I can still hear the students´ voices saying "Teacher" from two, back-to-back, 2-hour Tourism classes. Today, one student called me "Profa" and, I must admit, it felt grand... Tomorrow is Friday - I am almost done with my first week! The lesson planning and delivery has been intense, but I am starting to feel comfortable with my role here. Next week, we will be celebrating Mexican Independence Day, so classes will not be held on September 16 or 17! (Love this country!)
The teaching part is starting to gel, I guess. It is a lot all at once to be faced with 65 new faces and names (Mayan names), and to have no idea what they already know, or how much of what I say is being absorbed and understood. (My fourth class - TOEFL for community members - begins in two weeks, adding a few more faces to the mix.) It´s also a challenge getting to know the students´linguistic comfort zone and establishing an mode of communication that feels balanced. I have to explain a lot of things in Spanish right now, which is humbling at times, but there is no better way to illustrate to my students that accuracy is not everything. Learning language is about making mistakes and communicating ideas, and there is no finish line where you can say "I´ve learned all there is to know." I think it also illustrates the value of learning a second language, because students can see that I use Spanish to clarify and reinforce what would otherwise be incomprehensible. OK, I´ll get off my soap-box now...
I am really pleased with my colleagues at UNO. Everyone is very good-natured, relaxed, and interested in being a good teacher. The immigration stuff is being processed in Mérida this weekend, so I will hopefully get my work visa soon. But I´m not holding my breath because you know how these things go...there are always happy, little surprises!
I hope to take some photos of the UNO campus soon to give an idea of what it´s like. Maybe my students can create a virtual campus tour...
Well, I´m off...exhausted...and it´s past time to get out of here!
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Photos of the school and the students would be really cool. But this is a great description of what you're doing. It sounds exhausting but very rewarding, too.
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