Moya Daly » 2007 » September

Teacher training  >  TEFL diaries  >  Moya Daly

September, 2007

Observation 2 is over

Friday, September 21st, 2007

Well, that’s it for the moment- Observation Number Two is over, and I cannot tell you how relieved I am! Managed to drag myself out of bed an hour earlier than usual, traffic not too punishing, but was bordering on apoplectic when I arrived at work and had left department key in my other handbag. This could have meant being unable to print out the email with the MOST IMPORTANT DOCUMENT of an observed lesson-the lesson plan! As I was up ’til gone 2am working on it, and had no ink in my printer, I sent it as an attachment to my work email. No problem, you might think. Except that as nobody else is usually on my floor that early, fear robbed me of movement for a while. Thank goodness for Andy in IT-he has a key to my section, thus saving the day-or at least my sanity at that moment anyway.

With LP all printed out-copy for me, one for my tutor, all fifteen million worksheets/handouts (see previous  blog), assessment grid (please let this work in my favour- think I may have tempted fate here, but more of that later) class and individual student profiles at the ready, I began to feel calm……..ish……well ok that IS an exaggeration, but as I have likened Observations to a trip to the dentist ( you know, you dread it so much that by the time you’re actually in the surgery, the fear tends to subside) you will understand what I mean. I can’t pretend I was not nervous, but in my zombie-like state of total acceptance ( condemned man and all that ) I even toyed with the idea of nipping downstairs and out of the building for a shot of nicotine!! Quickly rejected that idea, as i certainly did NOT want to bump into my tutor outside looking totally unprofessional and smelling like an ash tray!

Consoled by the fact that my current class consists almost entirely of very conscientious students who are hardly ever late (famous last words) I wrote my aims on the board, placed my materials on my desk in order and waited. (Cue music-Mozart’s requiem for a dead woman, perhaps)

Oh I know this sounds overly dramatic, but I can honestly say that I feel less nervous about  job interviews, exams, presentations or even giving birth. Any budding psychologist who could explain this to me? I swear I am NOT by nature a person who is easily affected by nerves.

Anyway, after taking a call from one of my strongest students, I sensed my confidence ebbing away. Chanting the mantra ‘It’s only an hour out of your life’ and thinking of my daughter’s text: MUM, DON’T STRESS- YOU’RE JUST DOING WHAT YOU DO EVERY DAY-AND YOU KNOW YOU ARE A GOOD TEACHER. YOU’LL BE FINE. Bless her, a lovely thought but am I really the only person who manages only adequate performance at best in observations?

Ok, well I got through it. One activity went so badly I felt the urge to shock everyone by picking up the fifteen million sheets and throwing them all up into the air. Needless to say I resisted. When that didn’t work I simply drew on one of those fifteen million alternative worksheets (who says it doesn’t pay to have too much material??) and produced what I thought was a very successful Mingle activity. Now I say successful, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating of course, and I shall let you all know in due course-next Tuesday 2pm-just how successful it really was. I managed to tick all but two boxes on my famous assessment grid, and the new students seemed to enjoy their first full session in the class- so at least THAT aim was met!! My observing tutor smiled a lot, which could mean several things: she couldn’t believe how rubbish I was, she enjoyed the lesson, she wondered what on earth I was doing in a classroom and secretly wondered why I wasn’t on a checkout till in Tescos, or maybe just maybe she thought I had worked hard to plan and prepare the lesson, she could recognise that I am passionate about my job, she witnessed how happy the students were, or she was simply remembering one of Johnny Vaughan’s comments from the Breakfast Show on the radio in the car!! We shall see!

Look in next Tuesday and you may detect a more amiably humoured tone to the blog. I’m off now to catch up on the sleep I lost last night. Oh Friday, you are so dear to me this week!

Aw, my students were so sweet. And guess what? During the next -UNOBSERVED- part of the lesson, we decided to turn the Q&A activities into a task based project next week, with students working in pairs or groups to discuss and write questions for interviews with other classes and/or the staff. I can’t wait!!

Posted in adequate performance; Mingle activity;task based learni, observation 2 | No Comments »

Made it back-just, but not with a vengeance!

Thursday, September 20th, 2007

Hello everybody! Yes, I am back, but only just. It was a very long summer-I taught thoughout, apart from two days in July for my daughter’s graduation, and three in August. Remember the famous long weekend in a caravan I had eagerly awaited? Well, that didn’t materialise, I’m afraid.

I feel that I should mention here that I am seriously wondering whether to continue with the course. Circumstances at my place of work, an extremely upsetting family problem and total lack of self esteem are all conspiring to erode my determination  to see this through.

Steeling myself to return, and armed with  ‘holiday souvenirs’ (printed copies of a wonderful article on TBL) for my classmates, I breezed in to be greeted by my third-yes THIRD- assignment for re submission. This was not pleasant, to say the least, and I am ashamed to tell you all that I was reduced to tears, scarcely able to hide my mood. I did manage to compose myself quickly, and my (lovely) tutor did her very best to reassure me that this was not ‘failing’ and that it would not be a good idea to give up now. However, with my second observation looming (how stupid of me to postpone this last term) I am still having doubts.

I have 5 new students in my class this week, which is great, except that two of these haven’t yet stepped foot in the classroom yet, and the other three have yet to complete their diagnostic test. Not the most reassuring way to be attempting a successful observed lesson! Still, these things were sent to try us, as my mother always says, and at present I wonder whether there are any other recipients of ‘these things’ who are as fed up with ‘being tried’ as I am!!!

So to the Big O…………..(observation, that is). Yes, we have just started the Health module, and I had a wonderful lesson last week which generated some fantastic ideas and language, so was looking forward to continuing with the various resources. It was at this point, (you know - just when you thought it was safe to go back into the CELTA 2 classroom and all that………) I discovered that there would be disruption on a grand scale: a Job Fair meant that my students would be away from the classroom on the day that I was due to be observed, plus I received the great news that I was to have three new students. I did not crumble, folks….. I calmly negotiated with the Jobsearch team to change the day of the  Job Fair outing, put in lots of unpaid hours before and after class completing various admin tasks in anticipation of the new students, only to discover  three days before the BIG O that I would have not three but five new students. It was at THIS stage that I DID begin to crumble.

So here I am, everybody. Back, and crumbling, basically; once again asking myself the question, ‘Why am I putting myself through this?’  

Things are particularly precarious in the ESOL field  at the moment, due to the government’s latest directive towards numeracy and employability. Some of my colleagues and classmates have been affected by the cuts in teaching staff. So if any reader feels the need to post a short sharp reminder that I should stop whingeing and think myself lucky, please do so. Those of you who have followed my blog (are there any followers, truly?) will know that I can’t stand whingers, so no offence will be taken at all. As I write this, I am conscious of the fact that my lesson plan for tomorrow hasn’t been written yet. The ever -present P disease has not been cured and if you don’ know what this is, then it serves you right for not being one of my readers!

Update-it is twenty minutes past midnight, and I am just about to type out my lesson plan. It is written (well, scribbled) out, and all materials (yes, fifteen million handouts and worksheets-just to be sure) are copied and in the correct order. For how long, I cannot guarantee, since once I begin my lesson, I am positive (me? positive?) that they will be reduced to a muddled  array (should that be disarray?) as I struggle to forget I am being scrutinised-oops, sorry observed!! No matter. By coffee time tomorrow, there will only be four more of these tortuous experiences to endure! Did you detect that hint there? Am I actually reconsidering? Will I finish this course after all?

Once again I beseech you to ………Watch this Space! Wish me luck!

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »