idea of when it will be, as far as I'm aware it may well be tomorrow, since my tutor only appears when he needs money or admin info from me, and seems to be in another country/world/planet any other time...
Anyway, I am working on an assignment on pronunciation and stress in connected speech, having been convinced that discourse is a suicidal decision (it did feel like that, but pronunciation is so scary). I have spent most of yesterday and today working on notes, preparing a provisional lesson plan, thinkink of resources. My weekly plan involves an equal amount of time spent on the assignment, on preparing the materials, the class profile (of a class I don't even have, this being my last week at the school and probably my last too, by the looks of it), and all that jazz.
The school I am working for is not exactly the best I have worked for...Week three of four, they take a picture of me to put on the teachers' wall, which makes me feel they are serious about keeping me on. They plan to observe me on Thursday, that is, the day before my last day of contract, which is either promising or really bad planning. They haven't given me a contract because the DOS is the only one who prepares them, and she's back on week four, which means I may as well have a contract on my last day of the contract, which somehow is hilarious. They say it will be no problem to find me a class for the observation, but they can't tell me if there will be work after November 5th (presumably because of some Guy Fawkes-like attack on the school that they have foreseen but which may not happen...). They have been giving me lots of work, which on the one hand is pretty cool as I am paid by the hour, and on the other hand it makes me feel that it's so that by the end of week four they will have their complete 12-week course for EAP and they can send me away, no longer needing my services. Clearly not good.
But enough complaining: I've been working 7 hours already and I feel that some distraction is well deserved... Miss Marple here I come.
LSA4 - reload, is coming soon. Having said that, I have no idea of when it will be, as far as I'm aware it may well be tomorrow, since my tutor only appears when he needs money or admin info from me, and seems to be in another country/world/planet any other time...
Anyway, I am working on an assignment on pronunciation and stress in connected speech, having been convinced that discourse is a suicidal decision (it did feel like that, but pronunciation is so scary). I have spent most of yesterday and today working on notes, preparing a provisional lesson plan, thinkink of resources. My weekly plan involves an equal amount of time spent on the assignment, on preparing the materials, the class profile (of a class I don't even have, this being my last week at the school and probably my last too, by the looks of it), and all that jazz.
The school I am working for is not exactly the best I have worked for...Week three of four, they take a picture of me to put on the teachers' wall, which makes me feel they are serious about keeping me on. They plan to observe me on Thursday, that is, the day before my last day of contract, which is either promising or really bad planning. They haven't given me a contract because the DOS is the only one who prepares them, and she's back on week four, which means I may as well have a contract on my last day of the contract, which somehow is hilarious. They say it will be no problem to find me a class for the observation, but they can't tell me if there will be work after November 5th (presumably because of some Guy Fawkes-like attack on the school that they have foreseen but which may not happen...). They have been giving me lots of work, which on the one hand is pretty cool as I am paid by the hour, and on the other hand it makes me feel that it's so that by the end of week four they will have their complete 12-week course for EAP and they can send me away, no longer needing my services. Clearly not good.
But enough complaining: I've been working 7 hours already and I feel that some distraction is well deserved... Miss Marple here I come.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Time flies
Well, it's week 4 already, and so far so good..which is strange. It's the first time in 3 years that a summer camp goes perfectly fine, and all my classes are awesome, and I don't have to stay up all night planning lessons, and all that.
Having said that, we may have a British Council inspection on Thursday..since they seem to be after me, I bet that of all the centres they could choose, they're going to end up here. Oh, well. I am prepared, and have been under 3 inspections already, and all I think is, if I have survived the Delta, really, there isn't much more that I can't do.
In other news, and on a more personal side, I am starting to think that I am not ready yet. As much as I miss human contact, and sometimes I really feel it, I am slowly realising that I may not be ready for it yet. Not just with anyone. Although I have pangs of jealousy whenever I see certain things happen which I would like to be part of, and then I remember that it's not going to happen, me being what I am, so I am almost fine with it.
It's not time yet.
Having said that, we may have a British Council inspection on Thursday..since they seem to be after me, I bet that of all the centres they could choose, they're going to end up here. Oh, well. I am prepared, and have been under 3 inspections already, and all I think is, if I have survived the Delta, really, there isn't much more that I can't do.
In other news, and on a more personal side, I am starting to think that I am not ready yet. As much as I miss human contact, and sometimes I really feel it, I am slowly realising that I may not be ready for it yet. Not just with anyone. Although I have pangs of jealousy whenever I see certain things happen which I would like to be part of, and then I remember that it's not going to happen, me being what I am, so I am almost fine with it.
It's not time yet.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Update...
On day 2 of my new job in London, I have become a senior teacher...
By day 5, I am nearly in love with a cute guy who, unfortunately, looks a LOOOOOT like my ex...
Almost week 3, and I am seriously wondering what to do with myself...and would rather concentrate on teaching and not be bothered by heart matters...but as they say, le coeur a des raisons que la raison ne connait pas.
Dammit.
By day 5, I am nearly in love with a cute guy who, unfortunately, looks a LOOOOOT like my ex...
Almost week 3, and I am seriously wondering what to do with myself...and would rather concentrate on teaching and not be bothered by heart matters...but as they say, le coeur a des raisons que la raison ne connait pas.
Dammit.
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