For you to get a glimpse of what your time during the 4-week, onsite TEFL course in Costa Rica will look like!
Wednesday, Week 2
7:00am: Beep! Beep! It feels so early, but I gotta get up. I got a busy day ahead of me.
7:05am: These cold showers can be rough, but it sure is waking me up today.
7:20am: Gallo pinto never tasted so good! I love my tica mom!
7:40am: My host mom hands me my lunch as I walk out the door.
7:45am: Shoot! I forgot my flashcards that I cut last night. I'm pretty sure they are sitting on the nightstand. I have to go back to the house.
7:50am: Ok, a few minutes behind schedule, but I still have time to walk to the school. The morning is so gorgeous!
8:15am: Just walked into the school. I'll throw my things down in the classroom before grabbing a cup of coffee. I wouldn't be able to survive this month without my black coffee! I have to print my final copy of my lesson plan before class starts and then run to the internet cafe to make my copies for class this afternoon.
9:00am: Melanie is leading class today. She starts class with a couple of warm ups. Not only do we get to add them to our repertoire of activities, but they make sure we are awake and ready to go for class! We have class until noon and today; we are talking about the skill of writing and we are looking at some grammar: Conditionals! I'm glad I was able to read the chapter last night. So much easier to participate in class when you know what's going on!
12:00pm: Lunchtime! Rice, beans, fish and a salad! I want to ask Melanie a couple of questions about my lesson quickly too.
1:00pm: Back to class. Another quick warm up before the unit about English as a World Language. Melanie broke us up into pairs to work on the quiz and then we discussed it as a class. I can't forget to upload this to get credit for it!
2:00pm: My group teaches at 2:30, so I have a few minutes to freshen up and make sure I'm ready for my lesson.
2:30pm: My classmate actually teaches first, so I need to take some notes about her lesson. I can already see a few adjustments that I should make to my lesson. They are a quiet group of students, so I need to make sure I do lots of pair activities!
3:30pm: My turn. My stomach churns, but I feel good about this vocabulary lesson and it starts off well! Let me tell you this...We have only just begun, but practical teaching this month is teaching me a lot! Teachers are hardworking and have to be well-planned!
4:30pm: And it pays off! Although not perfect, the lesson went well! The teens were laughing, and I got them out of their seats a couple of times. During the review, they knew all of the vocabulary words I taught. We'll see how the feedback session goes. One more lesson to watch first.
5:30pm: The three of us sit down with Melanie to go over feedback from the lessons we just taught. I like that we can be honest with each other and that we really want to see each other grow. Melanie had some nice things to say about my lesson: that I engaged the students, that the activities were appropriate for their age and level, and that I spoke clear and enunciated well. However, she said I still need to limit my teacher talking time. I love to talk, so that's hard for me! Ha!
6:15pm: The school is packed with more practical teaching and regular ESL classes tonight, so I'm glad I can go back to my homestay.
6:35pm: Quick shower before dinner to cool down after the day and to feel refreshed before the night of work I have ahead of me.
7:00pm: Dinner with my host family. They are so sweet! I wish I spoke more Spanish, but I'll have the next year to work on that.
7:30pm: Ok, back to the work at hand. Chapter 7 quiz is due today. I read the chapter and have my notes from class. Aced it! I better upload the worksheet from class today before I forget. Next...Learner Profile Task 1 is due today. My partner sent me all of his work earlier today. I just need to combine both parts, read through everything to edit and submit. I have to write my personal reflection from today's lesson and submit that. It's all still fresh in my mind, so it's easy to reflect. Our essay on Lesson Planning is due on Friday so I want to start working on that so I can edit tomorrow before submitting. Also, I should get ahead on the unit that's due on Sunday.
11:15pm: Finally! Time for bed. I got everything done that had to be done today, but now I'm exhaus...
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