Teaching for the first time was also a great experience. I learned a lot from my Fulbright friends who have taught previously and know tons of games and class management techniques. Working with the kids in conversations, storytelling, and classroom lessons has helped me to recognize the troublemakers, the quiet kids, and gender dynamics of elementary school.
One girl in particular will stick in my memory. Her English name is Ashley and she is 9 years old, heading into the 4th grade this year. She reminds me so much of myself at her age. She is quite tiny for her age and is rather shy, particularly about group games and speaking up in class. But she speaks impeccable English and understands every word I say. She is a wonderful friend and a kindhearted girl!
During one of the group games, Ashley came to the side of the room and sat by me. She pulled out a little binder from her backpack. It was a Friend Folder, one of those notebooks young girls have and fill with names, phone numbers, and favorite things of their friends. She asked me to fill out one of the pages! We ended up liking a lot of the same things and she really hopes to email with me.
The sweetest thing was that Ashley filled out a Friend Profile about herself and gave it to me. In the section where you write a message to your friend, she wrote, "Kelley you are beautiful!" I can already tell that I will love befriending and investing in these kids. Ashley was also vindicated as the shy girl at the end of our class today. Each child came forward and said two sentences in English for the rest of the class. Ashley's vocabulary was by far the most advanced and all of the Fulbrights praised her for saying, "I think English is fantastic."
No comments:
Post a Comment