Laying the Foundation

In preparation for my forthcoming teaching assignment in Thailand, I've been tutoring, and assisting an English language teacher at a community center called Neighbors Link in Stamford, CT. This has been part of the "practicum" aspect of my TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course. Although this component of the TEFL curriculum is compulsory, I've truly valued the experience. In my short two months at Neighbors Link, I feel I've established a rapport with some of the students and have genuinely noticed progress. It's satisfying to think that I may have had a hand in their development, however small, and in whatever way. Even if I haven't taught them any English, I hope I've made them more comfortable to confidently attempt speaking English.

A lot of the students in the classes are here in America alone, with their families back home in Guatemala, Honduras, or wherever they may be. It must be difficult to live in a country whose language you don't speak, working long hours in manual labor, with no wife, girlfriend, children, siblings, anyone, to go home to. That's why as corny as it might sound, I really tried to be a friend or at least a friendly face to the students. Not to mention, they're some of the nicest people I've ever met. They're always smiling. That could be because they don't understand the majority of what I say, but I like to think that's not the only reason they have grins plastered on their faces for most of the hour and a half periods I see them. I'm extremely excited for Thailand, but I am going to miss my Latin American connects.

The other week I taught my first class solo, and it was a fantastic disaster. These students are beginners, like "no-English to a few phrases," beginners. I somehow got it into my head that a crossword puzzle would be a good activity. It was a bloodbath. Some weren't using the word bank. Some simply looked at me and shook their heads as if to say, "ain't happenin.'" Things only deteriorated from there, as I spent the majority of the class period nervously shuffling papers and wiping the profuse stream of sweat from my forehead. It wasn't a pleasant experience at the time, but in retrospect, is quite funny to think about, and I learned some valuable lessons. They go as follows:

• Whatever you do, do not overestimate the abilities of your students. I grossly overestimated and ended up losing my entire lesson plan in the span of 15 minutes or so. You can also say don't underestimate their abilities or else they might become bored with the material, however, to this I'd say, "at least you would have something to work with."
• Don't overwhelm them with paper. By the end of the class I'd given each of them six pieces of paper: 3 study sheets and 3 worksheets. I can say pretty confidently that these papers served to clutter their workspace and not much else.
• Teach a class that understands English if you don't know their native tongue fluently. This one seems like a no-brainer because it is.
•  Keep your lesson plan within a reasonable scope. I tried to cover three topics that all could have served as their own lessons. It's difficult when you're first starting out, and have no idea what your style of teaching will be like. I was petrified of running out of material that I over planned, which ended up being an even worse scenario. 
• Have a purpose. Looking back, I really didn't have a firm focus to my lesson which is why it probably got derailed so easily. 

 I leave for Thailand this Saturday night, May, 3.