A new partner in crime, Linnae!
She’s a recent graduate from St. Olaf and also a clarinetist. Our regional supervisor says he’s expecting great clarinet duets at the Thanksgiving worship service during our Poland/Slovakia teacher gathering in November. It’s a blessing to have a colleague to talk to and brainstorm with. We’re also better able to serve our school and the community because we can “divide and conquer” (or perhaps “divide and serve” is a more appropriate phrase) and because two brains are frequently better than one! Here’s a photograph from our first day of school in September.
Teaching the seniors!
My newest challenge at school this year is that I’m teaching all of the high school seniors! Last year I only taught 7th – 9th graders and one class of sophomores. It’s amazing how drastically their language skills improve between sophomore and senior year. During our English conversation lessons, I’m responsible for preparing them for the speaking section of their English Matura exam. The Matura is the high school “exit exam” in Poland, and students are required to take Polish, mathematics, a foreign language (English, for the majority of students, although sometimes German or French), and then a couple other subjects of their choice (biology, history, etc.). The Matura is administered in May and students have to submit their test scores when they apply to university. I’m enjoying the challenge of learning about the exam with the help of a couple Polish English teachers at my school.
I’ve also asked (well, required) every senior to meet with me for 20-30 minutes outside of class sometime in September or October to have an informal conversation. I only have them once a week for 45 minutes and meeting with students individually outside of class helps me get to know them better. It’s also an opportunity to share a little bit about myself with the students. They arrive quite hesitant (and typically they ask nervously “what are we supposed to do?”) but then they’re shocked when the 30 minutes are over. We’ve talked about everything from sleep deprivation (an ailment of teenagers around the world), football matches, American films, to traveling, you name it. I try to avoid the “what are your future plans” question that I remember dreading senior year unless the topic arises naturally (of course, the askers always had good intentions, but, nevertheless, sometimes it’s a stressful question). I’m loving the process of getting to know my new students, and I feel honored that I get to participate in their senior year.
During these informal conversations, many students asked me if I could offer additional Matura preparation lessons during the week in addition to our weekly conversation classes. One of the great advantages of having two American teachers at our school instead of one is that Linnae and I don’t have full schedules, and we’re able to provide extra tutoring and assistance during our free lessons. As of last week, I now offer three extra Matura preparation lessons per week where students can stop by for extra speaking practice.
“English lunch”
This year, I’d planned on starting weekly “English breakfast” meetings, where I’d meet with students in the morning before school for informal conversations in English and a breakfast snack. Well, the school schedule’s a little different this year and almost all of my students start class at 8 a.m. (last year, many students started at 8:50 a.m. or sometimes even 9:45 a.m.). Scheduling “English breakfast” at 7:15 a.m. with teenagers who desperately need sleep isn’t a great plan. Hence, hello “English lunch”! Three days a week I invite students to eat lunch with me. We sit in the English library and talk about anything and everything. I’m always excited for 1:05 p.m. (lunch time at school) when students burst into my classroom, eager to share school news (they are the best source of information – they know everything that’s happening at school) or something new that’s happening in their lives. It’s a great way to get to know my students better and provide them with an opportunity to practice their speaking skills in an informal, relaxed environment.
A new (and adorable) demographic
A bilingual school in the Czech Republic (that serves both Czech and Polish students) asked for my help this year with their preschool and kindergarten English classes (I call the classes “English play dates”). My students here now range in age from 3 years old to 78 years old! I teach there two hours a week - one class of 3-4 year olds and one class of 5-6 year olds. Let me tell you, they are wonderful! I’m very grateful for my summer Polish classes because I understand at least a little of what the children say. (Have you ever had an adorable child eagerly try to tell you something in a language you don’t speak very well? It’s the best motivation for continuing to learn new Polish words.) I don’t have permission yet to post the children's photographs here, but I’m working on it! For now, here are two photographs of the classroom, including “Cookie the Cat,” the English speaking puppet who helps me with my lessons.
It’s fascinating to observe the differences between the 3-4 year olds and 5-6 year olds. All of the children were told (in Czech and Polish by another teacher) that I only speak a little Polish, and that I am here to practice English with them. The 5-6 year olds understood quite well, but the 3-4 year olds were quite confused. (Their strategy is to say a sentence louder and louder to me if I don’t understand everything. They haven’t quite grasped the concept of other languages yet.) I’m having a lot of fun on my “English play dates.” After I’ve volunteered for a few more weeks, I promise to devote an entire post to my littlest students.
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And, I can’t conclude without saying what a joy it is this year to continue to teach all of the people I worked with last year in my late afternoon and evening classes – parents and grandparents of my middle school and high school students, members of my congregation, elementary school students, business men and women, and Polish English teachers. I’ve reached my “teaching quota” for the year (the highest number of classes/lessons I have time to teach and properly prepare for) and feel blessed that I’m able to continue teaching English to a wonderfully wide variety of people in Poland and the Czech Republic.
