Teaching Assignments

Well, I've received my teaching assignments! Not bad...at least that's my thought right now! I have a kids class (ack!) Monday-Thursday from 4:30-5:30pm and a 201 level class Monday-Thursday from 6:00-7:15pm. Also, a Saturday 201 level class from 8:30am-12:30pm. That's not bad at all. I've signed up for doing tutorials so I can make some more money, and I'm going to try doing odd jobs around town on the side. Things like pet/house sitting, dog-walking, watering people's plants, whatever.

Luckily the first couple of days are for review and games. So for the kids, I'll definitely need to be ENTERTAINING. I'm thinking lots of movement...dancing, singing, games, being silly, pictures (hey, there's where that BA in Art comes in handy!) I'm excited; more excited than nervous. The classes are small as well, so I won't be up there sweating with a million pairs of eyes staring at me. Another good thing is that all this teaching stuff is new in my head from my course in Barcelona. Time to put it to work!

In Spain, I was teaching adults, and I have a feeling I'll have a lot of teenagers. Ick. Here's my plan: be a jerk the first few days to put them in their place, then warm up to them. Heh heh heh, let's see how they like being bossed around by me. Actually, I'm not very bossy, but I will be firm. And if I see a cell phone in class, I may just erupt. People who know me well know my cell phone policy.

I've been placed in the school location that nobody really wants because they think it's far away. But it doesn't seem that bad. Plus, I have a bike. I'm more concerned with how dangerous it is for me than how far. To sum it all up, everything will be learned as I go. Little by little I'll get my footing, and I'll develop my own teaching style and the students will love me and we'll live happily ever after. Of course!

On another note, I've received news that my grandmother is ill. Seriously; the doctors found a tumor in her pancreas and she's scheduled for surgery on Friday. Please, I hope and hope that she doesn't leave us like this. Not like this. And with me being in a foreign country...I feel that I'd need to get back to the States should anything happen...

All we can do is wait, I suppose. It's a reality check, even though in a rather harrowing way. I'm here doing my thing, but I need to remember that life is still going on elsewhere. My friends and family are moving forward too. We're all doing things, living life, being us. New things are happening in my life, but that's doesn't mean things are static back at home. New situations are popping up back there as well. Sometimes it's incredible to think of how the world works. We'll never really understand how it works...we're all students too. Learning each day from Life, the toughest teacher!