Let the teaching begin!

So I officially started teaching my own classes a week ago, and while I tried to go in with little to no expectations, teaching here has definitely been a bigger challenge than I anticipated.  I see 4^th-6^th grade only once a week for 45 minutes, and I see 7^th and 8^th grade once on my own for 45 minutes and once in a co-teaching environment for an additional 45.  The students are all pretty much on the same speaking and listening level - a very beginning, basic level.  Last week we went over introductions and how to say “Hi, my name is ___, what’s your name?” and then we made nametags so I can try and learn all 450 names (yikes!).  Because the students are normally in classroms of 45-50 kids, a lot of the teachers don’t even know all of the kids’ names, which is sad for the kids and bad when it comes to discipline.  Not gonna happen in my class!  Most of my students are dying to know how to say their names in English, so I took all of their nametags home and wrote “American” names on the backs.  I had to get a bit creative when I had two or three Sebastians and Camilas in every class…

My classroom is a little storage room off of the cafeteria.  It’s a bit of a tight squeeze in there with all of us, and it gets a bit stuffy since we have to keep our window and door closed due to our shouting and games, but it works.  Teaching only 25 students is a lot easier than trying to get the attention of 45 – I honestly am not that surprised that my 8^th graders, who have had 3 years of English class already, are at such a low level.  It seems nearly impossible to try and accomplish anything in a language class that large.

Here are a couple pictures of my classroom:

Every week I’m planning on teaching my students a “slang” word – something fun that they’ll never see in their textbook.  Last week’s word was “Awesome,” which we used in phrases such as “Jonas Brothers are awesome!!” and “Soccer is awesome!”  This week we’re gonna try “What’s up?” instead of always saying “Hello.”  Feel free to pass along any fun slang words/ideas that you have!