I started my English Clubs at the beginning of the month and they are going great! Tuesdays, I have the 1-4 forms, Wednesday I have 5-7 forms, and Thursdays are the 8-11 forms! The first week we talked about Valentines day, made cards with the younger students, studied new 'love' vocabulary and listened to some fun songs about love. The second week was all about Winter, and we even had a snowball fight with crumpled up vocabulary words! (Thanks, Evan!) I'm excited to continue these English Clubs and see where they lead. With the younger students, it's all about spending time with the American teacher that doesn't get to teach them in class. They are very active, are eager to participate, and make me laugh. The older students are the ones that are simply interested in improving their English, having discussions in English, and taking their language skills to the next levels. I'm a little worried that I'll run out of ideas over the next two years, but I'm sure they'll help me think of some themes.
Tuesday, my school is hosting all of the English teachers of the Region for a English Seminar Day. I'll be giving an open lesson in my 9A form, and presenting a workshop about the Communicative Method of Teaching. My Link in training (Kivsho and Tarashcha) gave a similar presentation to the English teachers their, but this time I'm flying solo. Our technical/teaching training was all based off of the Communicative Method, and being a Comm Major it's something I am pretty interested in and passionate about. I hope it gets some of the Ukrainian teachers thinking about their own teaching practices, and at least encourages discussion between colleagues. I'm not here to try to teach that the Communicative Method is the only way of teaching a foreign language, but rather it's one that I feel works best for me, both teaching and learning, and might be a useful resource for them.
All in all, things are going well here in Kolky, but I am excited for March. March is my favorite month of the year, and not just because I'm a March baby, but it's sort of a transitional time. In High School, it was a time where you could get away with wearing shorts and a sweatshirt. In college, it meant midterms and the the year was starting to wind down. Hopefully here in Ukraine, it means the the snow begins to melt, the sun begins to shine, and I'll be able to begin the transition from English teacher to community member, starting to work on side projects, thinking about grants, meeting with the right people to get the ball rolling on some things. Now, I will finish working on my workshop and lesson planning before braving the cold to get weekly groceries. My refrigerator/freezer has been down the past week, hope hopefully the repairman can come soon and no more food will spoil. Luckily for me, my kitchen isn't heated, so if I keep the milk out, it stays just as cold!
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| Happy Valentines Day! |
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| English Club Board for 1st-4th Forms |
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| 8th-11th Forms |
ADORABLE! Oh, Ben, this is so wonderful. Your students are so cute. So happy to hear that things are so good, if freezing. :) xoxo
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you are making a difference in the lives of others. I hope you are having with your students.
ReplyDeleteOn a lighter note, why are you worried about a broken fridge in winter, just put stuff outside, or next to the window.
Good luck with everything,
Jenn (Brown) Driscoll