A Little Complaining... Teaching is Hard

I know I have been a little random with my updates, and I apologize for that. Getting used to teaching has been trying. The majority of classes have gone very well, but there have been a few that I have had a lot of trouble with. The trouble with the classes has not been the student’s fault, it has been mine, I am still trying to discover just how much English each class and each student knows, what their strengths are. My conversation courses are the most difficult because I am trying to engage the student’s and it is not working. Today I had a class at the end of the day and I tried to play some popular songs. I asked the students to form group of three and four, which they did, and then, I asked the students to listen to a part of a song. I tried to explain that they were supposed to listen to the words of the song and tell me what the song was about. It did not work out that way. No matter how many times I attempted to explain what each group was to do, no one understood. All I got from the students was them yelling out names of American musical artists. It was frustrating, but I consider it all part of my learning process. I must remember that if something is not working than to stop that activity and move on to something that can be understood. I spent the whole class trying to work on this one activity because I believed it would be fun for them.
The other day, right before a class started, I found out that I have the same group of student’s for two sessions in a row, one of my conversation courses. The first half went well because that is what I planned for, however, the second half not so much. The students were supposed to have a 10-minute break between the two sessions, but of course, they did not want it. They wanted to go through the class without a break and leave ten minutes early. I walked to the Headmaster to find out if that was proper procedure. Hoping, deep down that it was not and I would have that 10-minute break to think of something to do with the class, but no, the Headmaster said that that was fine and I went right back to the class with nothing prepared. I tried to wing. If you are ever teaching a class never, never try to wing it. I ended up simply extending the activity from the first session, adding on stupid things for the students to do based on the activity from before. It was a disaster. The student’s I could tell were bored out of their minds. I even called up one of the student’s, who looked particularly bored, and asked her, “Were you bored?” She was blunt in her response, “Yes, a lot of the students were bored.” I must take each lesson I learn and apply it to the lessons I am trying to teach. I must have fun and exciting lessons; I must have a lot of these lessons prepared for each class, and I must be prepared to move from one activity to another quickly, if I run into too steep of roadblocks. I cannot continue to try to push each student to what I think they should know, I must gradually bring them to what it is I think they should know. I am learning much more then my students at this point, but I hope to even it out at some point.
My schedule is beginning to get a little hectic as well. Actually, most days are not too bad at all, but with tutoring, which I hope to pick up, as I just placed a sign in the local café, The Matrix. On Thursdays I have to travel to two different schools. I have to be at the bus stop at 7:10 to get to the one school, and then back on the bus around 1:30 to travel to the other school, which is on the complete other side of my city. On Wednesdays, I have one of my conversation classes starting at 6:55 in the morning. As for Tuesday, I have that hour and half conversation course with the students, then I have an hour and half class with adults from 4:30 to 6:00, and then I have a private tutoring session from 6:30 to 7:30. The amount of work is immense, and I have to stop complaining, I knew teachers were some of the most hard working people in the world, I just did not realize they work this hard. Regardless, I love it, and I am looking forward to start to actually teach the students rather than discover my own abilities and theirs.
Now, I promise, I am done whining about my teaching experience, which really has not been bad so far. Andrea and I are actually going to Vienna this weekend. I had initially had a problem with my Visa. I was not able to obtain a long-term Visa. So, I have to travel to Vienna to get the process started as I only have a 90-day work Visa at the moment. Andrea and I decided me having to go to Vienna was a perfect excuse to spend the weekend there. I do not have my appointment at the Consulate till Monday morning; the school gave me the day off to get the Visa situation cleared up. However, we are going to leave by train on Friday afternoon from Andrea’s city. I am very excited and I am sure I will have lots of stories to tell about our trip, as we try to travel inexpensively and find as much enjoyment as possible. That update should come soon. Until then I hope everything is well for everyone reading. And, quickly, to give you an update on Andrea’s living situation. It looks like the school is going to work everything out for her shortly. I will have more updates on that as it actually happens, but I am hopeful everything will be worked out sometime next week. Thank you for reading and letting me vent this time.